Materials
Why bagasseplates hold hot food
Pressed from sugarcane bagasse rather than coated paper, with a rolled rim. Both details are why a plate of jollof does not fold in the hand.
Bagasse is what is left after sugarcane is crushed for its juice. Pressed under heat it becomes a rigid sheet, and that is what our plates are stamped from — not coated paper, not plastic-lined board.
The rim is rolled rather than cut. A cut rim is a fold waiting for a full plate of jollof; a rolled rim carries the weight around the edge, which is why the 9-inch holds a full plate without flexing. The 7-inch is the same press, smaller, for salads, sides and the children who want their own.
They are microwave safe and they will not survive a dishwasher, and we would rather say so than sell a pack twice. After the event they go into a home compost and are gone before the next birthday — bagasse rots in weeks, not centuries.
Both sizes come out in the same kraft tone, so a table that runs out of 9-inches mid-service can borrow the side plates and nobody notices the swap.