Stalk Market rising fast on a sugar cane high

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Stalk Market makes compostable paper products using sugar cane fiber.

Editor's note: Stalk Market was a finalist in the Sustainable Business Oregon Innovation Awards for product. Read about other award winners here.

Buzz Chandler was in the business of frozen seafood back in 2002 when someone brought up the idea of making compostable paper products out of sugar cane fiber.

“It went up on the shelf and sat there for six months,” Chandler said. “You roll your eyes: ‘Yeah, I want to sell paper plates.’”

Turns it out wasn’t such a bad idea.

Chandler is president of Portland-based Asean Corp., a holding company for the Stalk Market, Planet+ and Jaya brands of compostable, plant-based dinnerware and cups.

The idea that initially underwhelmed Chandler nearly a decade ago has evolved into a business that generates more than $10 million in annual sales and has planted Stalk Market as a fast-rising niche player in a multi-billion global industry.

“Let’s put it this way, going up against the big boys — the billion-dollar companies — it doesn’t scare us in the least,” said Chandler, who sits on the board of directors of the Biodegradable Products Institute. “We can hold our own and we’re being seen now, I would say, by some of the companies in our field as more of an equal than an upstart.”

Asean Corp.’s product roster is segmented within the three brands:

• Stalk Market is the company’s biggest brand, and features paper tableware — including plates, bowls, boxes and cups — made completely from compostable sugar cane fiber.
• Planet+ features a line-up of cups, lids and containers made for hot food and beverages. The compostable cups are coated with biopolymers called Ingeo that’s made from natural plant sugars.
• Jaya is the company’s collection of clear beverage cups and cutlery made from plant-based and renewable sources.

When it was founded in 2003, Asean Corp. was little more than a box of samples and some hope before landing a meeting with Brian Rohter, a co-founder and former CEO of Portland-based New Seasons Market.

View all SBO award winners | See photos from the event

“We went over and talked to Brian and some of his people, going in just on a marketing study, and we walked out with an order,” Chandler said. “All we had was a box of samples. No pricing or production stock.”

With 10 full-time employees, the company now has distribution across the United Kingdom and Europe, ships to Brazil and has production operations in Asia.

Chandler said the company’s sugar cane fiber is sourced primarily from Thailand and a bit from China. The rest of its products are sourced from a mix of U.S. and Taiwanese factories.

Of all its products, only the company’s methods for giving its hot cups a higher heat resistance uses proprietary technology.

“The basic technology has been around so long that any patents on it have long expired,” Chandler said. “You’ve got to be committed to move at a lot of volume because it’s not cheap to put into the machinery.”

So what’s next?

Chandler plays coy on the subject.

“We’re looking at bringing out some new stuff.”