Blowing our minds by ending plastic, one drink at a time, Teresa Aylott and Manon Beauchamp-Tardieu have given us 100% compostable, soggy-free, reusable, and 100% biodegradable product to enjoy our drinks guilt-free.
With the developing world, mindsets of people have also developed and they are aware of what this world wants. People are getting to know the necessity for sustainability. In the past few days, I came across so many stories about sustainable products and people who are motivated to work for them. I have found so much inspiration from these people and I hope that you all also see what is so special about it.
Recently, I came across a business started by two women Teresa Aylott and Manon Beauchamp-Tardieu from Australia who built a new brand Little Green Panda with a motive of ending plastic, one drink at a time. These proud owners have established a product that I have never heard of.
We all are trying to reduce the use of plastic from our side. That is why maximum restaurants and cafes have stopped providing plastic straws and replaced them with paper straws. This has been a great step. However, after some time the straw becomes soggy and isn’t reusable. So, people don’t like using them a lot.
To avoid all these problems, Teresa and Manon launched their product back in 2018. These are reusable, sustainable, and biodegradable drinking wheat straws. Yes, you heard it right, wheat straws. But what is it made of? Is it safe? When and why did they start? What is so special about it? There might be millions of questions in your minds right now and you will get an answer to every one of them.
Teresa and Manon met at a networking event and they bonded over their similar thoughts about removing plastic products. They both had the same mission. While they researched plastic-free products they came across the idea of wheat straws and started producing them.
The straws they produce are reusable and customizable Bamboo straws as well as single-use straws made from Wheat and Cane. The products they use are mostly by-products, or organic waste so they promote recycling. The Bamboo products are sourced from Vietnam and Wheat from Mongolia. When they began searching for reusable straw options they found out that before plastic straws were invented back in the 1800s people used wheat straws, which proved that we had good options before but now we have made ourselves dependent on plastic more than ever.
After the production, they started selling on Amazon in the beginning and later they moved on to social media and their own website. Many local restaurants, bars, and hotels approached them for single-use products, and that’s when they knew they were successful.
They were growing. They started around 28 months ago and now they have achieved heights. Little Green Panda has sold more than 3 million straws and has a 200% month-on-month revenue growth. Now the company’s 80% stock goes to hospitality clients and they have also stocked at large French supermarket chains.
When they started they were a low-budget startup and they never paid attention to the marketing. They started to put it out there through Instagram and have been growing since then. It was more of awareness when they started. They wanted more people to know about this. Moreover, it was not just selling straws it was selling a movement that they wanted to start so that they could eliminate plastic.
Their motive was clear and they knew their path. They wanted to make money but with scratch. They wanted to create a change.
Manon also states that they don’t want credit for this as they have only brought back what was forgotten. Motivation comes from a point and these women have motivated us to bring changes in our lives.
Edited by Mallika Malvia