Inside the Only Company That Makes Paper Straws in America

Last fall, Porchlight, a Southern-themed cocktail lounge in New York City operated by the Union Square Hospitality Group, decided to ditch plastic straws. So Mark Maynard, the bar’s director of operations, decided his staff would test some eco-friendly alternatives. They placed 20 different paper straws in glasses of water. The one from Aardvark, the only company that makes paper straws commercially in the U.S., was the standout, he says. It held together better than the rest for well over an hour.

Offering Aardvark’s straws at Porchlight took a little longer than expected. When the bar’s procurement office contacted the Fort Wayne, Ind., company to place an order, it was told the wait time could be as long as three months. “They said, ‘We’re sorry. A lot of people have jumped on board recently,’ ” Maynard says.