Pandemic shortage inspires Black-owned toilet paper business

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major economic impact worldwide. Companies needed to reinvent themselves to remain in the market and, at the same time, new companies saw business opportunities and started operations.

The scarcity of toilet paper made a group of investors in Columbus, Ohio, want to make a difference. So, they founded Leafy.

Leafy is a company that sells brown bamboo toilet paper and was created by five black men. The company focuses on the betterment of the environment through the benefits of bamboo.

According to NBC, “five men, all from Ohio, came up with the only Black-owned, eco-friendly, biodegradable and 100 percent bamboo toilet paper company in the Buckeye state. The guys say the color makes it’s safe for consumers and the earth.”

“The reason behind the color being brown or a tannish color is because there’s no chlorine in this toilet paper,” said co-founder Anthony Caldwell. “In the process of making this, there were no chemicals used.”

Even though it was founded a few months ago, Leafy is already winning business. Its products can be purchased directly on the company’s website or at local supermarkets, such as Weiland’s Market in Clintonville, and even renowned hotels like Hyatt in the city are customers.

Not only concerned with the environment, Leafy also has a great social impact, because, according to ABC, the company “joins a short nationwide list of black-owned paper product brands, one of the very first in Ohio, and the founders want that part to be as big a legacy as any money they earn. ”

“We’re not even thinking about money right,” said D’Andre Martin, one of the company’s founders. “It’s about growing our communities, being able to help, educate people, and get them more aware of what they’re using.”

The founders also say that, as the business grows, they will focus their efforts on job creation and part of their earnings will go to supporting other local black-owned businesses.