Montrealer using antimicrobial technology in reusable bags

Long before it was deemed politically correct and socially fashionable, Sylvia Feldzamen had an aversion to plastic bags and foresaw the environmental dangers lurking therein. So, she focused on creating reusable bags made from sustainable recycled materials.

Then, prior to the pandemic, Feldzamen feared that reusable grocery bags could be breeding grounds for bacteria. With the help of some European scientists, her company Syfel became the first North American supplier to grocers and retail chains to integrate antimicrobial technology into its reusable bags and collapsible boxes.

An antimicrobial film is embedded into the products during the manufacturing process, thus reducing harmful growth throughout the life of the bags and boxes.

Not only have chains like Metro and Adonis embraced Syfel’s bags and boxes, but they have also made inroads throughout North America and Europe.

“The bags and boxes have been proven to inhibit the growth of potentially harmful microbes by up to 99.99 per cent, therefore providing a second line of protection for customers and store employees,” Feldzamen says in a FaceTime interview.

Syfel’s products have been tested, recognized and are compliant with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Association (EPA) standards.

“The grocery industry has been on the front lines in the battle to protect people from disease by providing everything from hand sanitizers to installing acrylic dividers to packaging items formerly housed in loose bins. The bags and boxes are just another step in this battle.”

Feldzamen’s foray into this business 25 years ago is equally fascinating.

“After my divorce, I had two kids to raise and needed to work,” says Feldzamen, whose mother and father, a Holocaust survivor, were bakers.

“I always had this passion for bags and started to work with someone in the business. But when that business ceased operations, I started Syfel in 2006, and the customers that I supplied then stayed on with me, and I still have them today.

“I only dealt in reusable bags from the very beginning and had never touched anything plastic. I also had this passion for doing something right. It just seemed so obvious to me even decades ago that plastic bags and bottles were posing and would continue to pose such a threat to the environment.”

The idea to pivot into antimicrobial products stemmed from health concerns confronting not only the general population but herself as well. She suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

“And being neurotic on top of that, I worried that people would stop using reusable bags for fear of contracting germs lying within and return to plastic bags,” Feldzamen says.

“Sure enough, some people were doing just that. It blew me away, because the whole idea had been to get rid of plastic bags. I really couldn’t accept that, so I started looking into other options — making bags with better material, better quality, better protection.”

That was nearly a year ago, before the pandemic hit here. Feldzamen teamed up with scientists and emerged with this antimicrobial additive that could be embedded in the manufacturing process.

“It’s this amazing film-like substance. It’s not anti-virus, but at least it’s antibacterial, which is the next best thing. … For now, this will make shoppers feel a little more safe,” she says.

Her first buyer for the new bags was Metro, which had been a regular customer before.

“They really liked the fact that not only was the food protected but that the antimicrobial additive would last the lifetime of the bags and boxes, because it doesn’t wear off.”

Other grocery chains and retail outlets here and around the world soon twigged to her products.

They cost from 99 cents for a grocery bag — which can hold the same as three single-use bags — to $25 for a stylish handbag. Syfel sales are now about $15 million a year and growing.