Hello Green Ltd has established itself as the go-to company for the food and beverage industry to access and utilise biodegradable food containers, cups and other utensils as those businesses are the main distributors of single-use plastics.
Managing director Vandana Mangroo said with that noticeable gap, it was only natural for her to be drawn to solving the problem. The Woodbrook-based company distributes its products to several Caribbean countries – among them Dominica, Barbados and Grenada – and Mangroo plans to go beyond these soon.
"We are also looking at North America, Canada and Guyana, so not just the Caribbean, but because we hold the Caribbean near and dear, we are looking at expanding to the other islands."
Aside from expansion, Mangroo has been using opportunities at various expos the company has been invited to, educating the public on the products and its benefits.
Hello Green was invited to take part in an expo to be held in the Dominican Republic hosted by Caribbean Export in a few weeks. This comes as the company successfully completed its participation at the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo held last weekend at Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain. She said on educating visitors to her booth, all the responses received were mixed.
"A lot of people had never even heard of the options that we present, they thought we were a new company because we really do operate business-to-business, so we haven't had as much interaction with the general public. But at the expo, the Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon stopped by and were telling me that this is great, and this is the direction they are heading.
"It was great to let people see that we are out here, doing this work and networking in the industry to put Trinidad and Tobago as a more eco-destination and not just a business one. This will show businesses that they can put the environment as part of their core."
Hello Green also made waves in the food and beverage industry during the covid19 lockdown because despite commercial food establishments being closed, hospitals and quarantine facilities were up and running.
[caption id="attachment_971440" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The various biodegradable products Hello Green Ltd offers to the food and beverage industry in order to decrease the amount of single-use plastics. - Vishanna Phagoo[/caption]
"We remained open since we were deemed essential because of our customers which are hotels and quarantine centres. Those needed packaging because they weren't allowed to use reusable cutlery and had to use disposable. These businesses didn't want to use plastic or styrofoam and our products were available at the time since it was a tricky time to get these products."
Mangroo said the company also worked alongside the Supermarket Association of TT and provided the packaging for the food drives held during the lockdown.
"They provided meals every day for the doctors and nurses working at the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility and Caura Hospital.
