In the heart of Santa Cruz, a revolutionary startup is challenging the decades-long reign of plastic foam, armed with nothing more than pea starch and a bold mission. Cruz Foam, founded by passionate surfers and engineers, is developing biodegradable packaging materials that could potentially eliminate single-use plastics from our ecosystem.

The company’s journey began when CEO John Felts and Chief Scientific Advisor Marco Rolandi realized they were literally “riding trash” - their surfboards were made from the same petroleum-based materials polluting our oceans. Frustrated by the environmental impact, they pivoted from creating surfboard blanks to developing sustainable packaging solutions.

Using pea starch - a byproduct of imitation meat production - Cruz Foam creates biodegradable foam sheets that can decompose within weeks, unlike traditional plastics that fragment into microplastics and contaminate our environment. Their innovative process requires half the temperature of traditional plastic manufacturing and produces materials that are food-safe and water-resistant.

The startup has already attracted high-profile investors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher, and secured customers ranging from The Caviar Co. to global packaging companies. With production facilities in Chicago and North Carolina, Cruz Foam is scaling up its operations and demonstrating that sustainable alternatives can be both environmentally responsible and commercially viable.

What sets Cruz Foam apart is not just their technology, but their holistic approach to sustainability. Their team of engineers, many of whom have backgrounds in environmental conservation, view their work as more than just a job - it’s a mission to reimagine how we interact with materials.

As California continues to implement landmark plastic pollution legislation, companies like Cruz Foam represent a beacon of hope. They prove that innovative thinking and commitment to environmental stewardship can transform industries and create tangible solutions to global challenges.

With plans to expand into injection molding and explore applications beyond packaging, Cruz Foam is not just creating a product - they’re pioneering a new paradigm of sustainable manufacturing.