Who are we?
Welcome to Chuk! Ever thought compostable tableware could be sturdy? Chuk is India’s No.1 sugarcane-based tableware brand that’s as tough as it is kind to the Earth, now available in the USA. With these toxin and chlorine-free bagasse plates, bowls, meal trays, and delivery containers, your customers can enjoy their meals safely. Chuk is all about enhancing the eating experience for your customers. Happy customers are worth it. Best of all, when your customers are done eating, you can just toss these bagasse disposables in the compost bin and let Mother Nature do its little trick!
How we are making change?
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What motivates us?
Chuk is a group of passionate individuals who believe that our everyday work can make a huge impact on our community, our planet and us. We work in self-organized structures rather than hierarchy. We hire from disadvantaged populations. We innovate to solve environmental problems. We subsidize children’s education. We use zero fossil fuels in production. We help little old ladies cross all streets and kiss babies too. Are we perfect? Hardly. But we’re trying
And what are we going for? We want to reduce garbage, replace plastics with non-toxic alternatives, and make the Mother Earth do a little dance as she gets cleaned up. We want to leave the earth better for your kids, their kids, the cows, the turtles, the mangoes… you get the point. Now join us!
You Won’t Want To Miss This
A revolution doesn’t happen in a day. Check out our timeline below to see how it all started, some inside scoops, the evolution to CHUK, and perhaps even some pretty fabulous baby photos.
1940
Petroleum-based plastic hit the market. (Plastic takes 500 years to START decomposing. Just think, all the plastic that has EVER been manufactured hasn’t even started… we got work to do.) 
1975
Ved was born… we only include this to embarrass him and point out the irresistible “I’m here to tackle the world grin.” Nothing has changed since then. 
1981
Pakka Limited, CHUK’s parent company, was established by entrepreneur, motorcyclist, world traveler, maverick, (and father of Ved), KK Jhunjhunwala. His wife sold her wedding jewelry to fund the start up and they functioned lean…his “office" was sitting on the ground under a tree for the first two years. 
1982
Seven-year old Ved opens his first business— a snack stand just outside the factory gate that opened right at quitting time. The young entrepreneur lasts one day until his mother shuts him down for coercing employees into buying. You got to look out for those regulators. 
1991
YPL establishes a strong presence over low grammage kraft market… and KK runs off to bike the Canadian Rockies and Ved works the night shift. (Give or take a few years. We can’t remember all of KK’s adventures!) 
1995
YPL decided we needed a little more light in our lives… ok, actually electricity. So we set up a power plant fueled by rice husk— and now are the only compostable tableware business in the world that supplies all our own energy from bio-fuel. Go ahead. You can start singing, “Yooooou light up my liiiife… you give me hoooope…." 
1998
YPL first starts exporting. Now we deliver not only all over India, but also to happy customers all over the world. Apples in Iran, gyros in Greece, surgical gloves in South Africa — we got ‘em covered. 
1999
KK was ready to ride his bike full-time. Ved had planned on running off to New Zealand to open an outdoor adventure business… but thought he could do a lot of good back at home. So, after job titles at YPL such as night shift machine operator, drain sweeper, paper filer, truck unloader, gopher boy, newspaper deliverer, salesman and more— Ved came on as Managing Director. As he says, “Doing all those other jobs meant I knew everyone knew more than I did. It’s a good understanding from which to run a business." 
2003
Lots of players had crowded the low grammage kraft market and we needed a new challenge. We evolved into a specialty-grade paper company for food and pharmaceutical products. You've ripped into a sugar sachet at Cafe Coffee Day or eaten at McDonald’s? You’ve touched YPL paper. 
2005
We didn’t have to, but we wanted to. Everyone thought we were crazy, but we already knew that. So, we bought some very expensive chemical-recovery equipment and slept better at night. Now, more than 95% of all cooking chemicals are recovered… and we haven’t given up getting that last 5%. 
2007
Who knew that a choice made way back when would be so key now? We set up a new, modern pulp mill that more than doubled our capacity. What does that mean for us now? We are the only pulp-2-product manufacturer in the world for compostable tableware… so you can count on us for quality, consistency, and reliable supply. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves on the timeline… keep going! 
2009
After nose-to-the-grindstone for fourteen years, Ved looked around one day and had a personal crisis. He was in the packaging business… and he saw the results of his manufacturing everywhere…. as in, everywhere everywhere EVERYWHERE all over the ground. India (and the world) needed new products that would biodegrade. 
2010-2014
We tackled all sorts of challenges in teaming up with international research firms and institutions to solve packing issues. The world needs compostable chip bags and environmentally-friendly barriers in tea pouches… frankly, we’re still at it. 
2014
The concept of CHUK is born! First products? Compostable tableware to reduce what goes to the landfill. And (almost) instantly there was complete world peace. All wars ended, people put down their arms, and sat down to delicious banquets. Everyone was happy and cared for and there wasn’t anything else anyone would wish for. Ok, not. But at least together we can ensure we don’t let trash take over the world! 
2017
CHUK is launched! We ran here and there and everywhere for three years to get funding, machines, fabulous designs, market research, a dedicated team, a building to hold eight giant machines, and more. Does it sound exhausting? Nope, we are still riding the high of working passionately to help the world. You gotta try it. And, 50% of the new CHUK plant is staffed by village women, some of them specially-abled. You can do business and do good. 
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Chuk Works In A Circle
There’s a new buzz word in town – the circular economy. We are big fans – especially since we’ve been doing exactly that for over thirty years. All our bagasse tableware products are made from agri-residue. What is agri-residue? It’s simply the leftovers that used to be burned. Now, we use it to make juicy, glumpy, glorious pulp. But let’s start at the beginning.
1. Growing
Sugarcane grows abundantly where we live and then sweetens the world.
We are the only pulp-2-product brand in the world. What does this mean for you? You can count on us for quality, consistency, and reliable supply. Basically, we’re in it together and CHUK products roll off the shiny machines ready to head your way. Making things will always require energy and perhaps waste— but we’re trying our best to minimize harmful impact. And if you got any ideas on how we can do any better, we’re happy to hear!