WinCup Holdings Inc. has partnered with Delaware North, a leading global hospitality and entertainment company, to introduce phade Eco-Stirrers at the 2021 PGA Championship.

Delaware North’s Patina Restaurant Group, a leader in the premium segment of the restaurant and catering industry, is operating the on-course concessions and catering service at the 2021 PGA Championship, May 17-23 at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah Island, S.C.
Made with PHA - polyhydroxyalkanoate - a substrate derived from the fermentation of canola oil, the phade brand represents the first mass-produced marine-biodegradable and home-and-industrial-compostable drinking stirrers and straws. The products maintain the feel and user experience of a traditional plastic stirrer and straw without harming the environment.

For Delaware North, making the phade products available to its operations aligns with its proprietary stewardship platform, GreenPath, which helps ensure the company carefully manages its environmental impact and positively contributes to the communities it serves.

“We are focused on setting a new standard for environmental responsibility, and the introduction of phade eco-friendly stirrers at the 2021 PGA Championship is part of our sustainability effort at the tournament and supports our goal of offering the most sustainable products available,” said Deb Friedel, director of sustainability for Delaware North. “We look forward to introducing phade to more of our operations to provide them a sustainable alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic straws and stirrers.”

Delaware North operates in more than 200 hospitality locations, including sports and entertainment venues, casinos, airports, destination restaurants, national and state parks, and hotels.

“This collaboration with Delaware North allows us to continue our mission to educate the world on sustainable technology,” said WinCup President & Chief Revenue Officer Michael Winters. “Having partners like Delaware North gives us the opportunity to expand our footprint, further reaching our shared goal of providing solutions to the global plastics crisis. We look forward to joining Delaware North in bringing phade products to its hospitality operations and events across the globe.”

WinCup’s focus on sustainable solutions was bolstered in September 2020 when Los Angeles-based private equity firm Atar Capital acquired the company. Among Atar’s core principles is a commitment to sustainability and investing in companies that work toward protecting the environment.

The key to phade is PHA. As WinCup’s CEO Brad Laporte explains: “PHA is used as a food source by bacteria that biodegrades the phade straw and stirrers in a matter of months instead of hundreds of years like petroleum-based straws. Because WinCup has long been manufacturing foodservice products, we have the infrastructure in place to scale phade® with growing market demand.”
WinCup has won numerous awards, including 2021 Innovation in FoodService Award for Sustainability

Solutions from the National Restaurant Association and SmartBrief and 2020 Innovation in Bioplastics Award from the Bioplastics Division of PLASTICS (The Plastics Industry Association) for the development and launch of phade. Most recently, WinCup was recognized out of a pool of more than 4,000 global entries by Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards as a finalist in the Consumer Products and Enduring Impact categories and as an honorable mention in the World Changing Ideas -North America and General Excellence categories.

The development of phade involved a rigorous testing and certification process. TUV AUSTRIA, a globally recognized independent third-party certifying body, certified phade as biodegradable in both industrial and backyard compost settings in a matter of months. TUV also certified the material from which WinCup’s phade straw is made as marine biodegradable. Additionally, the Biodegradable Products Institute Inc. (BPI) has certified phade as industrially compostable.

www.wincup.com, www.phadeproducts.com