The last two years have seen Sri Lanka’s environment take a beating; our most recent devastating blow has been the ecological disaster wrecked by the MV X-Press Pearl, seriously damaging our already incredibly polluted ocean with tonnes of microplastic.
Plastic is one of the biggest contributors to environmental pollution, harming marine life, contributing to climate change, and just making our planet that much dirtier. For the planet to survive intact, for ourselves, and for the future, we need to start making changes to how we live, and more importantly, how we act as consumers.
Greenventure Lanka is a sustainable business that has been born out of this need to live and do better. Providing sustainable solutions to packaging for the food industry, from restaurants to cafes to home businesses, Greenventure Lanka provides businesses and customers the chance to make small changes to their daily lives that can make a big difference in the long run by choosing not to use plastic.
Brunch sat down with Greenventure Lanka Director Melinda De Zoysa to learn more about this environmentally driven brand.
What does Greenventure Lanka do?
We’re essentially a small business that started two years ago. We're still a home-based business, we couldn’t expand properly because of the pandemic. What we do is provide everything our clients want in terms of packaging under one roof. We started with sustainable cutlery, and have since grown to being able to provide all packaged solutions.
There is a portion of the packaging we offer that is not sustainable, but we try as much as possible for all our solutions to be 100% sustainable. One example is the coffee cup, which cannot be fully sustainable because of the plastic lid it needs, but very recently, we found an alternative via sugarcane lids.
What makes Greenventure Lanka unique is that we cater to our customers individually. We don’t have a huge customer base, but we prioritise our customers and make sure that we test our products properly prior to putting them out, so that we can answer any questions and address any issues. We cater to customers of all sizes, from home businesses to large restaurants, and remain consistent in making sure we always have enough in stock ready in hand to match their requirements for three to four months at a time.
We have no MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) in terms of quantity or price, and anyone can order any amount of products from us.
[caption id="attachment_146139" align="alignright" width="225"]
Melinda De Zoysa[/caption]
What inspired Greenventure Lanka?
Initially, I was in the food business (with a food truck) and I didn’t like the fact that I had to give plastic cutlery to my customers. But at the time, there was no proper solution in hand, and I could not provide the solution I was looking for. This was what eventually led to Greenventure Lanka. Once I stepped away from my food business, I realised I needed to make a difference, and help people like myself who are in the food business and looking for sustainable solutions.
I started with wooden cutlery, and then moved on to paper cups and tubs. These were all imported, because they were not being manufactured locally. Locally, we had craft paper boxes, but these were more expensive and also had issues like leakage. Most of the paper products Greenventure Lanka sells are imported, but we do make a small percentage of products locally, designing and making it in such a way that leaking out is not an issue, and that polythene doesn’t need to be used when serving food in those products.
What was the response like to sustainable packaging? Why is it important for businesses to offer sustainable solutions?
The response has been mixed. My partner and I approached most of the companies who form our client base today to explain what we were doing for them and how it would be good for their businesses to make a positive change.
Many businesses were responsive, but when you compare the prices of plastic spoons to wooden spoons, for example, there is a small difference in price, and for these businesses, they will need to see that change and realise that it is going to be a change for them because they have to buy a stock that is more expensive than what they were used to.
I’ve had some companies who have been very kind and enthusiastic and have thanked us for approaching them, because they haven’t had the time to look for suppliers and make that kind of change, but I’ve also had businesses tell me it’s not a change they can make at this time.
With the importance of offering sustainable solutions, there is a saying that good practice can attract new customers. Right now, our generation is getting more and more educated on what environmental pollution means and they are becoming more conscious, and if companies and businesses were to look at sustainable solutions and contribute to protecting the environment through introducing something new to their customers, these businesses will be able to create long time value that will excite, retain and attract new customers.
How has the pandemic affected Greenventure Lanka?
We started up Greenventure Lanka just before the pandemic. The majority of our products are imported from China. There is a struggle, and things are slow. Taxes have also increased, but we try to keep the same consistency in how we operate. We don’t want to say no to our customers, so we somehow push and get our products though; we also keep three to four months of stock ready with us so that even if there is a delay, we can still serve our customers.
The pandemic has affected everybody, especially restaurants, but for us, thankfully, it has not been that bad.
How would you recommend people start making sustainable changes to their lifestyles?
It’s always easy to say “don’t use plastic”, but this is much easier said than done. What I would suggest is for people to consider making small changes to their day-to-day habits. For example, consider using a wooden toothbrush as opposed to plastic one, or wooden cotton buds (Greenventure Lanka offers products like these as well); think about small things like taking reusable bags with you when going shopping; and carrying your own refillable bottle of water. These little things help. It’s also very important to educate our kids on what is right.
Even with Greenventure Lanka, we’re not 100% plastic free. When we import from China, our products come sealed in plastic. That’s something we cannot avoid for logistical and safety reasons, but we do take steps to limit how this plastic can cause damage. We have our own sustainable packaging and bags for redistribution, and only deliver products with the plastic when it’s a large order like when someone orders a pack of 100 cups (the cups come sealed in packets of 100). We don’t include any extra plastic in our operations and packaging.
Our hope is that people will realise that Sri Lanka being one of the world’s largest plastic polluters and accumulators is crazy, especially being such a small country, and that we can all make a change.
What are your hopes for Greenventure in the future?
My plan would be to open a physical store, for people to be able to see what we do and expand my business to all parts of the island. I need to thank my business partner for making this dream of mine possible and my three sons for supporting me in my journey. Without them, Greenventure Lanka would not have been possible.
To learn more about Greenventure Lanka and their products, please visit their Instagram page.
Instagram: @greenventure_lanka