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Compostable plastic packaging start-up Vegware is planning to expand its range of products after selling 20% of its business to venture capitalists Bradenham Partners for a six-figure sum.

The company, which was founded by managing director Joe Frankel in 2006, has clients including Disney and a number of NHS Trusts, while it recently won a contract to supply the UK's leading independent caterer, Baxter Storey.

Vegware designs and manufactures a range of products used to serve and package foods and drinks, and was the first company in the world to produce a fully compostable plant-based sip-through coffee cup lid.

Frankel told Packaging News that his company has "all kinds of plans" to develop products for sectors outside food and drink, and that the investment, whose exact value has not been made public, will enable the firm to pursue that strategy.

Frankel said: "This exciting development allows Vegware to come into the mainstream where it is most needed.

"We know that we are very competitive in the eco-packaging marketplace. That's all well and good, but we want to be competitive with standard oil-based packaging. That's how we are going to make a real environmental impact."

The deal will also see Bradenham give Vegware support through its numerous contacts in the contract catering and retail sectors, enabling the packaging firm to win further contracts.

"We expect the new connections and contracts to bring in substantial additional turnover right from the outset, and we have plans for rapid expansion," Frankel added.

Keith Wilson, a co-founder of Bradenham Partners, said: "Vegware's success in producing a green, price-competitive range of products, ensures that they have real winner for the food service industry at no extra cost to the customer."

Vegware's products are all manufactured from annually-renewable or recycled materials and are biodegradable or compostable.

Products include compostable sandwich wedges made from unbleached card, with a corn-starch window and corn starch liner; deli pots and hinged-lid containers made from corn starch; and plates made from a mix of natural fibres, including badasse, a waste by-product from sugar manufacturing.

Vegware was set up to provide an alterative to the plastic disposables traditionally used by the catering industry.

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