Aussie lawyer and entrepreneur Fiona Raphael turned an accidental discovery into a thriving sustainability business, increasing revenue five-fold in just one year.
The Produce Pod works to keep vegetables fresh for up to six weeks in the fridge, saving customers money by reducing food waste.
Each year, households in Australia generate food waste costing them around $2,500, and the issue of food waste costs the Australian economy around $36.6 billion each year.
“Every Pod saves customers money by reducing their food waste, but also gives people a functional alternative to storing their produce in disposable plastics,” Fiona said.
A lawyer and mum with no background in business, Fiona first made the discovery of her product after leaving a bunch of mint inside a damp cotton bag, which was also inside a PUL bag.
“When I remembered the mint three weeks later, I was totally shocked to find it in pristine condition. This was when I started getting a bit excited. I thought you don’t forget about a bunch of mint and find it pristine after 3 weeks, this is not normal,” Fiona said.
“I ended up keeping the mint for over six weeks. At six weeks ninety per cent of the bunch was still fresh and green. I thought, wow, this is actually quite a big discovery!”
The way the Pods work is that the damp cotton inner layer keeps the veggies hydrated, while the outer layer prevents them from drying out too soon. But both layers are breathable, which means that (1) your veggies don’t suffocate, and (2) moisture can escape at a slow rate so that condensation doesn’t build up.
Fiona’s initial business step was using organic Instagram reach to try to spread the word about this innovative product, which she launched in October 2022.
“Having spent a fair chunk of savings on stock and the patent application, I wasn’t prepared to spend any money on marketing unless the business had success with customers and made money first,” she said.
Looking back, Fiona says with more experience in business, she would have gone ahead and allocated money to marketing at the time, however it was a learning process.
After nine months, the Produce Pod had only made a few thousand dollars in revenue, but Fiona says she had an instinct that things would pick up ounce people discovered how useful the product could be.
She was right. In mid 2023, a caravanning influencer discovered the product and shared her thoughts on social media. The Pods then began flying out the door by the hundreds and sold out in a matter of days.
In 2023, the business revenue came to just over $50,000, and in 2024, this jumped to just shy of $250,000.
Fiona says a lot of the business’ success came from outsourcing, using Meta Ads and moving into wholesale– a process that required six months of Fiona working behind the scenes.
“Produce Pod attended its first trade show in February 2025 and we now have a range of stockists in five states of Australia,” Fiona said.
“Margins, packaging, displays, barcodes and pitching to retailers all have to be in place and perfected because you’re selling to another business which has expectations and needs to make a profit from your product.”
Fiona’s ultimate goal is to make the game-changing Pods as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.
“We have a good number of regional stockists, which is exciting because when access to fresh produce is less frequent, people need Produce Pods even more,” she said.