VIDEO: Kelowna-based biodegradable cell phone case company ramps up production

A high profile endorsement from a star like Jay-Z is helpful, and the recent investment from a venture capital company that he's a part of makes for great headlines, but it's just one step on Kelowna-based Pela's journey.

The manufacturer of compostable cell phone cases remains focused on its goal to divert a billion pounds of plastic from the waste stream.

Director of brand marketing Kate Wilson stopped-by at KelownaNow to tell us more about this local success story.

Getting noticed by the big names in the entertainment industry is all part of the plan for Kelowna-based Pela, which is staying focused on some ambitious plans.

"It's really confirmation that what we're doing is relevant," said Kate Wilson, on the Jay-Z endorsement. "It's going to give us a platform that is even bigger than we've ever had before."

The idea behind the Pela cell phone case wasn't born in a trendy west-coast coffee shop like you might have guessed. It's something that occurred to an environmental consultant in Saskatoon where flax-fields can stretch as far as the eye can see. His name is Jeremy Lang.

"He was the one who found the problem that he thought was plastic phone cases that didn't have to be plastic," said Wilson. "There's actually a waste once you farm flax for the flaxseed oil industry that he found that instead of burning off the field, you could actually use it as a solution to make compostable phone cases."

But the real spark behind Pela belongs to the next generation.

"It actually started when he was in Hawaii playing in the sand with his son and his son kept coming across pieces of plastic," she explained.

The first of Pela's compostable cell phone cases were made right in Saskatoon and started selling in 2011, but the company didn't really start to take off until Lang brought in partner Matt Bertulli, who's helped get the company scaling-up.

"He brought those skills and that big business mind to the business when we moved it to Kelowna here and opened-up headquarters," said Wilson.

There are plans to bring the manufacturing equipment from Saskatoon to Kelowna in the months ahead, but at present, the manufacturing is happening in Hong Kong.

"We started manufacturing in Saskatoon at a facility there and once we hit global scale which is where we're at now, shipping world-wide we had to move our manufacturing overseas in order to keep up to that scale," she explained.

But resuming at least part of the manufacturing close to head office is a big part of the company's plans.

"We're going allow our team and our community to be able to touch and feel and see the process," said Wilson. "And it's something that we really need to hold close to where we live and where our headquarters are because we don't want it to be a disconnect from our business."

Things are happening fast for Pela. Their headquarters are located at the Innovation Centre downtown. And by the way, Pela is hiring.