OUR STORY

The owner, Tony Pizzelanti, has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years. He has also been in manufacturing, catering specifically to the restaurant industry, making the best quality plastic cutting boards available, made in the USA.

In the latter half of the last decade, Tony's son was a Marine Biology student and saw firsthand the damage that was being done to the marine life and our waterways and oceans. It was no longer a news article or Google News feed item, it was first hand, with someone who witnessed it.

Some of the stories he told made us want to get involved in some way, and with the back round in restaurants, and manufacturing, making paper straws was a natural fit.

We started the research and found that many of the straws in the USA were being made overseas and were of very low quality, non-FDA glue, non-FDA inks. This was giving the paper straw business a bad reputation for straws that fell apart in your drink, or worse yet, your mouth. Glues and inks that were questionable at best.

With only a handful of USA manufacturers and although they were producing some good straws, there were so many from overseas, people were still getting a negative view of paper straws. Our goal is to spread the word that paper straws are not only better for the environment but can last in your drink, not only the 15 minutes to finish the drink, but in our case, hours, or days. We certify our Glues and inks are FDA certified.

While there are some good USA manufacturing companies now, we want you to compare ours. We think you will be pleasantly surprised with our straws. We only produce the best.

Made in Valdese, North Carolina.

We work very hard to make sure the straws are produced using the best manufacturing process possible, fair wage employees, Non-latex facility, and gloves worn during any possible handling of an unwrapped straw.

Renewable - Beyond plastic straws

We work with State of the art equipment, in an energy-efficient building, with all LED lighting, and high efficient heat pumps. We have plans to have our solar grid installed by the summer of 2020, to cut about 90% of our electrical use off the grid, and become almost entirely self-sufficient.

As a restaurant owner, it was an easy switch for us on plastic vs. paper straws. Did we have a few people complain, yes, of course, there are always those that will. Not because of them falling apart, but because of a preconceived notion that they may, or the "I hate paper straws," but again, based on previous experience with an inferior, often foreign-made product. Once they try it, they are quickly won over.

Then there are the other 98%! They applaud the effort. They understand that although it is just a small gesture, it makes a difference. Do you want to make a difference? Of course, or you wouldn't have read this far.

Please try our High-Quality OrcasOceanStraws, you won't be disappointed.

Tony Pizzelanti - Owner