Australian Students Bloom on the World Stage with “Fresh Herbs” Packaging -- SAVE FOOD

What if supermarket herbs stayed fresh for weeks, not days? That’s the idea behind Fresh Herbs, Fresher Packaging, created by RMIT students and recognised with top honours at the 2025 WorldStar Student Awards. The concept led Australia’s record-breaking performance in the global competition.

Beating over 400 entries from around the globe, 42 students from three Australian universities have made history at the 2025 WorldStar Student Awards. Together, they claimed an impressive haul of accolades, including one Bronze overall, two Silver category awards, and a record-breaking 19 Certificates of Merit.

Among these successes, one concept stood out: Fresh Herbs, Fresher Packaging, developed by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) Industrial Design students Cameron Campbell, Nadia De Fazio, and Cynthia Mullaly. Their innovative solution not only earned Bronze Overall Best in Show but also Silver in the Food Packaging category – a first for Australia in this global competition.

A woman facing the camera and holding two trophies.

WorldStar student awards winner Cynthia Mullaly with the WorldStar trophies.
Image: WorldStar

From Kitchen Hack to Award-Winning Design – How Does it Work?

The Fresh Herbs project was born out of a simple insight: while fresh herbs are a staple for both chefs and home cooks, they are also one of the most wasted food items in Australia. Inspired by the hospitality industry’s “wet paper towel” method for preserving herbs, the team set out to design packaging that extends shelf life without sacrificing convenience or aesthetics.

The result is a rigid paper pulp pack that:

Prevents crushing during transit and storage
Incorporates a moisture management system inspired by professional kitchens
Features a plantable seed tab to encourage home growing
Offers recipes and usage tips to inspire consumers
Is fully recyclable and stackable for secondary packing

In trials, herbs stored in the pack stayed fresh for up to five weeks – dramatically longer than standard supermarket packaging: “We wanted something that mimics the way chefs preserve herbs, but in a way that works for everyday shoppers,” says Campbell. “The key was combining familiar consumer expectations with real improvements in shelf life.”

A man facing the camera and holding two trophies.

WorldStar student awards winner Cameron Campbell brought in his hospitality experience.
Image: WorldStar

How Can a Collaboration Between Academia and Industry Yield Results?

The project emerged from the RMIT Industrial Design Studio, partnering with the Australasian Institute of Packaging (AIP) to embed the Save Food Packaging design principles into coursework. Students refined their concepts during the semester, entered them into the Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Student Awards, and – as winners – earned the exclusive chance to compete on the global WorldStar Student stage.

WorldStar student awards winner Nadia De Fazio: Increasing shelf life of coriander from a week to about a month.
Image: WorldStar

How Herbs Stay Fresh:A Quick Q&A with the ‘Fresh Herbs’ Team

What inspired you to choose herbs over other produce?

One of our lecturer’s examples was dried herbs, which last ages, and fresh herbs, which don’t. Cameron’s hospitality experience showed how chefs preserve them with wet paper towels. We realised no one had applied that method to consumer packaging — and when we tested it, coriander stayed fresh for about a month instead of a week.

What was your biggest ‘a-ha’ moment?

We discovered that layering the packaging materials for different functions — moisture control, rigidity, visibility — was key. The moment we sketched it out, we knew we had the solution.

What is the seed tab for?

That was a last-minute idea! Embedding herb seeds into a perforated tab turns the pack into something regenerative. You can grow your own herbs after you finish the bunch.

What’s next for this concept?

We’d like to explore user testing, refine the weight and size, and see how it fits into store shelving. Provided the industry shows interest, we believe the concept has real market potential.

WorldStar Student Awards

Run by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), the WorldStar Student Awards recognise emerging talent in packaging design worldwide. Open exclusively to national award winners – such as those from the Australasian PIDA Awards – the competition attracts hundreds of entries annually. Categories include food, beverage, health & beauty, household, and sustainability, with overall Best in Show awards recognising the most outstanding concepts.