Manon Beauchamp-Tardieu, Little Green Panda
Eight tonnes of plastic waste enter the ocean every year; the equivalent to one garbage truck.
LGP co-founder Manon Beauchamp-Tardieu discovered this problem after she moved to Australia from France. Studying a double degree in business management and communications design at Swinburne University, she started working as a designer in the fashion industry.
“I saw the monumental amount of waste the industry produces,” recalls Manon.
“In fact, 85% of textile waste goes into landfill. I wanted to find a way to reduce this environmental problem and saw an opportunity to use the excess straws from making hats and bags which usually get burnt or thrown away.”
LGP have turned this opportunity into creating drinking straws that help to combat a huge environmental problem: single-use packaging.
“At LGP, we are on a journey to re-imagine disposable plastic in a sustainable way and straws are our first product,” says Manon.
LGP’s straws are typically made from wheat, bamboo and sugarcane waste sourced in Asia.
The straws are also 100% compostable, non-toxic, plastic free, gluten free and soggy free, creating something that is kind to the oceans and that meets growing consumer preferences towards environmentally friendly options.
Interest in the straws has boomed. LGP has now sold over 4.3 million home compostable straws to over 800 customers around the world - all made from agricultural waste products.
“Our sustainable straws are not only show stoppers. They provide farmers with a new revenue stream by utilising products that would have originally been disposed of,” explains Manon.
LGP currently sells mostly to businesses and franchises in the hospitality and hotel industry. Their clients range from boutique distilleries like Four Pillars Gin to hotel empires. Their traction internationally is particularly strong in France, where Manon and co-founder, Loris Campanile, originate.
Plant-based drinking straws are just the beginning. To work towards their vision, LGP is looking to expand their range to other products that typically rely on single-use plastics.
As founders with tremendous drive and ambition, LGP are self-starters who waste no time in achieving what they set out to do.
“Launching a start-up is rather challenging,” adds Manon.
“Some days, you’ll question why you should keep going when times get tough. However, this is why you need to remind yourself of the reason you launched in the first place. Being an entrepreneur takes courage and resilience, but most importantly a very strong sense of self-belief in your abilities and determination to forge your way into the unknown. Success is about 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration!”
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for LGP. After a momentous launch period with strong month-on-month growth, COVID-19 and the nation-wide closure of hospitality venues, festivals and travel stopped sales in their tracks, particularly in Victoria.
Thankfully, LGP have ridden out the worst of Melbourne’s lock down and have focused their sales efforts on interstate markets, which bounced back to life much more quickly. The team attributes their ability to navigate the storm by paying strong attention to those who have gone before them, and in many cases, failed.
SproutX were thrilled to have LGP join the 2020 cohort, and they have supported primarily through bespoke introductions and connections with the right mentors.
“The accelerator program started in May, just when our business went from hero to zero as the hospitality industry was shut down,” says Manon.
“During the program, it was a time to process our learnings and prepare ourselves on how we can recover, set strong structures and governance in place for when things kick back off.”
“Prior to COVID, we were so busy running the day to day operations, we finally were able to pause for a second and focus on the backend of the business with the help of incredible mentors, highly valuable workshops and the help from the SproutX team who have been incredibly supportive to my team and myself.”
