Karat's Goal Is To Build First-Of-Its-Kind Bagasse Production Plant In US: CEO Alan Yu - Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT)

Karat Packages KRT CEO Alan Yu shared his thoughts with Benzinga on the recently announced joint venture with Happiness Moon to establish a new corporation.
Karat plans to establish a new corporation, Green Earth Technology, to build a new 180,000 square-foot factory in Taiwan. It will hold a 49% interest in Green Earth, with a ~$6 million initial investment.
The new facility will be equipped with robotic automation to manufacture compostable foodservice products from bagasse, a derivative of sugar cane pulp.
Related: Karat Packaging Forms JV To Build New Factory In Taiwan
CEO Alan Yu provided comments on potential customers, importance, and next steps with respect to the JV.
He stated that bagasse, a derivative of sugar cane pulp, is a fast-growing source of 100% compostable material for the manufacture of disposable foodservice products. Currently, most of the bagasse products are imported from China, and the technology and machinery are not relatively available in the U.S.
"About 50% of the production at the new plant will be earmarked for Karat's customers, which are national and regional restaurants, foodservice distributors, online and retail customers," he mentioned.
He added that the remaining products would be for other global customers of the joint venture partner.
"Karat's goal is to eventually bring the technology and proprietary manufacturing processes to the U.S. and build a first-of-its-kind bagasse production plant in the next couple years, becoming the leading manufacturer of bagasse foodservice products for the U.S. market," shared CEO Alan Yu.
Price Action: KRT shares traded lower by 0.55% at $18.00 on the last check Friday.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs