RT | Foundation™

The winners of our 2021 RT | Foundation Award are in!

A big thank-you to our small business community for making this year’s Foundation Award a huge success. We loved hearing each and every one of your stories—you’re the reason why this award exists. This year, we awarded two businesses, one specifically in the Quebec market, with a bigger prize than ever before. The competition was extremely tough, but we’re so excited to introduce you to our amazing recipients.

Congratulations to our winners, Northern Wildflowers Inc. and KALŪ! We can’t wait to work with you on these projects.

CHECK OUT OUR OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO LEARN MORE!

C

Welcome

Created to celebrate small businesses and encourage growth within them, the RT | Foundation will award two lucky entrepreneurs with beautiful, new, custom packaging! This contest takes place during National Small Business Week and Semaine de la PME in Quebec; two weeks dedicated to honouring entrepreneurs and their businesses. We hope to inspire small businesses to keep doing what they do, and to continue making their amazing products!

What You Could Win

Custom Packaging Design

We offer you a full custom redesign, created by our boutique creative agency! Our “Tailored to You” design package will provide you with three (3) concept designs, two (2) rounds of revisions on your selected concept, one (1) rendered mock-up, and final print-ready files for one (1) SKU of your choice.

Pouch Production

1,000 custom packages printed with your new package design on them! Choose from our Stand-Up Pouches, 2- or 3-Side Seal Pouches or Quad-Seal Pouches, with any of our three materials (RT | Conventional, RT | Recyclable or RT | Compostable) in any core size*—along with a zipper.

Product Lifestyle Photography

Once your packaging is designed, printed, and manufactured, we know you’ll want to show it off. That’s why an 8-hour stylized photo shoot of your new packaging, followed by 2-hours of post-production work, is included in this prize!

Social Media Management

A strong social media presence is key for brands nowadays—it’s a fantastic way to increase your brand awareness and loyalty among an online audience. Recognizing the importance of social media, we’re ecstatic to add this component to this year’s prize. Your brand will receive 3 months of our “Light Social Media Management” package by our Rootree social media specialists.

Exclusive Offer For 2022

Now that your brand has beautiful custom designed pouches and an increased social media presence- the fun doesn’t stop there! We now have a special offer to fit with your business’ needs for the rest of the year! We have included the promotion of 25% discount on all custom packaging, creative services, and co-packing purchased through Rootree for the duration of 2022.

Product Promotion

We understand how important word-of-mouth promotion is for small businesses, which is why we will promote your business on our social media channels, newsletter, and through a Case Study that will be featured on our website! In total, we have a reach of over 8,000 like-minded entrepreneurs that are eager to support fellow small businesses in any way they can.

Past Winners

2020: Yes Crickets
One of two 2020 recipients, Yes Crickets! Innovative, sustainable, and nutritious, the Owen Sound-based Yes Crickets is trailblazing in Canadian snacks with their dry-roasted crickets.

2020: Saw Dog Coffee
The other of the 2020 recipients, Saw-Dog Coffee Roasters. Based in Vermont, this coffee company is creating positive social and environmental change in so many ways—and producing doggone good coffee.

2019 : K9 Kelp
Our third recipient, K9 Kelp, creates an innovative and healthy dog treat—made from kelp! The Canadian company sustainably sources the kelp in BC, ensuring harvests are low-impact. For the oceans and the dogs—K9 Kelp was so worthy of an upgrade to customized packaging.

2019 : Carvalho Coffee
Our second recipient, Carvalho Coffee, started as a stock/label client, and was ready to jump into customized packaging! The Brazilian coffee company spans back five generations of family, today, producing beans on several farms across Brazil. What’s more, Carvalho Coffee creates a positive environmental impact by incorporating hard waste into the soil of the farms’ neighbouring preserved forests—nothing tops good coffee and a good footprint.

2019 : Café Las Peñas
Our first recipient & the inspiration behind the RT | Foundation, Café Las Peñas; a coffee company that produces and sells amazing beans to local markets and communities in Costa Rica. After our Rootree team visited the plantation in 2019 and had a fresh cup, we were inspired to redesign and manufacture an improved pouch to help the well-deserving Café Las Peñas stand out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be a current Rootree customer to apply?

You do not need to be a current Rootree customer to apply, nor will our Application Committee favour current customers over other applicants! This award is designed to help the small business community thrive.

Are there criteria I will be judged against?

Yes, the Application Committee has set aside certain criteria that they will use to declare a winner. These criteria are based upon the following:

the applicant’s business’ need for customized packaging (60%), and
sustainable efforts the business puts forward to create a greener earth (40%).

I have customized packaging, but it is old and outdated. Will I still be considered to win the contest?

Yes! We understand that taking the time and resources to redesign your packaging isn’t viable for everyone, which is why we created this award! Ideally, our winner will be someone who currently uses premade pouches with printed labels or outdated packaging.

My company has a Facebook account, but no Instagram—am I still eligible to apply?

No worries, you’re still eligible! To apply for the RT | Foundation Award, follow Rootree’s social media accounts on whichever platforms you presently have an account. If you don’t yet have social media accounts for your business, you will not be penalized.

Who is not eligible for the award?

Unfortunately, we can’t open this contest up to everyone in Canada and the USA. This year, the RT | Foundation Award contest will not be open to companies in the cannabis and pharma sector.

Eligibility

This contest is open to businesses based in Canada (including Quebec!) and the United States of America. One winner will be selected specifically from Quebec, and the other from Canada and the USA.

While you don’t have to be a small business or a business without customized packaging to apply, the goal of this award is to help smaller businesses get their foot in the door and into customized packaging. This means that as we go through applications, our Application Committee will show preference to businesses that could benefit from this award the most.

For this year’s award, companies in the cannabis and pharma sector will not be eligible to apply.
* Read our full Rules and Regulations. (PDF)