Interview by Audrey Russo and Jonathan Kersting
What if the fork you use for five minutes did not stick around for the next 500 years?
Terravive Founder and CEO Julianna Keeling and President Joe Swider join Jonathan Kersting and Audrey Russo on TechVibe Radio to explore how the company is building a healthier, more sustainable alternative to single-use plastics. TerraVive manufactures compostable takeout containers, cups, cutlery, plates, films and other food-service products using materials sourced and manufactured in the United States.
Keeling traces the company’s roots from her early work developing a biodegradable blood-pressure cuff to TerraVive’s expansion into the massive food-service market. Swider, a mechanical engineer, Navy veteran and serial entrepreneur, recounts how seeing plastic waste floating in the middle of the Atlantic helped spark his interest in the mission.
The conversation digs into Terravive’s rapid growth, expanding healthcare applications, commitment to American manufacturing and relentless focus on customer service. The company has doubled its revenue in each of the past two years, tripled it the year before that and now supports more than 1,000 American jobs.
Hit Play to get a:
A fresh look at the plastic problem: Learn why TerraVive believes items used for only a few minutes should not remain in the environment for centuries.
A Pittsburgh-powered growth story: Hear how Keeling’s materials-science background and Swider’s engineering and business experience combined to accelerate the company.
Made-in-America innovation: Discover why TerraVive rejected advice to outsource overseas and instead built a domestic supply chain designed to create jobs and shorten lead times.
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Plastics was like Edison's very first light bulb. It was incandescent. It was barely working. It probably smelled. But now we are at the stage of these beautiful lights in this room. Okay, guys, does this make sense to ship this fork 7,000 miles for you to use it for five minutes? You throw it away and it's around for 500 years
So much fun hanging out with you today. Thank you. Audrey, it's like having friends and family in the Huntington Bank studio. This is gonna be fun. It is. This is fun. Yes. I will try to keep it really laser focused, but I apologize- ... if I digress. Just warning everyone, because this is, there's a lot to cover in this.
There is a lot to unpack, and this is a company that we've admired for quite a long time. I know. It's been a while. And they're making a product that we don't always think about it until you really start thinking about it. But once you think about it, you can't not think about it. Exactly.
That's the cool thing about their work. Oh, yeah. So what are we thinking about today, Audrey? What are you think- Well, let u- let's have our guests introduce themselves. What a great [00:01:00] idea. Well, thank you so much, Audrey and Jonathan, for having us on. It's truly a pleasure, and thank you for having us in the Huntington Bank studio.
My name is Julianna Keeling. I'm the founder and CEO of Terravive, and proud members. That's great. That's great. Yep. And, and
go ahead. Especially if you're hanging out with Julianna and everyone. So it's all good. It's great. So let, let's just jump in. Set the stage for us. Tell us about the, what you do and why, 'cause I think that's the fascinating piece. Would, would love to, and thanks for the opportunity again. So TerraVive is the leading manufacturer and supplier of compostable food service products.
And what that really means is that when you go to a restaurant or any kind of dining establishment and you get takeout, we make the [00:02:00] biodegradable takeout paper containers, the cutlery, bowls, plates, everything that you would need to run a dining operation, but, but in takeout. And the why that you mentioned is based on a couple different things.
One, there's the sustainability element, but the other piece is the health element. We know that plastics are not good for us. Yeah. They have found that plastics are carcinogenic to humans. Rather than using a styrofoam container that we know is not good for us, what if instead you could go to your favorite restaurant and they give you a container that is non-toxic, you could technically eat it, it's healthy for you.
Wow, the extra calories there- And a little extra calories- Yeah. ... in case you're hungry ... extra calories and fiber. Some fiber. Yeah, a little fiber. Exactly. Fiber, exactly. Okay. Saying. And grown by a local farmer, manufactured in the USA, and creating jobs for our economies. Amazing. Building stronger, better- Yeah
communities and economies. That's very amazing. 'Cause one thing, one thing I can say is when y- I do go to a restaurant and they give you a takeout container and it's styrofoam, like, my stomach turns. Oh. It's, like, really- Do you give it back? [00:03:00] No. 'Cause I got... I mean, what am I gonna do, put it in my pocket?
Best of all, he gives it back. But, but it's one of those things where you say, like, there's a better solution to this. That's why every time I'm like- Do you tell them? I don't, I'm not smart enough. Gene, you should tell them. You know I'm very non-confrontational. I know. I'm very non-confrontational. But you should have, like, TerraVive
information in your wallet. Yeah, that's right. And you should say, "I have a better way."
Exactly. Maybe I will do that. So Audrey, you know I am non-confrontational, so- No you aren't, that's true. But I, but it's- We call him Dr. Love. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They do.
They do. But I just feel like, I don't know, it's one of those deals, we all know styrofoam's bad. But you- Not just styrofoam. I know, but also plastics, all the thing-- Yeah ... and I love plastic. I went to college because of plastic. My dad is a polyethylene engineer. He is a physician.
But I don't think we need it for- I had no clue ... we don't need it for food containers and all that type of stuff. Yeah, yeah. So just saying. What we were talking before, plastics was, like, Edison's very first light bulb. That first light bulb, it was incandescent, it was barely working, it probably smelled, but now we are at the stage of these beautiful lights in this room.[00:04:00]
LED lights with better efficiency, better performance- Yeah ... and it's better for you. So it's the- The world has changed ... the world has changed and it's improved. This is one of the i- ways that the world has improved. So those jobs don't need to go away. It's not like, there's no need for plastics.
We're just on to the next generation of plastics. Exactly, yeah. And that's what Terradyne is all about. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that attitude. I think that's exactly, exactly right. A lot of products are still gonna be made, made out of plastic, right?
You're gonna need car parts, you're gonna need long-lasting medical devices. But- But maybe at some point it'll morph. But you know, near term, , product that you use for five seconds then throw away and it's here for the next 500 years
So basically, plastics have historically been made out of a material called polyethylene that you mentioned, and a derivative of polyethylene is polystyrene or styrofoam.
But the new generation of plastics, bioplastics is what we call them, is PLA, polylactic acid. That's the same material that we make when our bodies sweat and get tired. Oh. Basically it's the exact same one, PLA, [00:05:00] polylactic acid, PHA, polyhydroxyalkanoate, polyhydroxybutyrate. There's PBS. Those are the key families of polyethylene next generation.
You're bringing memories back of my father talking about
work. Yeah. Is this how he talked- Yes ... when he read you bedtime stories? Pretty much. You wonder why I'm so weird, Audrey? Come on. I digress. Which makes me feel like you have a bit of ch- a chemistry background, but we'll get to that in a moment.
Let's just wheel it back a little bit. We... Okay, so we understand the problem. Lot of problems proliferate around the world. You jumped in So what happened? Tell us about that. So if, if you're interested in kind of the, the story- ... of how it all came to be, so my, to, to Jonathan's point, my background is in chemistry and material science, and the story is actually, so I grew up in a family of doctors, so I actually grew up in hospitals 'cause my mom was always working, basically.
So I grew up and I saw how much waste hospitals generate. And so my first product that I developed was a bl- biodegradable blood pressure cuff, trying to- No way ... I still have a patent on that. Oh, [00:06:00] wow. Okay. But basically, think of all of the waste that's generated in hospitals. And so like, from CPAP machines to spit pans to blood pressure cuffs-
so many opportunities for waste. Spit pans. Okay. So many opportunities. That is a Tech Vibe first, okay? Okay. I'm just gonna say right now. Just for the record, I can what they call reverse peristalsis. What does that mean? Vomit. Oh. Onward spit. Oh. Oh, oh, wow. Oh, no, really? Oh, you could be a great test case- Oh my God
'cause it's so acidic.
Okay, now my weirdness is coming out. Keep it rolling, baby. Yeah, okay, okay. Keep going. I love this. This is what I'm talking about. Okay, so you're- Oh my goodness ... so you're in the hospital. Yeah You're seeing all the places. So in hospitals- Yeah ... yeah, basically just, like, growing up at, like, they have a little daycare center in hospitals and we were, like, running around there, and you just see how much, every time a new patient goes into the hospital, you get, they get a new blood pressure cuff basically put on.
That's plastic. Every time a new patient is admitted, there's all kinds of waste that's generated. Oh, and glo- think, think of how many gloves- Think [00:07:00] of gloves ... just in one day in the hospital. Like, so many things. Wow. So that was the first foray. But- So what were you, like, four at this point? No. No, basically this was...
But that's, that's when the, that's when the idea of there's a lot of plastic waste going on was, like, it was just developing over time. But then, I was in school on a, on a scholarship. Used some of the scholarship money to take some time off and basically used it to start the business, and that's when these things started coming to be.
Medical devices are a difficult industry to get started in. I think we all are aware of this. We are very aware. Very aware, yeah. Very aware. It's, it's not easy, even if you're doing something simple. Well, I, that's- Yeah. Even if it doesn't need FDA approval, right. Yeah. Exactly. Oh. Which is what I was going after, but it was difficult, so pivoted into the food industry.
Much easier to- Wow ... dive into food. And so then started to develop new designs for different products to really look at the - single-use plastic problem from a sustainability lens, but also from a health lens, 'cause that's always how we've looked at [00:08:00] it. Wow. So that's how it came to be. How long ago was that?
Have you- Yeah, when was that? Yeah, launched first product was probably, like, 15 years ago, but started the business formally- Right ... back in 2015, so 11 years ago. Amazing. Very cool. And so then what about you, Jo? Yes. How, what's your- what's your relationship here? So- How did you jump in?
Yeah. 'Cause I knew, I knew you from another life, so I'm just trying to- Yes. Yeah, yeah, exactly ... I'm just trying to piece it together. From my other lives, more on the technology side- Right ... and mechanical engineer Navy vet. And started a bunch of companies from propulsion to satellite systems.
And I was doing some work for the Department of Energy, and I was doing some work for two different startups. One was actually out of Pitt Interface Materials. And I was coming off that, and I was looking for something else to do.
It was about 4:30 in the morning, woke up, was drinking my coffee, getting ready to work out. I was reading the r- the Richmond Times, and I saw a picture of Juliana in there. She was going through a local incubator. And I said this is kind of interesting," 'cause I remember when I was in the Navy, you [00:09:00] think the Atlantic is just wide open, nothing's floating, nothing's out there.
What kind of garbage is floating out there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It used to always amaze me. Oh, yeah. I'll, I would be in the middle of the Atlantic, and you just see trash, plastic trash floating everywhere. Oh. So at 21, 22 years old, I always thought we should do something about plastic. And so I saw the article of,
of, of Juliana, and I said, "Oh, this is kind of interesting. She's trying to get rid of all the plastic single-use products out there." So I just went down to the incubator the next day. I knew the guy who was running it, and I s- I asked him if I can get the introduction. And he said, "Well," said, "he's the first day.
She's in a briefing. Just if you sit here, she'll come around the corner." And she came around the corner, and I, I thought I was just gonna be- True story ... an advisor to her. Yeah. Help on the strategic advisory side. Right. And we just hit it off. We got along. I knew what she was doing. And I said, "Why not
Let's just join forces and- Wow ... and just grow- That's amazing. Wow. And just grow, grow this thing. I'm extremely fortunate to work with Joe. Were you taken by surprise at all? Extremely. Yeah. But I'll [00:10:00] tell you what, at that time, I really needed- I think I was coming at it from the science lens.
Okay. Yeah, yeah. I was coming at it from the science lens, and I really needed the, the practical, tactical skills of- Absolutely, the business skills ... the business skills, and that's what I lacked at the time, and it was a great combination. And I've- That's great ... had the good fortune of learning so much from- It's amazing
from Joe and his prior experiences. Yeah. And I'm very fortunate that he decided to read that newspaper that day. That's fantastic. I like the way the world works. Yeah. That's a, that's a great story. So fast-forward, here you are today. What, I mean, the market, cap for this has to be unbelievable. Yes.
Right? I mean- Lots of this stuff in need out there. For me, it blows my mind. There should be everyone using this. Yeah. Every restaurant, everyone. So people who are listening, we're gonna be pushing this because- ... it's absolutely an imperative. Yeah. So now the kinds of things, talk about some of the products that you have.
We produce, specifically everything from clam shells, basically [00:11:00] those takeout containers, bowls, plates, cutlery, cups, films, think trash bags. Thinking about how many trash bags we use. Paper. Oh, trash bags and stuff too. Think about paper. Trash bags- Oh, yeah
paper, And so you do all of this wholesale? Yes. I mean, just from a strategic business perspective, like we, we can only focus our, our time in so many ways, so that's why we've really decided to go down the B2B path, 'cause that's where most of this is- Yeah, it is ... sold. Sure. But but for certain customers, I mean, we can, we can- Well, we just wanna shout out- They could snag it off the line
we just wanna shout, shout out to the world and make- Thank you so much Yeah ... and make people- Thank you ... cognizant of this. I mean, if you don't, you see those plastic forks, right? And they're in a plastic container with a piece of paper inside of it, right? And you're like- Exactly
"What's happening here?" You're spun. And I gotta throw it all out. I separate it, try to separate it. Even here when you separate it, it doesn't really go to where- Yeah ... it's supposed to go. No, no it doesn't. I mean, I know that. Exactly. But 90% of the time it just goes back to the landfill. I don't, I know.
I still try to separate everything. I've been doing that forever. Yeah, which is good. It just is. Is it though? Because when [00:12:00] y- the reality is, does it really go where it's supposed to go? Is it really separated? But at least you have plausible deniability.
And what I find interesting is the fact that you source all your stuff from the United States and manufacture it in the United States. Yeah. Let's talk about that. Why is that important for you to be doing that?
I love the fact that you're able to do that. Yeah, I do too. And it, it also, it just makes it all the more sustainable 'cause there's less back and forth and use of fuel and things to transport and ship and so forth. Thank, thank you so much. One of the things that I think our business does differently that a lot of other people have advised me against from a business perspective is that we really try to lead with values.
You know, a core value is trying to do better, leaving the world a better place, trying to do better. Why we use compostables. But another one is the maiden USA piece. , Sourcing all of our raw materials in the United States, but also manufacturing them in the United States because we believe that manufacturing in the United States leads to better communities, leads to better families.
And when that goes away, the reverse occurs. Everything goes away. Yeah. The reverse [00:13:00] happens. Yeah. So we've really decided, from the beginning- ... we're gonna, we're gonna do whatever it takes to make sure that we are making and manufacturing everything here, and so many people advised me against that, but- No
it's now turning around. I love hearing that. And back in 2019, whenever we, we met, I would, I would be in these meetings and I'd hear people advise her, "Outsource everything to China." All, all this bad advice. And I said, "Juliana," I said, "There's a better way to do this."
I said, I know you wanna make everything here in the US, you wanna support the communities. Let's do this thing together." But there's all sorts of bad advice early on and w- and I said, "Heck, no." "Let, let's-" Yeah. "We're not gonna do that." It's hard to go against against the stream.
Yeah. It really is because you could see where you could build something and it would be pretty quick. But look at the world today and the way that we're thinking about America. Absolutely. And it's a bipartisan issue. It is. Like, this is why I always tell people- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah ... like, it was originally a Democratic issue, but it's now, you know- Oh, no
and like- Totally. Yeah. It, it cuts across ... it's, it's truly a bipartisan issue. For sure. Yes, it is. And if you think about it fundamentally as well, just, [00:14:00] just from a pure fundamental perspective, lead time is such an important thing- Yeah ... in our industry, in how do you cut lead time? How do you increase r- you know, supply chain resiliency?
Yeah. It's by having production- Yeah ... closer to where it's being used. Exactly. Don't make it halfway around the world. Oh, yeah. We, were pre- presenting to actually about a dozen executive chefs last week, and I had a fork. And I said, "Okay, guys, does this make sense to ship this fork 7,000 miles for you to use it for five minutes?
You throw it away and it's around for 500 years. Think of the pollution footprint you just created by shipping one fork- yeah ... it's amazing ... 7,000 miles." Right. And when you put it in terms like that, people are like, "Well, that doesn't make sense." I'm all for hybrid trade.
Some stuff you, you can- Of course ... you can manufacture around the world, but you know, all the chefs, they looked at that, they're like, " You're, you're creating so much pollution by just shipping that thing- Yeah ... across the Pacific." So I can- So I can- yeah ... are these biodegradable? And what does that mean?
So- Yeah ... it's [00:15:00] interesting the, the word biodegradable. So everything that we do is biodegradable technically, but basically the industry decided that we need a specific term that- ... that people can be held to. And that word is really compostable. Ah. Ah, okay. Even though it can technically break down- Yeah.
Okay ... in a lot of different environments, so everything is compostable, and there's different layers of it. So you can have home compostability, ocean degradability, and industrial compostability. Those are the really the three pillars of it. So everything that we do meets all of those characteristics except for, like, a couple items, but 99% of it all meets the characteristics of being able to break down in any natural environment.
Yeah. Wow. I feel like the, the next best thing would, would be a bread bowl from Panera. You can't get more compostable than that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I don't think they'd be giving away bread bowls to, to get to carry your leftover soup home, but I'm just ... It's interesting you mention that 'cause somebody actually approached us to make com- these products, but put nutrition in them, and actually be able to eat them.
It's kinda like the old, like, when you get a [00:16:00] taco salad and it's in- Yeah ... like, a taco bowl. Yeah, you get the bowl. Yeah. You kind of break the edge of the bowl off so you got, like- Right. ... tortilla chips. Yep. Maybe that's the next thing. Put a little, put a little salt and some, like, garlic in your mixture there- Yeah, yeah, yeah
you might have a pretty tasty fork. Done with the fork? So where, where are you headed now? It's important. Where are you headed now? Exactly. Like, what's this next year, the next six months? From, from what lens? In terms of products, anything new adoption, growth, anything that you feel comfortable sharing.
Yeah. So- We've been very fortunate over the last several years. We've been experiencing tremendous growth. So last year, we doubled. The year before that, we doubled. Wait, back up. Doubled? That's great. We doubled in revenue. Audrey, give me one of these. Yeah, very cool. That's great. You didn't double. Always judging, Audrey.
Always judging.
That's really fantastic. It's awesome. Yeah. I love hearing that. That is amazing. So double- double last year, doubled the year before that, and tripled the year before that. So, so it's been on a really good upward [00:17:00] trajectory. Yeah. And what has driven that has been customer excellence, really being- dialed in. Everybody who knows me knows that I am dialed in- ... on these customers. I love it. And so with that, our customers have asked us to come out with some new products. Ah. I love this. So, Tell us, tell us, tell us. So we've been listening to our customers, and as a result, we've come out with a lot, variety of new products really focused on the grab-and-go area. That's something that we've noticed has been really picking up. So like, think about those clear deli containers- The worst
Yeah ... that are bio- that are gonna be made out of a biodegradable material. Yes. Used to be made out of pol- P-E-T- Yes ... polyethylene terephthalate. Oh. Yeah, I just thought of the deli- ... the deli tuna that I got. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly right. See, that container's run for 500 years, but now it's gonna be compostable.
It could be compostable. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. I do put it in the recycle bin. Terrible. That's all right. It's good. But keep going. You were rolling. So, no, I mean- Keep going ... but yeah, ba- basically that's coming out with new products, continuing to focus on customer excellence, driving operational [00:18:00] excellence.
One of the key KPIs that we've held our team to is- Mm ... 98% on time and full. Wow. Which means that any time anyone anywhere is placing an order, they need to get their order 98% of the time on time and in full. And that's, that's what we're currently at. So that's been, some time in the making, which is difficult to do with the, with the growth ramp.
Okay. But that's just a commitment- Mm ... because we're so dialed in on customers. Yes. Yeah. And, and we're- we're- we're also really focused on the on the hospital and healthcare industry- Right ... on the feeding side m- moving forward, not only in the canteens but also in the rooms.
So we're part of a couple years ago we got on the premier GPO- ... group purchasing organization, and they put us through we're now in distribution with US Foods, in certain DCs around the country, but we're really focused on the healthcare side. We have- What an opportunity ... we have one, we learned last week, one one very large healthcare chain.
They have about 200 hospitals. They're really focused on, on- on how much toxic chemicals leach from styrofoam cups- [00:19:00] Hmm ... that all the patients get. Ooh. And all the, all the containers that they feed the food in. On one side, they're all about healthier outcomes, getting people healthy, but on the other side they're feeding them in styrofoam.
So all 200 hospitals are looking to convert to TerraVive's products. Oh, my goodness. Wow. That's so exciting. Right? Yeah. And so, and so the healthcare side- Wow ... even behavioral health- Oh, that's great ... we, we find that- We find that in certain behavioral health locations, they use the, the cutlery in the dining products as weapons.
We know. Yeah. We know. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, I know. I know. Yeah, and so- It's terrible. ... And so we're developing different products that, that they- Yeah ... can eat with and not create a weapon out of it. Right.
And that's the same thing for prisons. Certain forces That'd be really great. Well, it turns- It turns into compost right in front of you. Yeah. That would be great. Well, yeah. Yeah, a plant grows out of it, yeah. So, so, so it's that even, even serving trays, right? Yeah. The big plastic serving trays- They can, you can bop 'em.
You can bop 'em and hit people. Yeah. We have a- ... fiber one we're, we're coming out with. That's amazing. So if you do it, [00:20:00] it may hurt 'em a little bit, but it's not- But yeah, it's not gonna... Yeah It's not the same. It's not plastic. How exciting is that? Yeah. That is so great. Now, you have, you have a customer that I think is pretty cool with the US government that I think probably is near and dear to your heart.
Can we talk about that? Sure, sure. Excellent. It, it, it, the dining hall in the, is it the US Capitol or the Pentagon? Yes, yeah. Or both? But which one? Yeah, so it's, it's been a great privilege to work with Mets Culinary, which is also a Pennsylvania-based company, and they run and operate a few dining facilities in the US House of Representatives.
That's what it is. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Very cool. Great. That's so awesome. I love that. That's so fantastic. Yeah. Yeah, so for, for, for, for all the listeners out there who go into Longworth and Russell and the different cafeterias there, a lot of those products are TerraVive products, the salad bars, ev- everything that's served there, so.
And it's, I, it was, one of the reasons I think Mets did that is because a lot of these lawmakers today, as you said, it's a bipartisan issue- It is ... are dialed in on are dialed in on made in USA- Right ... no matter which side of the aisle you're coming from- That's what it is ... because it's ultimately it's jobs.
Yeah. So it's, it's [00:21:00] jobs for communities. Great. So. I love that you saw a problem so early on. Exactly. 'Cause most people see problems and they n- they don't necessarily solve them. Yeah, they're not gonna actually say, "I'm gonna-" They just go, "I see a problem." Right. Yeah. Yeah. And they don't necessarily go after it.
And I, and all I can see is someone that, like, I'm reading this article, she seems pretty interesting. I like this business idea. Perhaps I'll go meet her tomorrow. Actually, it was the same day. What? Same day, like, oh my goodness. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, all right. I was like, "Great, I need the help." Yeah, like this is, this is- Perfect.
pretty, pretty, pretty cool. This is, it was great. So- Very fortunate ... switching gears just a little bit. Sure. I'm really curious about this. I n- I'm, I don't think I see enough of this, and I feel like when a customer is using your product, I'm hoping that they put signs up that says, "When you're using this product, it is fully compostable."
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's, and it's not full of toxic chemicals that if you heat it up might leach into your food. I know, that's the thing. I feel like from a, a marketing standpoint for a restaurant or a facility, whatever it is, like- I want my customers to know that, like- Yeah ... they're getting the best and- Absolutely.
Absolutely. You're spot on. Yeah. And that's, that's [00:22:00] the way that this is going. Okay. So one of the things we were talking about the other day is, people, people came to me and they were like, I can't do this because we don't have composting set up." And what I kinda told them is that, progress is happening.
This is a movement. With, with, with any kind of progress or any kind of movement, change happens very slowly and then one day people say, you know- It's that ... "I can't believe it wasn't this way before." Right. And that's how it's is with this world of- compostable products, sustainability.
That's, that's, that's how this is going. So to your point, more and more composting facilities are being made accessible in municipalities and states. It's happening slowly, but, but it is happening. Yeah. And one of the things that we are trying to do a better job on as an organization is making sure that the products are clearly labeled, s- because a lot of them have done- such a good job mimicking plastic that people can't tell that- You wouldn't know. Yeah. Well, that's what I'm saying. I've seen some of your products- Yeah ... and I'm like, wow, this... You wouldn't think this was, like, m- m- made of organic material. My brand. It's just so durable. Yeah. This is ... Yeah. I mean, and it's got the same- Okay
the same feel- Yeah ... and qual- I don't [00:23:00] want to say, quality is not quite the right word, but, like, the, the density and- Yes. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Func- functionality. Absolutely. And functionality- Yeah ... and everything like that, which to me is like, I just feel like I'd be wanting to market that out like crazy. And we, and we need to do a better job of that.
Actually, one of the chefs who we were with, he was like you should put on your, on your containers 'Made in Pennsylvania.'" Like made in Pennsyl- That too ... like made it right there. The idea that like- Yeah. And, and we, and we, we just need to do that. It's like made here- We need to do a stamp
and composted here. Yeah. Couldn't you just do a stamp? We have to think about it from a production... Like m- we might need to just, like, emboss it, 'cause, like, basically it comes out and it's like s- Yeah ... a suction thing. Ah. And so if you like- I have an idea ... we could build it into the mold. Yeah. I think Joe's got a lot of free time on the weekend.
Yeah. And give him a little, give him, give him a little Sharpie. He'll just start- ... hand scribing on everything. Yeah. Yeah. But you don't want the Sharpie to leak. He's up at 4:30 in the morning exercising, Audrey. I'm just saying, like- I know. But it's so funny. So what- That's so funny. Yeah, that's funny. Yeah, I try my best.
That's great. I'm trying to help this company succeed. They're on a thread here, Audrey. I, I [00:24:00] love that. I love that. I mean- But I think there's just so many right things- Oh, this is- ... that you guys are doing. It's just, it's so impressive. I mean, there's something... It's great for the environment. It's great for local manufacturing, and you manufacture around the country.
Your, your plants are around the country, right, where you produce these things? That's correct. Contract manufacturers all over. That's correct. Okay. We support over 1,000 American jobs right now. See, one- Oh ... another point. Boom. So. I love that. There's what you, you need a random set of messages. One's like, "This is made in the USA."
One, "This supported 1,000 jobs." One's like, "This kept Joe off the streets." Yeah. Joe painting on the streets. Exactly. That would be pretty funny. That would be pretty funny. That would be pretty funny. That would be pretty funny. That's pretty funny. I think I- It's nice to say. I mean, then you would sort of- Yeah
Like have a following. Exactly. I love that. Sounds like a good project for, for, for Nick to do- Yeah ... on the social media side. That's so pretty. So pretty. I love the playful element of that as well- Yes. 'Cause that's definitely what we try to convey, like from a brand perspective. Right. Yeah. Like it's not so serious.
I love that. Like it's- "We kept Joe off the streets." Yeah. We kept Joe off. And people would look at it, and they're like- Like ... "Is that embossed?" Yeah. And you can feel it if you're visually impaired. Yeah. Yes, yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. You could, you could read that. My [00:25:00] last one's gonna be like on the, on your knives.
You could say, "This knife kills plastic dead." Oh. Oh. That's a good one. Oh. Wow. Ziggy. That's good. Wow. Oh. Wow, you're on fire. That's really good. And I'm done. Wow. You are on- We love that We try to have fun with this. We love- Try to have some fun with it ... that's great. Wow. I'm just, we're just, we're just huge super fans of what you're doing here.
And likewise. Yeah, thank you. Likewise. Seriously, it's- We are truly super fans. It's fantastic ... when I, when I hear this, like, doubling growth rates, tripling growth rates, like- Well- ... massive customers, like- Not only that- ... saving the environment, local jobs ... people are willing to pay more. It- That's another thing.
There's been research that says people are willing- 100% ... to pay a little bit more. 'Cause it's their health. Yeah. Yep. It's their own health. Yeah. And, and- Oh, yeah ... when you think about it in terms of, why would I buy this organic meat, or why would I spend more on, a, a more better piece of clothing- we'll say, it's because at the end of the day, we all know that maintenance works a lot better than- Exactly ... dealing with the problem over time. It's, it's fantastic. It's a tremendous story, and that's why- So people wanna [00:26:00] know, you go to terravive.com? Yes. Okay. I want, I want that website. Absolutely.
And you're focused on B2B. So anyone who's listening there- ... we're gonna start having their product in our office. Yeah. Right? And I, I'm hoping there's a- Super ... slightly larger facility that our office- Yeah ... is located in- I mean closer ... that would be, like, using these types of things- Yeah ... just because I go to certain bistros and cafes- But there are...
And, and I'm given- And Jonathan needs- ... huge hunks of plastic- Jonathan needs- ... and I'm like, what is this? But Jonathan needs- Yes ... some Terra Vive cards. Cards, so when I go out- That he can show people ... I can show people. Oh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay. That way he can- He can shame people. Yeah, right, when they give me, it's like, next time I'll remember to bring my own.
He knows, he knows- ... he knows all the haunts right around here. That's right. Ah. And yeah, I mean, I think it's fantastic, first of all. Let's go together. We can. Hats- Absolutely ... hats off to you. This has been fantastic. What a fun conversation. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for, thanks for putting up with us and our jokery.
Thank you so much. Thank you. I love your jokery, and thank you so much for everything that you do with PTC for the community- Oh, yeah ... for our members. Thank you. Yeah. This is, this is fantastic, and- You do a great job ... and, with [00:27:00] everything that's been, all of the changes that have been going on in the country, I think you guys are just so well-positioned to have Pittsburgh and the companies and the communities in it, have, see success.
Yeah. And, things have- That's what all we care about ... and it's, and it's really PTC that's at the core- Appreciate that ... of that. And we appreciate- Oh, thank you ... just scraping members, so- Good job ... 'cause we see it. I'm trying my best. How about you, Audrey? Good job. Yeah, just saying keep talking, guys.
But anyway, we gotta wrap it up. I love it. Once again, a joy to have you guys here. It was great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity. Definitely making Pittsburgh proud, without a doubt. And so once again, Joe, Juliana from Terra Vive. This has been Tech Vibe.
Having too much fun here, Audrey, telling some of the cool stories here in Pittsburgh. It's really great. And everybody, thanks for tuning in, and I cannot wait to see you on the next one