Footprint is a packaging company specializing in plant based fiber solutions. Why is this news? Because they just announced that they are going public. They are valued at $1.6 billion. Designed to be earth digestible, the packaging is innovative, patented meets market demand. The founder's stated goal is "get plastic away from food."

Who are they? Footprint is a materials science company that has developed an innovative blend of advanced coating and process technologies for plant-based materials to compete with and reduce traditional plastic-based technologies on both performance and price.

Their founders, Troy Swope and Yoke Chung are former Intel engineers. Their company is based in Gilbert, Arizona and is actively involved in the community through their Footprint Center. Partners in the Center include the Phoenix Suns who plan to use the plant-based products in their concession operations. Their global footprint is expanding to Euro sports teams, and they just opened their R&D headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Their substrates and designs are focused on the Frozen foods, Supermarket trays, Ready-to-Eat, Shelf Stable cups, Produce, fast food and consumer goods markets. The $1.6 valuation starts to make perfect sense. Providing a way to keep plastic out of landfills and reduce a carbon footprint for packaging companies as well as the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors is a winning idea.

Footprint's portfolio of plant-based solutions has created tremendous global demand from a blue-chip customer base that include Conagra, General Mills, Gillette, JBS Foods, Kraft, McDonald's, Nestle, Upfield, Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, Sweetgreen, Taylor Farms, Tyson, Unilever, Beyond Meat and Walmart The printing industry can learn a lot about what innovation can bring to our 500-year-old industry. Footprint is blazing a path that the graphics and print industries should follow. https://www.footprintus.com/