Vegware U.S. received a tremendous reception at this May’s National Restaurant Association show in Chicago.

QSRweb picked up on the interest, and filmed this clip of Bob Bond, president of Vegware U.S. introducing our range of eco friendly and compostable range of foodservice disposables.

Our new improved 7in biodegradable PSM cutlery is available as of June 1st. The main difference is that we have improved rigidity of the material, giving very sturdy utensils, and substantially beefing up the fork tines.

As always, Vegware cutlery is high-heat resistant, robust, reusable, more stylish and of course much more eco friendly than its plastic counterpart. More information can be found here.

Vegware’s new and improved version 2.0 compostable hot drink cup lids are now stock. Our updated material is more supple, which gives a stronger finished product. But don’t take our word for it….

Will Hamlyn of Zincc.com had this to say:

“Our client Rhodes Bakery was keen to follow as green a route as possible with their packaging. I contacted Vegware who supplied us with version 1 of their bio hot cup lids.

There were some initial problems with cracking as a result of the brittle material but Vegware stood by their promise and quickly developed a new version which after testing has proved to be much improved with none of the downsides of the earlier version. The client’s response was ‘Superb, lovely, perfect and great’!

I would happily recommend Vegware to anybody seeking bio packaging combined with a first class service.”

The new lids can be found on the hot cup page of our catalogue

We are pleased to announce the addition of a brown kraft version of our ever-popular compostable hot drink cups. The new cups use the same heavy-weight board as the white version, though the outside surface is uncoated for a natural and stylish look.

Currently, kraft hot cups are available in 12oz sizes, and we can offer the usual run of custom printing. More information can be found on Vegware’s eco hot cup page.

Next time you stand in the shower, take a moment to reflect that the warmth you feel is from the sunlight of hundreds of millions of years ago. Prehistoric plants absorbed the sunlight shining onto the earth, and stored it as carbon, which is now being extracted for our comfort and industry in the form of oil, gas and coal. Using these resources is not only driving climate change by putting carbon back into the atmosphere at a much faster rate than present day plants can absorb it, but also we are using them to produce epic quantities of rubbish which will litter the surface of the earth for thousands of years to come.

Modern shopping and eating habits mean that packaging and catering disposables quietly feature in our daily lives. The majority of these kinds of product – cutlery, cups, cling film, sandwich packs and so on - are made from oil-based plastics. Oil is a finite resource, and whilst some of these products can in theory be recycled, they very rarely are due to the expense of separating plastic from food and other kinds of waste. Right now, this waste ends up in landfill sites which are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive, as local authorities respond to the government’s landfill reduction targets.

At Vegware, our solution is to take a fresh look at the materials used in disposables and packaging, and replace existing products with low-impact versions. We use either annually-renewable or recycled raw materials, and ensure that our finished cups, plates, takeaway boxes and food packaging are all biodegradable or compostable. This means that Vegware products are cleaner and safer to manufacture, and don’t need to go to landfill after use.

We see that the way forward for food packaging is to produce products which can be disposed of along with any food waste. Then there’s no need for expensive and time-consuming sorting of the different waste streams, or confusion over which bin to use.

As of Monday 26th January 2009, Vegware products can be ordered online and shipped direct to Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, to name but a few!

Vegware compostable packaging is already available in Ireland through to Odaios foods in Dublin or Southern Tapes and Packaging in Cork.

We’d like to announce the arrival of our new dispenser-fold recycled napkins. These are unbleached single ply 32 x 30cm napkins, folded down to 16 x 9cm. They are made in the UK, and have the WRAP ‘Recycle Now’ logo printed on them in water-based ink.

We offer free recycled card dispensers to accompany the napkins, and we think that they offer fantastic value! More information and images can be found here.

“Bobbi’s Style Buzz” Segment Spotlights Vegware Spoons

Vegware US is happy to announce that one of their biodegradable products, an eco-friendly spoon was featured on NBC Network’s The Today Show on Tuesday, December 9th,2008.

The company’s corn starch spoon was included in an on-air segment hosted by the show’s long time style editor Bobbi Thomas, in a demonstration that included her dipping Vegware spoons into melted chocolate and then rolled in tasty toppings as part of a holiday presentation.  Bobbi Thomas, who has been known to frequently spotlight earth-friendly consumer products, chose Vegware spoons for the segment because the item is fully compostable, petroleum free and  eco-substainable.

The entire Today Show segment can be seen online by clicking HERE.

VegwareUS to help diners “Bring It Home Green”

Danielson, CT  Novemeber 19, 2008 -  VegwareUS, a newly formed Danielson, Connecticut based company, has signed an exclusive deal to market Vegware© brand eco-friendly restaurant supply products throughout the North American continent and recently announced the initial distribution of eco-friendly products to North America.  Vegware’s line of plates and bowls, knives and forks, cups and to-go boxes are all created from natural products and are all fully biodegradable and/or compostable.

Originally sold in Europe by Scotland based Vegware, these high quality, environmentally sustainable products reflect the growing corporate shift towards both sounder manufacturing options as well as smarter end-of-life procedures.  At a time when America’s dependence on foreign energy has become a definite liability, VegwareUS owner Robert Bond proudly points out that not a single item in the company’s inventory contains any petroleum based substance.

“We’re hoping to set the example,” explains Bond,  “Vegware’s fiber based products present saner ecological and economic options that could have a significant impact in reducing the amount of waste generated from disposable tableware and cutlery products.”

North American consumers are ordering take-out meals in record numbers.  U.S. government statistics show American families spend $3,360 a year to avoid cooking at home.  Currently, an estimated 39 billion items of disposable cutlery make their way to American landfills yearly (source: The Food Packaging Institute, Washington, D.C.).   Unlike traditional cutlery, Vegware products are designed to breakdown naturally, eliminating unnecessary waste.

In addition to helping to manage waste, the manufacturing process for creating Vegware products also represents a breakthrough in both simplicity and eco-efficiency.  Renewable raw materials, such as corn, potato and cassava provide the fiber and starch which comprise the building blocks of these items.  Bagasse, one of the most popular Vegware offerings, is a byproduct of sugar cane which is made from the dry fibrous residue left after the stalks have been crushed to extract juice.  Bagasse plates and bowls are created by a high-heat, high-pressure process that requires the use of considerably less energy than that used when pulping wood for similar paper products.  These pieces are remarkably durable and especially well suited for holding hot, wet or oily foods.  An added benefit to Vegware’s ease in manufacturing will be the flexibility it offers in both servicing specific client needs and in keeping up with changing market trends.

About VegwareUS
VegwareUS is a Connecticut-based company offering an environmentally sustainable range of cutlery and tableware products.   The company exists to provide economic, eco-friendly, and high quality options to the food service industry while simultaneously providing the highest possible levels of customer service.  VegwareUS’s longer term goal is to play a part in enabling a paradigm shift in how waste is managed.   To learn more, please visit www.vegware.us.

We’re very proud to say that we got there first! Finally, a fully biodegradable and compostable hot drink cup and lid combination.

Our cups are made from quality heavy-weight paper board, and have a corn starch lining rather than plastic. The matching sip-through lids are made from corn starch in the form of PLA with an additive which makes them heat-stable, though does not affect their environmental credentials.

More information can be found on our hot-cup page.