Terravive debuts new line of compostable foodware products

Compostable foodware manufacturer Terravive is on a mission to reduce global plastic pollution using the strength of innovation and American manufacturing. With a 100-item product line that includes newly launched sandwich wrap, carryout bags, fiber bowls and three-compartment plates, the Henrico company finds customers’ pain points and provides environmentally friendly, nontoxic solutions

At its core, Terravive’s products are healthy for the planet, for people and for the economy, its execs say. The carryout bags are made from a novel blend of compostable polymers — giving them the strength and elasticity of regular plastic but allowing them to degrade in three months or less in compost conditions.

Its new fiber bowls and three-compartment plates are made from sugar cane grown in the U.S. The new sandwich wrap is a departure from traditional nonstick wraps that contain forever chemicals.

“We are using a type of [Forest Stewardship Council]-certified kraft paper that is heat treated in a way that creates a type of gloss without added PFAs,” said founder and CEO Julianna Keeling. “With each of these products we’re launching, there are multiple customers already committed to purchasing them, so now the focus is on meeting the operational and delivery requirements while also making sure other potential clients know about the product launches.”

While the company declined to comment on annual revenue, it anticipates continued rapid growth.

Domestic manufacturing is a core component to Terravive’s story. In addition to offering supply chain reliability and quality control, the founders recognize the positive impact American manufacturing has on families and communities close to home. Terravive contracts with 16 manufacturing locations in the U.S. that support three distribution centers in Dallas; Greensboro, North Carolina; and Oakland, California. It ships throughout the U.S. and in four continents.

“We’re focused on food service and support operations from Virginia Tech and Washington & Lee, to Target stores, to military bases like Fort Gregg-Adams, to embassy operations around the world,” Keeling said.

In 2023, Keeling and Joe Swider, who joined Terravive in 2019 as vice president and chief operating officer, were mulling a potential switch to building their own manufacturing operations — something that would necessitate bringing in outside money. So far, the company has not raised any money and has grown through cash flow, grants and traditional banking relationships.

The company’s ongoing challenge is to get the word out about its environmentally friendly, nontoxic options when lobbyists and companies participating in greenwashing often have louder voices, Keeling said. Terravive is active on LinkedIn and posts about environmental issues such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

“Our most successful customers evaluate their choices through a lifecycle cost lens,” Keeling said. “Although it might be cheaper up front to buy products from overseas, those products create microplastics that we eventually ingest into our bodies.”