Commonly found in most Australian households, the Esky has a long history dating back to 1884. It was first introduced in Australia by Australian company Malleys in 1952, with the first generation of Eskys known popularly as the ‘Esky Auto Box’. The Esky was so named because it entered the market at about the same time that regular Australians were just beginning to buy cars.

Initially advertised as the smaller version of Malleys’ Eskimo Refrigerator, the catchy Esky name was soon applied to the top-of-the-line model. The early version of the Esky had the outer and inner casing made from metal with a layer of cork sheeting for insulation. Within a decade, Malleys claimed that over 500,000 Australian homes had an Esky.

The evolving design of the Esky saw most of the metal being replaced with plastic by 1984, making them far lighter and easier to carry when having to walk long distances from the car.

The modern Esky is completely free of all metal componentry, and is mainly made from polypropylene (thermoplastic polymer) injected with polyurethane for insulation. This is the same polymer used to create Foamex rigid sheets of foam insulation used in housing insulation.  

Foamex Group offers three products for home insulation and noise reduction – Expol underfloor insulation, Styroboard expanded polystyrene sheets and XPS extruded polystyrene insulation boards.