A Portuguese company is making an impact by selling unopened packages that never reach their destination.
Trevobox, a company from the Algarve, is making an impact in Portugal with a business model that has been gaining popularity in other European countries over the last few years: selling lost parcels by weight.
After several events in the south of the country, the brand has arrived in Greater Porto with a pop-up store in Parque Nascente, in Rio Tinto.
The origins of the business lie in parcels that never reached their destination, for various reasons, and were destined for incineration. To mitigate the problem, the products began to be sold to the public, with an exciting condiment: surprise.
‘We don't know what's inside the parcels and neither do the customers. Orders are sold by weight, starting at 2.49 euros per 100 grams, and we've already had some remarkable moments, like when a lady said she was going to get a mobile phone and that's exactly what happened. Every customer who opens an order can find something totally unexpected and that's part of Trevobox's charm,’ emphasises the brand's founder, Miguel Puech.
The Trevobox pop-up store will be open to the public in Parque Nascente until the end of March, replicating the success of previous initiatives by the company that was born in November 2024.
In four months, the concept has gradually secured the interest of the Portuguese public, replicating a reality that has already been consolidated throughout Europe. The Algarve company's supply network is mainly international, guaranteeing diversified parcels discarded by shippers, usually from the Asian market.
Unclaimed parcels can contain electronic items, clothes, toys, utensils and much more, without a full satisfaction guarantee for customers: ‘Basically, it's like Christmas.Everyone gets a present, they don't know what's inside, usually it's even more than they expected, but the opposite can happen, due to taste or expectations. There's just one extremely important rule: you can't open or peek inside the parcel, so as not to spoil other people's experience.’
Miguel Puech also says that the public's curiosity has generated large queues and demand.
‘Our strategy for 2025 is to expand the concept to other cities in Portugal, consolidating our presence in the country, always in the pop-up format, which allows us to test new markets and keep the experience always dynamic and exclusive. In addition, we are planning our first internationalisation, taking Trevobox to new markets in Europe,’ concludes the company's founder.