Recently, in the production workshop of a straw fiber environmental protection company in Zhanhua, Shandong, containers loaded with tableware made from wheat straw are being shipped to Europe and the United States. The annual export volume of this type of biodegradable tableware has reached 160 million pieces, confirming the explosive growth in global market demand.

Policy-driven factors have become the core driving force behind this demand growth. After the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive came into full effect, Germany, France, and other countries mandated the use of bio-based tableware in the catering industry, with a local penetration rate reaching 39%. The UK has further explicitly restricted the sale of unauthorized plant-based plastic tableware, opening up market space for compliant wheat tableware. The United States, Japan, and other countries have also accelerated the replacement of traditional plastic tableware through environmental certification systems.

The product’s competitiveness has fueled the overseas expansion boom. Wheat tableware uses agricultural waste as raw material and can be completely degraded in 45 to 120 days under natural conditions, meeting household composting standards. Shandong Kangsen Company’s products, leveraging the stiffness advantage of wheat fiber, have successfully entered more than 20 countries, with Green Company in the United States seeing a three-fold increase in purchases over three years. After obtaining international certifications from Europe, the United States, and Japan, the company’s product premium can reach 25%-30%.

The global market landscape presents opportunities for Chinese companies. The global disposable tableware market is projected to reach $13.588 billion by 2025, with biodegradable products accounting for 35%. Surge in demand from emerging markets like Russia and Saudi Arabia, coupled with the expansion of cross-border e-commerce channels, has led to the formation of complete industrial chains encompassing straw collection, storage, production, and export for companies in Shandong and Zhejiang provinces, with annual export volumes generally exceeding 100 million yuan.

Industry analysts indicate that the ongoing global push for plastic reduction and consumption, coupled with increasing consumer preference for green tableware, has created a vast market for wheat-based tableware. As domestic companies further refine their technologies in raw material pretreatment and molding processes, the cost control capabilities and durability of wheat-based tableware will be further enhanced. Furthermore, the stable supply chain and ample raw material supply in major global wheat-producing regions suggest that wheat-based tableware’s market share in the international biodegradable tableware market is expected to exceed 40% within the next 3-5 years, becoming one of the core categories for environmentally friendly tableware exports.