Europe is the largest export market for Asian bamboo and is 100% dependent on imports. This imported bamboo is becoming increasingly expensive, partly due to inflation and rising transport prices. While bamboo is essentially an insanely sustainable resource, it is debatable whether that is still the case when you import it from Asia, in highly polluting cargo ships, to Europe.

Meanwhile, Europe is fully transitioning toward sustainable agriculture and (timber) construction. The agricultural sector is diligently searching for profitable low-footprint crops as an alternative to the high emissions of the currently standard agrarian methods. The construction sector, too, needs to drastically improve its sustainability to reduce its footprint.

There is also an increasing demand for locally grown bamboo from producers and consumers. There is a shortage of fresh bamboo shoots as food in Europe, and industrial manufacturers would like to incorporate locally grown bamboo into their products to reduce or offset their carbon emissions. 

The demand for sustainably grown bamboo is many times greater than the supply. By investing with our partner in European bamboo forests in Portugal, we are creating the supply to meet this demand and laying the foundation for bio-based disruption of numerous sectors.