Cuba has not only grown in the world of entrepreneurship in recent years, but also boasts entrepreneurs who have incorporated the desire to be socially responsible into their business. Such is the case of Bambooleo Shop, proposing the replacement of plastic straws with new formats made of bamboo.
We spoke to David Chapet, the administrator of the online store, to learn details of the new proposal. “A couple of months ago, our team approached Enrique Hidalgo to provide a boost to the bamboo straws project, which until then had little visibility; and so we created Bambooleo Shop through an e-commerce chatbot.”
In fact, the project emerged in 2012, thanks to Enrique Hidalgo himself, who came up with it to try to change the way in which people interact with the environment and use its resources. After a period of learning, training and sustainable use/management of the crop, the technical requirements were established and the entire production process was mastered in order to achieve the final product.
“Today all the productive and logistic conditions are created to respond to clients’ orders, whether they are private or state-owned enterprises.”
The contribution of Bambooleo Shop is invaluable, from its conception to its development. The enterprise proposes a natural, recyclable and eco-friendly product, guaranteeing that the bamboo straws are 100% natural. In this process, all the production waste is used for animal feed, since it is biodegradable, and once their useful life is over, the straws can be returned to the soil and enrich it with their properties.
This product does not represent any danger for land or marine animal species. Above all, it is a tangible option to abandon the use of plastic, and the Bambooleo team recommends joining this eco-responsible campaign in pursuit of nature conservation.
“Several businesses have contacted us and voiced their interest in acquiring the straws in their different sizes. Some are already using them, but for the moment sales have been exploratory, as is to be expected when a new product is launched. In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which many businesses have practically stopped, we will have to wait for bars and restaurants to reopen, so that sales in the professional sector are much higher,” David Chapet explains.
This emerging venture in today’s Cuba is trying to raise awareness about the use of bamboo straws and their benefits. At every opportunity, especially on digital platforms, the team has stressed the importance of replacing plastic with biodegradable materials. In this sense, clients of gastronomic businesses have an important role to play in demanding the adoption of these products.
“Hence the phrase that we constantly repeat: ‘drink responsibly, demand your bamboo straw’; which is aimed exclusively at consumers, although in reality we all have a responsibility to care for nature and protect the environment, whether we are owners of gastronomic businesses or customers,” the administrator notes.
