The trend for environmental friendliness is now especially popular: it is fashionable, responsible and future-oriented. Caring for nature, in addition to good deeds, can bring good profit. As an example - the company "Geovita", which makes millions on disposable tableware.
As it turns out, plastic straws are in 4th place in terms of debris in the oceans. From thoughtless human consumption, marine life suffers daily. Therefore, the trend for the search for a substitute for plastic is more relevant than ever.
In the production of nature-friendly straws, businessman Georgy Makarenko, together with partners, invested 11 million rubles. The idea quickly took root in Europe and the CIS. Now on the tubes alone, the profit is 150 million.
However, the “green” business is not limited to pipes. The Geovita company produces dishes, cutlery and packaging from environmentally friendly materials. Regular consumers of such products are such well-known companies as IKEA, Vkusvill, Alphabet of Taste, Marriott, Hilton, Russian Railways, Yandex and many others.
Businessman way
Disposable tableware made of environmentally friendly materials did not appear immediately as a business idea.
Georgy Makarenko’s career began in the sales department of a logistics company. In parallel, he quit his education at the university and will completely switch to practice.
In the process, he learned the characteristics of exports from China and developed a good base of partners. However, thoughts of his own business did not leave the active young man.
Together with a partner, they began to look for a promising product for import into Russia. The choice was made in favor of disposable tableware made from corn starch and sugar cane. There were almost no analogues of such products on the Russian market. Although, in foreign developed markets, “green” dishes have long been a promising product. So, in 2013, the company "Geovita" was created.
Catching the trend
At the initial stage, green dishes from Chinese factories were suspiciously accepted by the market. Why pay 6 times more when there is good old plastic?
When promoting the goods, they quickly focused on the segment of cafes, restaurants, hotels, food suppliers and distributors (the so-called HoReCa market), who had tasks to expand the product range. Now many companies and networks are massively switching from plastic to its alternative. For Western networks, this is the norm. Russian players are also pulling up.
Another 10% of purchasers are retail chains that need environmentally friendly packaging. However, Geovita does not make large bets on this segment, since a delay of 110 days greatly affects the stability of a small company.
Hold me straw, hold me
The development of the company, it was decided to connect with the creation of its own production base. The trend was copied based on data from the Mexican market, where paper straws have long been used in every establishment.
In March 2019, the company purchased the appropriate equipment and launched production in St. Petersburg in the summer. International chains of hotels, such as Marriott, Hilton, Novotel, Radisson, immediately showed interest. “Green” positioning is extremely important for these companies. The following strategic partners are fast-food restaurant chains. So next time pay attention to the tube.
Ecological battles
Sugarcane dishes decompose on average per week and form compost. A piece of polymer is present in corn starch dishes, which lengthens the natural processing time by up to 9 months.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, note that the so-called “green” dishes do not decompose completely, but break up into microplastic, which is also dangerous for flora and fauna. According to them, the best alternative to disposable items is their reusable counterparts.
Paper products are safer in this regard. Geovit claims that their material for pipes and utensils is environmentally friendly and does not harm the environment, and trees as raw materials are grown on special renewable plantations.