While venture-backed software companies spend years chasing product-market fit, Vaibhav Goel was building something harder: fiber packaging that actually works for fresh protein. In just three years, Cirkla has developed its patented* barrier technology and expanded its manufacturing capabilities to supply packers and processors in the fresh protein industry, who in turn supply retailers across the United States. It is a pace that challenges conventional expectations for sustainable packaging companies.
Most people assume scaling a manufacturing business takes a decade. Cirkla proved that assumption wrong.
While Everyone Chased AI, This Founder Built a $50B Industry Disruptor
Vaibhav Goel saw an opportunity to address the challenges of sustainable packaging through Cirkla. At Zume, he scaled molded fiber packaging business to 25 countries. He saw the same pattern everywhere: brands wanted sustainable alternatives, but the alternatives didn’t work. So he built Cirkla to solve it. What happened next was a major step forward for the company. Within three years, Cirkla developed its patented* multi-layer barrier liner system and multi-year supply agreements have been signed with packers and processors who supply to major retailers including Trader Joe’s and Ahold Delhaize.
The timing was not accidental. While the venture world obsessed over artificial intelligence and software-as-a-service, Goel was solving a problem that had defeated every competitor for 30 years: making fiber packaging work for fresh protein at commercial scale.
“Every major food brand has tried fiber packaging and been burned by it,” Goel says. “The pilots didn’t work. The shelf life was too short. The equipment didn’t cooperate. By the time we started Cirkla, the industry had written off fiber as a dead end.”
That skepticism became an advantage. Because everyone else had given up, Goel had room to work. He could focus on engineering instead of fighting market perception.
The Problem No One Could Solve
Fresh protein packaging is the hardest application to solve in fiber packaging. It demands oxygen and moisture control, reliable seal integrity, and shelf life that lasts weeks, not days. For 30 years, only plastic checked all the boxes.
Fiber packaging had scaled in easier applications. Food service containers, takeout trays, and produce packaging. These worked because the barrier requirements were low. But fresh meat, poultry, and seafood required something different. They required a barrier system that fiber had never delivered at scale.
“That is where fiber packaging earned its reputation for failed pilots,” Goel explains. “It is also where that reputation no longer holds.”
Cirkla’s solution is a patented* multi-layer barrier liner system that bonds directly to the fiber substrate during manufacturing. The liner becomes an integral part of the tray structure. The result is a tray with oxygen transmission rates of 0.5 to 1 and water vapor transmission rates of 0.5 to 1. Burst strength exceeds 15 in Hg, compared to an industry benchmark of 10 to 12 for competitive materials.*
The trays deliver up to 35 days of shelf life. They are validated on six major equipment platforms. And they cost less than plastic in states where Extended Producer Responsibility legislation is active.
It was the combination that mattered. Not just performance. Not just price. Not just scalability. All three at once.
From Pilot to Production Volumes in 3 Years
Most packaging startups take years to scale commercially. Within three years, Cirkla expanded its manufacturing capabilities to supply packers and processors in the fresh protein industry, who then supply retailers across the US.
The company holds the world’s first commercially validated fiber tray for modified atmosphere packaging. The trays are on shelves at major retail stores, including Trader Joe’s and Ahold Delhaize. They are shipping production volumes today, hence, the trays are not merely pilots or prototypes.
How did Cirkla move so fast?
Part of it was the founding team. Vaibhav Goel, co-founder and CEO, leads Cirkla’s growth and development of molded fiber packaging solutions. Ankur Gupta, co-founder and COO, brings operational expertise, while Kapil Bhardwaj, co-founder and Head of R&D and Supply Chain, leads technical development and supply chain operations. Together, they had built and scaled businesses before. They knew what worked and what didn’t.
But the biggest factor was the market timing. Extended Producer Responsibility legislation was coming. Brands were desperate for alternatives to plastic. The regulatory pressure was real, and it was accelerating.
“Brands that switch now are not just avoiding future exposure,” Goel says. “They are locking in savings that compound as EPR expands state by state.”
Under independent third-party EPR fee assessments using 2026 Oregon and Colorado schedules, Cirkla fiber costs approximately $7.89 per 1,000 trays, compared with $23.50 for polypropylene, $27.34 for EPS foam, and $30.67 for PET. In EPR states, fiber is now the less expensive option.
The economics had flipped. Suddenly, sustainable packaging was not a sustainability play. It was a cost-savings play.
Building a Global Manufacturing Network
Cirkla’s manufacturing strategy was deliberate. The company established manufacturing in India first before expanding its footprint to the United States.
India had the technical expertise, the labor cost structure, and the supply chain infrastructure to produce fiber trays at scale. Cirkla validated its patented* technology in real production environments across some of the most demanding protein categories.*
As US demand grew, Cirkla expanded its manufacturing footprint to the United States. Its manufacturing facility in Hall County, Georgia, is currently being established and is expected to begin operations in Q1 2027.
“Our manufacturing in India runs at scale and has validated our technology in real production environments across some of the most demanding protein categories,” Goel says. “As US demand has grown, so has the case for a domestic footprint. This facility brings that same capability closer to our customers, built for the national rollouts ahead.”
The Georgia facility is intended to bring manufacturing closer to US customers, reduce reliance on any single trade lane, and support Cirkla’s next phase of growth once operations begin.
The global footprint was not about spreading thin. It was about being close to customers, understanding local markets, and building relationships with suppliers and partners.
The Three Non-Negotiables
Cirkla’s approach to building the company was built on three principles: performance, scalability, and price parity.
“A lot of sustainable packaging fails because it optimizes for one of these at the expense of the others,” Goel explains. “You get a product that is sustainable but cannot hold up to real-world use, or one that performs well in a lab but cannot be produced at volume. We designed for all three simultaneously.”
This philosophy shaped every decision. When the company faced a choice between cutting corners on performance to reduce costs, it did not. When it faced a choice between scaling too fast and losing quality, it did not. When it faced a choice between pricing high to maximize margins and pricing competitively to win market share, it chose the latter.
“Our fiber trays match the performance brands need while being built to run on existing packaging lines, at scale, and priced to compete with plastic, not just with other green alternatives,” Goel says.
This approach meant slower growth in some areas. It meant saying no to opportunities that did not fit the three non-negotiables.
But it also meant that when Cirkla did win a customer, that customer stayed. Multi-year supply agreements were not hard to negotiate because the product worked. The price was right. The supply chain was reliable.
What’s Next
Cirkla’s immediate focus is the Georgia plant coming online in Q1 2027. Beyond that, the company is pushing into new categories: ready meals, fresh produce, and customized fiber packaging for CPG applications.
“Our goal is to change how fresh food gets packaged on the shelf,” Goel says. “Up to 90 percent less plastic, one category at a time.”
The sustainable packaging market is at an inflection point. Regulatory pressure is increasing. Consumer expectations are rising. The technology gap between fiber and plastic has narrowed to the point where performance is no longer a reason to choose plastic.
For Vaibhav Goel and Cirkla, that moment marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth.
The conventional wisdom says sustainable packaging companies need years to scale. Cirkla did it in three years. The question now is not whether fiber packaging can work at scale. The question is how fast Cirkla can capture the market that is finally ready for it.
