Have you ever wondered what happens to the plastic bowl your food comes in when you order your favourite dish? As the global food delivery market continues to expand, the environment often finds itself burdened; an estimated 3,50,000 tonnes of single-use plastic is waste generated every year.

The food industry relies heavily on plastic packaging due to its practicality. Its ability to prevent spills, and minimise costs makes it an attractive option for businesses.

But what if a simple material could withstand the high temperatures of piping-hot rasam (a south Indian broth), be spill-free, and also biodegradable?

Aecoz, a Bengaluru-based startup, is using paper to make cups, bowls and containers that are biodegradable and durable.

Founded by Dhanvita Sathyanand, Srinidhi Rajaram, and Bharath Sathyanand, this family enterprise claims to have prevented the use of over four lakh kilograms of plastic, while generating a remarkable Rs 5.2 crore in annual revenue.

Journey into entrepreneurship

Before they ventured into food packaging, the trio had thrived in corporate careers. With backgrounds in IT and management, they had worked at top firms like Infosys, Tesco, and JP Morgan. Despite their successful careers, they felt a calling to step out of their comfort zones and build something of their own.

This vision led the trio to establish Cartier Hotels, a four-star hotel in Bengaluru in 2015. While it was a rewarding experience, it also came with its share of challenges.

Managing the hotel exposed them to a glaring gap in the food and hospitality industry: inefficient procurement processes. “We realised how much time and resources were wasted in sourcing raw materials and managing supplies. It was chaotic, and we thought, why not use technology to solve this problem?” recalls Bharath, Dhanvita’s cousin.

This realisation sowed the seeds of their second venture — an innovative platform aimed at streamlining procurement in the hospitality sector named ‘Agrainz’. “We built a website to manage the raw materials for restaurants,” shares Srinidhi, Dhanvita’s husband.

Agrainz provided restaurants with calculations to determine the expected yield and minimise waste from their raw material purchases.........

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