Wendy Penn, Joint CEO of Disruptive Packaging, is helping reshape the packaging industry by questioning long-standing practices and developing solutions that respond to the changing needs of businesses and the environment. Alongside Joint CEO Brandon Penn, she has built Disruptive Packaging with a clear purpose: to challenge the conventional use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and waxed cardboard in secondary packaging, particularly for fresh produce, seafood, proteins, and temperature-sensitive goods.
Wendy Penn| Joint CEO | Disruptive Packaging
EliteX proudly features Wendy Penn in this edition, recognising a distinguished journey of leadership, innovation, and meaningful impact.
With more than 30 years of experience in business growth and executive leadership, Wendy brings a broad understanding of both commercial strategy and the packaging supply chain. Her professional journey began when she founded a financial trading software company before moving into senior leadership roles across the packaging sector. Her interest in packaging has been shaped by its combination of manufacturing, problem-solving, technical knowledge, and customer relationships. For Wendy, it is an industry where business decisions can create visible and practical results every day.
The future belongs to packaging that delivers with purpose.
At Disruptive Packaging, Wendy focuses on innovation, customer needs, strategic growth, and building a business prepared for the future. The company specialises in packaging solutions designed around real challenges within food supply chains. Its key innovation is URTHCOR®, a patented packaging material developed from earth-based minerals. It was designed to be non-fibre, waterproof, reusable, and closed-loop recyclable, providing an alternative to conventional packaging materials while maintaining the performance required in demanding applications.
Wendy believes that the packaging industry is experiencing significant change. Material costs continue to fluctuate, geopolitical developments create supply-chain pressures, and customers have increasingly high expectations. At the same time, regulations are becoming more complex. Rather than viewing these changes only as obstacles, Wendy sees them as opportunities to find better solutions. Her approach is based on understanding the problem clearly and then asking how innovation can create practical value.
Changing regulations are also influencing how Disruptive Packaging develops its products. Extended producer responsibility schemes across North America, Australia, and Europe are placing greater responsibility on producers and brand owners. Wendy’s team therefore focuses on helping customers understand the composition, performance, and compliance information connected with their packaging. The company considers reuse wherever practical, designs for recovery through mainstream systems, and provides supporting technical documentation as part of its normal supply process.
For Wendy, sustainability and performance should not be treated as opposing goals. Producers, growers, wholesalers, and distribution partners still need packaging that is durable and reliable. When solutions such as URTHCOR® can combine performance with reuse, recyclability, and efficient material use, customers can see that environmental responsibility can also support operational needs.
Innovation is central to Wendy’s leadership philosophy. She encourages people to question established methods and share ideas without fear of challenging the status quo. Disruptive Packaging operates across four countries, allowing commercial, technical, compliance, and manufacturing teams to work closely together. Many product improvements begin with a customer conversation, an observation from an operator, or an idea discovered in another market. These lessons are then documented, tested, and incorporated into standard practices.
Performance and sustainability can work together.
Technology and automation are also becoming important parts of the company’s growth. On the manufacturing side, automation supports consistency, efficiency, and scale while allowing employees to focus on higher-value responsibilities. Digital systems also help track material flow and ensure process scrap can be captured and returned to production. On the commercial side, the company is reducing manual data entry by carrying specifications, artwork, and delivery information from the point of sale through to manufacturing. Wendy sees this as particularly important because many packaging errors begin with information being entered incorrectly rather than with the manufacturing process itself.
Two recent milestones have strengthened the company’s international ambitions. Disruptive Packaging established a manufacturing and recycling plant in Mexico, creating local production and service capabilities in North America. The company also completed a US$30 million growth capital raise led by Idealist Capital. For Wendy, both achievements represent important steps in building the company’s international presence and supporting its long-term growth.
Looking ahead, Wendy expects packaging to become increasingly connected to supply-chain performance, material efficiency, automation, data, and regulatory responsibility. She believes young professionals entering the industry should learn the technical side of packaging rather than focusing only on commercial considerations. Understanding materials, testing, specifications, manufacturing, food safety, and environmental regulations can lead to stronger business decisions.
Her leadership philosophy is grounded in curiosity, resilience, listening, calculated risk-taking, and trust. Wendy values teams where people have the freedom and autonomy to use their expertise and make decisions. She believes recognising people’s strengths and passions is an important difference between simply managing people and truly leading them.
As the packaging industry continues to evolve, Wendy sees reuse becoming increasingly important. While recycling has received substantial attention and investment, she believes the strongest solutions may be those that prevent packaging from entering the waste stream in the first place. Her vision is to continue growing Disruptive Packaging while remaining focused on innovation, operational excellence, customer value, and honest communication. For Wendy, the future belongs to businesses that can prove what their products do, understand their limitations, and create packaging solutions that work in the real world.
Innovation begins by challenging what is accepted.