Pallavi Pande: Founder of Dtocs
Pallavi Pande is a woman of color and a mompreneur based in Portland, Oregon. She is the proud Owner and Founder of Dtocs. Pallavi remembers eating on banana leaves while growing up in India. Her nostalgia of childhood memories and her passion for nature was the inspiration to bring this concept to the Western World. Pallavi started Dtocs with three things in mind: Sustainability, Community and Usability starting from her own kitchen to every event!
Dtocs tableware is made from naturally fallen palm leaves. They are chemical free, plastic free, compostable, microwave safe, and elegant. Dtocs employs a majority female workforce and part of the proceeds from sales go towards improving education for the poor local communities in India. DETOCS won the NEXTY Awards at the Natural Food Expo for the most innovative products for the year 2019.
Hi Pallavi. We’re excited to hear more about the inspiration for Dtocs.
I was born in India. When we were kids, we used to eat on banana leaves, and the food just tasted better. It was a way of life to enjoy what is simple, using what is there. Even today, street food in India is served on raw looking bowls and plates that leak and have holes. Of course they look cute, but they aren’t practical.
So that is when the idea arrived just over two years ago. I was like, “I'm going to find how we can do this in a better way.” Of course not with these leaky bowls, but something very sturdy. Something that can add value to people's lives. Something that allows people to be kind to their health, but also to the environment. Something that creates a positive effect by using a natural resource.
I thought about the meaning of the word “detox” because I wanted this to be a cleansing process. People think of detoxification from inside and I was like, “Why can we start from outside?” We can start with the food we're eating, and the plates, and what kind of toxins could be on the plates? And the whole process, from eating to where the product ends. And that's why I wanted to call them Dtocs, spelled differently…..and that’s how Dtocs was born.
How are the products made?
Dtocs are tableware made from naturally fallen palm leaves. These leaves start to decompose with the help of rainwater and sunlight. They go back to nature and become natural fertilizer.
We manufacture Dtocs products in India. There is a cottage industry in India with the palm farms, and this has nothing to do with the palm oil. These are different palm trees that you find on a California beach. This variety of palm trees is called areca nut or betel nut. When the leaves naturally fall, they are picked up, and cleaned with fresh water before they are sun dried. Then they are molded into different sizes and shapes of plates and bowls. And once they are hot compressed, each individual plate is sanitized by UV rays. And then they are wrapped and ready to ship. That's the whole process.
And the beauty of these products is that they are manufactured in India by the female workforce and part of the proceeds from our sales go towards improving education for the poor local communities in India. So that was a big part of why I wanted to manufacture in India. But I'm not limited, I am ready to open a manufacturing unit in the US, so we can employ more people here. I’m just waiting for that right moment when I am capable.
Speaking of local, I understand you live in Portland right now. It is such a great city where people take sustainability seriously.
Portland reminds me of my childhood home back in India. It’s the same with the snow mountains, the forests, lush green trees, and the rivers, and the waterfall. I think this is the best place where I could have started Dtocs, because people are so loving to the environment. I see everybody recycling the right way. And if you don't know, someone will show you how to do it properly. I'm happy I'm raising my children here.
Are you excited about being a provider for the event industry?
When we started in 2018, I didn't know who my clients were going to be or what it was going to look like. We just started because I wanted to do this and because it had a purpose. 2020 was the time when I could dedicate myself to understanding the market for it.
Our main niche is events because we want to provide easy clean up and after the event. I began raising brand awareness in industries including restaurants, events, weddings, vineyards, wherever there was this food. These products look like bamboo, they look expensive. And they are very sturdy. And of course, they're affordable. There’s a misconception when people think our product is bamboo, and that it's expensive. Dtocs has two sides:. It has it as a retail side and a wholesale side. The wholesaler side becomes very affordable.
Are the products compostable? What is the proper way to dispose of them?
The word “compostable” can be tricky, because what people don't say is if it's compostable in 50 years, 100 years, 10 years, or in 12 months. I can proudly say Dtocs plates go back to nature (or backyard compost) in just four to six weeks. So there is no need for commercial composting. That's the beautiful thing. Because these are made of leaves, and you can literally break them apart by hand, and put it in flower pots, or throw them in their backyards, and they're gonna go back to nature, they're gonna disappear in weeks.
We’ve gotten reviews from our clients, they’ve seen their pets play with the broken up pieces, or rabbits come in the backyard and they play with them. When I was designing this product, I decided it has to be zero landfill. Otherwise, I'm not going to do it. The result needs to be zero waste. Our product beats single-use paper products. Even though paper products are also compostable, paper takes much more time to decompose, which people don't know.
This has been my challenge, educating people about the product, telling them what it is, and how it’s made. People think it’s bamboo. And then when I say palm leaves, they automatically think about palm oil, but the trees we source leaves from have nothing to do with palm oil.
(Editor’s note, here is an article about the controversial production of palm oil).
The best way to understand it is to go to our website and check out our products. And we have sample boxes that we offer because we want people to touch them, experience them and see how beautiful and sturdy they are.
What else would you like the readers to know?
I will just say that whatever idea you have, go and try it. You won’t know if it works until you try it. I say the best time to do something has passed, it's gone. So don't regret it. The second best time to do something is now. Because doing it is powerful. Just do it without expecting such high goals. If it happens, great. If it doesn't then evaluate what could be done better.
And planning a sustainable event doesn’t mean you have to compromise on the quality or look of the products. And it's always good to make clients aware of these alternatives, and give them the resources to make the swaps. And I think it will make decisions easier.
Pallavi’s two young daughters join the Zoom.
Ah...my brand ambassadors are here and they would like to see hello. I was about to give you a head’s up that sometimes when I'm recording a Zoom or podcast, they will walk in and wave to the podcast. And these are my brand ambassadors for Dtocs. I love it.
And I'm so grateful that I can do this with them. I'm able to blend my work and my personal life. When I was looking at the food. I was like, “How do I do this with my children?” I still wanted my children involved in this with me, and I'm so glad that they are 100% with me on this.
Thank you, Pallavi. It’s been wonderful meeting you and learning a lot more about Dtocs.
Thank you for providing me with today's opportunity to talk to your audience and advocate for what I believe in, which is sustainability, and motivating everybody to do whatever they need to do in their lives.
Website: www.dtocs.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dtocsplates
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dtocsplates