Ban on single-use plastic items: Demand jumps up for wooden cutlery, trays, stirrers, ice cream spoons 

With the government all set to implement a ban on single-use plastic items from July 1, demand for wood and bamboo dealers went up on Just Dial as manufacturers look to switch to eco-friendly options.

During the March-April-May’22 period, searches for wood and bamboo dealers on the platform jumped by 35% (QoQ), with maximum demand for wood dealers. Almost 80% of the searches were for wood dealers and rest for bamboo. Demand also shot up for a wide range of wooden cutlery like spoons, knives, and forks, wooden trays, wooden stirrers, wooden ice cream spoons, and bamboo sticks, reports the latest Just Dial Consumer Insights.

Commenting on the changing trends, Mr. Prasun Kumar, CMO, said: “Sustainability is at the core of businesses now and is bringing changes across the funnel. This has led to a spike in demand for wood and bamboo dealers as manufacturers look for sustainable alternatives for single-use plastics to comply with government regulations. Just Dial has aggregated a large base of wood & bamboo dealers on the platform. Searches for wood and bamboo dealers in Tier-I cities were up by 22% and in Tier-II by 29%. Being India’s No.1 local search engine, Just Dial is playing a pivotal role in helping local businesses make a smooth shift from single-use plastic products to eco-friendly wood and bamboo-based products.”

Delhi topped the demand for wood dealers and along with Mumbai contributed to almost 50% of the searches among Tier-I cities. Kolkata saw the maximum rise in demand at 22% for wood dealers. Delhi also topped the demand for bamboo dealers with Mumbai and Bengaluru in the second and third place, respectively. Among Tier-II towns and cities, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow, and Jalandhar were the top-5 with maximum searches for wood and bamboo dealers.

Among wood and bamboo-based products, maximum demand was for wooden spoons. Demand for wooden spoons was the highest in Mumbai and Delhi among Tier-I cities with Bengaluru in the third place. Moradabad, Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Kanpur, and Lucknow were the top-5 Tier-II cities with maximum demand for wooden spoons.
Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai generated maximum demand for bamboo sticks among Tier-I cities. Aligarh, Rajkot, Ajmer, Guwahati, and Mangalore were the top-5 Tier-II towns and cities with maximum demand.

Demand for wooden trays jumped by 41% (MoM) in May’22 with Mumbai leading demand generation among Tier-I cities followed by Delhi and Bengaluru in the second and third place. Surat, Vadodara, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Moradabad generated most of the demand from Tier-II cities.

Demand for wooden stirrers was the highest in Delhi followed by Mumbai and Chennai in the second and third place respectively among Tier-I cities. In Tier-II cities, demand was high in Varanasi, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Madurai, and Lucknow.

Demand for knives and forks was high in Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai among Tier-I cities while Coimbatore, Chandigarh, and Firozabad were the Top-3 among Tier-II towns and cities with maximum demand.

For wooden ice cream spoons, Chennai saw maximum searches among Tier-I cities with Mumbai and Pune in the second and third place respectively. Among Tier-II cities, Madurai, Indore, and Jaipur were the top-3 cities with maximum searches.