Turning Plants into Plastic-Free Packaging: The Xampla Story

Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time—microplastics are now found in our oceans, our soil, our drinking water, and even in our bloodstreams. But what if we could make high-performance materials that look, feel, and function like plastic—without being plastic at all? Enter Xampla. Born out of the University of Cambridge, Xampla is a materials science innovation company that’s developed a new class of plastic-free, fully biodegradable materials that offer a drop-in replacement for the most polluting types of plastic. Their flagship line, known as Morro™, is made from natural plant proteins like those found in peas, potatoes, sunflowers and many other sources. It's already launched in the market with global brands for food service packaging, and it’s able to eliminate the most polluting plastics in a whole range of products from barrier coatings for paper, microcapsules in personal and homecare products, and soluble films for homecare and edible applications. In this episode, I’m joined by Xampla’s CEO, Alexandra French—a veteran of the chemical and materials industries with more than 25 years of global leadership experience. Since taking the reins in 2023, Alexandra has been leading Xampla through its next chapter: moving from a world-changing lab discovery to a commercially scalable solution. We’ll talk about how Xampla’s technology works, the environmental promise it holds, and how Alexandra is navigating the complex journey of building a startup at the intersection of science, manufacturing, and sustainability. We’ll also explore the company’s recent commercialization and the licensing business model it’s pursuing.