Thinking Outside the Box: Nina Nguyen

(CEO Magazine): Every aspect of Pakko is infused with Nina Nguyen’s boundless passion. The CEO and Founder of the Australian manufacturer of custom packaging lights up when talking about cardboard boxes, her team, and their shared vision for the future.
Born in Malaysia, Nguyen and her family fled Vietnam in the 1980s. After several years in a refugee camp, the family was granted refugee status in Australia and eventually settled in Western Sydney.

“My family faced numerous challenges when we arrived. Amidst the language barriers and cultural adjustments, we relied on the support of the community and charitable organizations who extended a helping hand by providing us with the essentials such as clothing, shelter and food,” she recalls.

“It’s through these personal experiences that I learnt to be resilient and to make the most of every opportunity that would come my way.”

Nguyen’s entrepreneurial spirit flourished from a young age as she launched businesses across a diverse range of categories from beauty to fashion and body art. But the seed for Pakko was planted after Nguyen and her family relocated to regional Queensland in 2008 so her parents could pursue their farming aspirations.

Identifying a need
Nguyen saw a huge gap in the Australian market for custom short run packaging that was high-quality and eco-friendly.

“My parents struggled to find packaging for their products that had the essential qualities of moisture resistance and could handle the different weather conditions. I wanted to help my parents, so I explored importing packaging from overseas,” says Nguyen, who was awarded the PIDA award for the Young Packaging Professional of 2021.

She soon set her sights on producing the packaging locally after hitting too much red tape internationally.

“This was an opportunity that presented itself. I became aware that there needed to be a manufacturer that could deliver cardboard packaging in time with no minimum order quantities, high quality and made here in Australia,” she says.

With financial backing from her parents, in 2017 Nguyen brought to life Pakko, a cardboard manufacturing business with no minimum orders and lead times of 10 to 12 working days.

“Pakko was destined in my heart to be a venture that would resolve cardboard packaging challenges for local growers and all businesses across Australia. Right from the start, my mission was to create a blueprint for a manufacturing renaissance in Australia,” she says.

Fast forward to 2023 and Pakko is well on its way to revolutionizing the packaging industry. While the business has raked up countless accolades, it’s the ethos, culture and hard-working team that excite Nguyen about the company’s future.