Better Bowls was founded by Elise Merckoll, as the result of her long-term (slightly coco) love for smoothies, and a nerdy interest in researching eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic.

She had spent months reading about different materials, and what –  technically – happens to them after being discarded.

She was astonished to learn that most of the ‘compostable’ alternatives to single-use plastic used in the to-go segment today actually does not break down as indicated – due to a lack of the commercial composting facilities needed in order for them to do so. At least that was the case in Norway; the birth country of Better Bowls.

THE SEED WAS PLANTED
It was during the time shortly after having baby boy no. 2, that Elise came across the information that planted the first seed of what became Better Bowls.

She read that most coconut shells were burnt after being utilised emptied for coconut water and flesh, and saw that there were already some traction for products made of coconut waste in other parts of the world. In Norway and Scandinavia, however, this seemed to be pretty much a blank canvas.

A CLEAR MARKET GAP
She noticed a rapidly growing interest in the health food scene in Norway, and saw a clear market gap: there were no or little alternatives to eco-friendly serving products for all these in-trend nutritious foods; that were equally beautiful and natural as their contents.

She found a family run business specialising in coconut shell waste in the Bến Tre province i Vietnam, and set up a webshop shipping globally from February 2020.