Brisbane school kids help invent revolutionary school snack syringe

Paddington inventor Jeff Roiron hit on the practical solution after his young daughters pointed out the plastic waste from conventional yoghurt pouches and schools have railed against plastic waste.

Now he is planning to revolutionise the way Brisbane school kids approach packed lunches and snacks with his Koor pump-action syringe set to replace expensive and environmentally unfriendly plastic food pouches.

Mr Roiron, who originally hailed from France, said his reusable flask with a plunger could be filled with drinks, yoghurt, soups and purees to take to school.

After experimenting with various alternatives, including unreliable and hard-to-clean refillable pouches, the dad stumbled on his unconventional, yet ingenious, idea to repurpose a large syringe-like flask as a food pouch.

“I enjoy making my own homemade yoghurt and fruit puree but I found myself reluctantly still buying expensive food pouches for my kids’ lunch boxes, picnics, and mountain bike sessions,” Mr Roiron said.

“There just wasn’t a convenient, cheap and reusable solution to feed my kids with homemade products when they were at school or on the go.

“Single-use food pouches just teach kids to throw away every day but my invention educates them to reuse and now schools have banned that type of waste anyway.

“My daughters said it feels good to stop throwing away all that plastic and I calculated that it saves us about $470 per year per child compared to buying in bulk instead of individual single-use yoghurt pouches from the supermarket.”

Mr Roiron said the invention, which is undergoing patenting, has been getting the thumbs up from parents and children at his daughters’ school at Milton with the container giving contents a longer lifetime compared to refillable pouches.

After school, the container can be put in the dishwasher for cleaning.

However, the journey to creating the perfect food pouch didn’t end there.

Recognising the need for refinement, Mr Roiron set out to address several key improvements including reducing the overall size of the container when full, designing a cap to keep the tip clean, and adding a handle for easy carrying.

He called it Koor, which sounds like “cours” in French, which means “run” and is a reference to kids wanting to eat quickly and run back to play.

The Brisbane invention has captured the attention of families across Queensland with Milton State School’s year 4 technology group joining the invention process.

In a collaborative effort, Mr Roiron and the year 4 students used the invention for a classroom project to find a real-world solution.

Through the partnership, students learned the importance of problem-solving and environmental stewardship.

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Now it is also being trialled in France and Europe.

Mr Roiron said Koor also helped promote healthier eating habits and reduce the cost of living with families able to fill the pouch with bulk-bought, organic, homemade, or locally sourced yoghurt or food, offering an alternative to fast food options.

Pre-sale orders for the Koor syringe containers can be made online for $30.