The Internet’s Coolest Cooler: Coconut Husks as Hero Insulation ft. Tamara Mekler (Nutshell Coolers)

If the name Nutshell Coolers sounds familiar to you, you might have seen their innovative coconut husk-insulated coolers being covered by Forbes, Fast Company or CNN. Or maybe you saw it on Kickstarter where they reached their funding goal in just 7 hours. Or maybe, like me, it stopped you mid scroll when you saw their gorgeous product on Instagram.

So who is Nutshell Coolers and how did they become one of the chicest, most environmentally and socially conscious coolers out there?

On this episode of The Resilience Report, we sit down with Tamara Mekler, co-founder and COO of Nutshell Coolers. Tamara studied at Stanford University, where she received a B.S. in Behavioral Biology and an M.S. in Sustainable Development. Previously, Tamara worked in community-based conservation and environmental education in the United States and in her home countries, Spain and Mexico.

Tamara and her team are such an inspiration, and it is incredible to learn details about the coconut husks that go into building their coolers, the income generated in local communities from purchasing those husks, and the CO2 emissions and the plastic foam that is avoided with each cooler.

In a nutshell, this is one episode I know our Resilience Reporters are going to love!

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Welcome to The Resilience Report, I'm so happy to have you on today's episode.

Thank you so much. I'm really happy to be here.

So your company started from a really unique approach as a graduate student design project, which is unlike other projects and other companies we've had on the show. Could you share a little bit about how that got started?

Sure, yeah. That's right. I think it's a bit of an unconventional founding story. My co-founder and I met at Stanford at a design school class called Design for Extreme Affordability. In this class, students from different departments at the University are partnered with an international NGO to apply the human-centered design principles that we are taught to the challenges they're solving in the communities they work in around the globe. We were partnered with the marine conservation NGO Rare; they work in the Philippines and were looking to us to work with them on developing cold chain solutions for artisanal Fisherfolk. That's the first thing that brought us to the Philippines and the place where we got started. We lived with Fisherfolk and their families immediately after graduating. We moved to an artisanal tuna fishing village called Lubang Island. Essentially, we were there to design better coolers. We would go out fishing with them, follow their catch around from the moment it was caught and taken out of the sea, through the boat trip, the jeepney, the ferry, all the way until it reached the markets and restaurants in major cities like Manila where it was going to be consumed by the end consumer.

Through that process, we saw that the main product being used in this seafood supply chain was styrofoam and styrofoam coolers. We saw all the ways in which these styrofoam products were failing users, not just that, but also all the piles of plastic trash and styrofoam beads that were floating around, essentially either piling up on land or even finding them out at sea when we were going on those fishing trips. So, we saw a problem there both from a user experience and also from an environmental pollution point of view.

At the same time, we found out that just nearby in coconut farms around the Philippines, there was another massive source of waste. The Philippines is one of the world's largest coconut producers, and coconut husks are the leftover waste of this coconut oil and coconut water industry and accumulate on piles at the farms and end up being burned by the billions. But as they say, waste is only waste if you waste it. So, we started experimenting with these husks, and soon enough, we realized that coconut fibers are actually naturally insulating and excellent at that. Since then, all of our new cooler designs have incorporated this new insulation material.

I love that expression; I've never heard it: that waste is only waste if you waste it. I like that a lot.

On the topic of waste, Nutshell Coolers looks at both the environmental side, which kind of has that classic waste component, and then the social side as well. Could you help us maybe understand a little bit deeper on the environmental side to start with as to what does that look like from an environmental impact for the classic cooler industry if you will, and then what approach has Nutshell Coolers taken?

So, I was mentioning the issue that we saw with Styrofoam in seafood cold chains. But the issue is not just in seafood; it's not just in cold chains. The insulation market globally is dominated by Styrofoam or products like Styrofoam, essentially other forms of plastic foams. That's also true in insulated outdoor gear, unfortunately, which is kind of counterintuitive because the people who participate in outdoor recreation are usually the people who are most concerned about environmental degradation and are the most conscious about the materials that we're choosing and using in our products. But when you walk into any outdoor retailer, you're essentially surrounded by plastic products. That's just the reality, and it's that way for a reason. Plastics have been designed to have all of these great performance-oriented qualities like being waterproof or being insulating, in this case, and that means that it's a default material for most brands. But actually, there's a lot of upcycled, recycled, and natural alternatives that can match, if not outperform, plastics.

At Nutshell, we have a different approach where we think of nature as essentially our deep tech lab R&D, and we enjoy the fruits of its labor, literally. If you think about it, coconuts are the original cooler; they've been keeping water fresh in the tropical heat for centuries. So, there's a lot to learn there, and that's what it comes down to for us. We are building better products with better materials. Yeah, we like to say that we are designing products that last decades but not millennia.

That's really interesting, and even in perusing your site, it seems like your liner has environmental considerations as well. If you could explain that component as well.

That's right. So, coconut fiber is our insulation material, but there are other components that go into making a finished product like a cooler. So, we have other upcycled and recycled materials, including recycled plastic, to make sure that there's a lot of thought and thoughtfulness into every component of the final product.

This thoughtfulness definitely extends to the social side, and I think this is a big part of how Nutshell Coolers came to be. Could you share a little bit more about how you work with your suppliers in bringing this finished product to light?

Yeah, a big part of our mission at Nutshell is to connect people to the makers behind their gear. We feel that we have a really unique opportunity to do so because our material really has a very cool and unusual story of both the way that we source it and the impact that is embedded into this material. As I mentioned, our raw material is leftover coconut husks, and we actually buy these husks directly from smallholder farmers in the Philippines and farmer cooperatives. What that means is that we are providing them with additional income, so we're literally turning something that was trash for them into an additional source of income, into money for these rural communities all over the Philippines.

It's not just that these piles of coconut husks, as I mentioned, were previously burned as waste, and that was happening at the farms and it releases unhealthy smoke for the farmers and their families, and it also emits CO2 emissions. So, we're avoiding that as well.

Secondly, we also process our fibers and create our insulation panels within the coconut farming community. That means that we're creating rural jobs and professional development opportunities in some of the poorest regions of the Philippines. This is a model that we will continue to grow. We envision replicating this model in different geographies and continuing to partner with farmers and agricultural cooperatives to give agricultural waste a second life.

On top of all of that, I have to say, your coolers are so chic. It was visually seeing them the first time that caught my eye, and then I was reading all about what you're doing from an environmental and social standpoint. How do you choose? Is it in-house or do you contract out your design and manufacturing partners?

I'm happy to hear you like the way they look. It's definitely something we've worked hard on as well. Our vision is to replace plastic foam with natural fibers and really focusing on materials. But we also focus a lot on design and user experience. We feel that building a better product incorporates all of those elements, both the better materials, but also it has to be a product that people want to use. That means that when we're looking for design and manufacturing partners, we're really prioritizing excellence. We do not believe that sustainable products should be a compromise. The opposite, natural products are sustainable, delightful, versatile, high performance, and beautiful in your words. All of that depends on choosing the right design and manufacturing partners.

When we first started designing Nutshell, we chose to partner with the team at Box Clever. They are an award-winning design studio in San Francisco and have been involved in the launch of household favorites like Caraway Cookware, and Away Luggage. They brought to our team a lot of expertise on industrial design and also a really deep understanding of what makes great consumer products that people love so much that they want to talk to their friends about it and tell them about this new brand that they just discovered. So, that's what led to this signature Nutshell aesthetic that gets people turning their heads and talking about that sleek cooler that they just saw at the park that doesn't look like any other cooler out there. That's been really exciting.

We have a similar approach on the manufacturing side. We choose material providers that meet our certification standards, same with factories, and whose quality has been vetted by some of the best outdoor brands out there.

Fantastic! You're mentioning for those consumers to be able to purchase the product. What is your traditional go-to-market for Nutshell? Is it all online? Do you sell in retail? What does that format look like?

We sell Nutshell direct to consumers. We sell them through our online store at www.nutshellcoolers.com. We've also done special launches through online platforms like Kickstarter and other online marketplaces. We are now starting to talk to retailers about stocking Nutshell at their stores. So, hopefully, coming to stores soon.

Wonderful! You mentioned Kickstarter. I think most of our listeners will be familiar with it, but in case we have some that are not, could you explain what that process looked like for Nutshell in leveraging Kickstarter, and maybe any guidance you could give listeners who are entrepreneurs and thinking about using it as a potential platform and opportunity?

Yeah, Kickstarter is a really cool platform. It's a crowdfunding platform that essentially helps innovators bring their projects to life by having everyday people pledge money to support that innovation, usually in exchange for special perks. We used Kickstarter to launch our coolers. We launched Nutshell through a Kickstarter campaign in the summer of 2021. It was really successful. We reached our funding goal in 7 hours, which was really exciting. It was through that platform that we built our first community of supporters, and they have supported our growth to this day. That's been really exciting. They were involved in the design and development of the first iteration of Nutshell, and it was through their feedback that we figured out what upgrades we needed to incorporate into our 2.0 design that we launched this past summer. I highly recommend at least considering Kickstarter as a way to launch a product. The biggest advantage is really having a really engaged and excited community of early supporters who will hopefully become the greatest advocates of your brand, as they have for us.

That's a really great recommendation. We have a lot of entrepreneurs who listen, so I think that could be a neat thing for people to explore further. Another partnership that you do have is with 1% for the Planet. Would you mind sharing how that came to be and what that really means? I'm familiar with it, but just in case we have some listeners who are less familiar with 1% for the Planet.

Yeah, for sure. It's another really cool community. It's essentially a certification and also a network to which brands like Nutshell donate 1% of revenue to environmental solutions. We're very proud to say at Nutshell that social and environmental impact are embedded into every cooler that we sell. That's something that we really care about, from the husks that go into building our coolers to the income that is generated from purchasing those husks to the CO2 emissions that are avoided and the plastic foam that is avoided. All of that is really embedded into every single Nutshell. When you purchase one, you are directly having that impact in the world. But we were also really excited to join the 1% for the Planet network as a way to support our NGO partners in the Philippines, that's both specifically Rare and WWF, and also other local organizations because their work in local communities is really essential, and also they have been incredible partners to Nutshell from day one. Being a part of 1% for the Planet allows us to continue to support them in a very direct way as well. It's also just a really great network. There's a lot of really inspiring mission-aligned brands that are part of 1% for the Planet. It's really exciting for us to be able to stand alongside them and emphasize that businesses need to be a force for good.

Are you working on any projects in particular right now that you're really excited about? You mentioned maybe partnering with some retailers. Is that one, or anything else that you can publicly share at this point?

Yeah, that's definitely exciting. Always working on new projects. Nutshell is our consumer brand, so for Nutshell, we make coolers for outdoor lovers everywhere. We also use our coconut fiber insulation in packaging solutions, so that's cold chain solutions for companies that are shipping temperature-sensitive goods. We have a few partnerships with food delivery companies that are looking to replace plastic foam in their supply chains with our natural fibers. That's something that we're really excited about and where we see huge potential for impact at scale.

That's so smart. I feel like those service providers have probably only grown since 2020, with everybody leveraging their services. That's really, really smart. Your company is incredible, but your personal background is also really remarkable. For example, you were working at Stanford prior to your part of your journey leading up to Nutshell. Could you share a little bit more about your own trajectory to where you are today?

Yes, of course. Thank you. I got my degree in human biology from Stanford. I was focusing on learning about behavioral biology. I worked at Stanford as a researcher in a developmental psychology lab and also worked as an environmental educator in the U.S. and also in Spain and Mexico, which are my home countries. I've always been really interested in learning about the relationship between human and natural communities and specifically understanding how people make decisions, what drives their behavior, and figuring out ways that we can influence those behaviors and help people make better choices for themselves and for the planet. That led me to continue my studies at Stanford and pursue a master's degree in Earth Systems, focusing on sustainable development and design.

Yeah, it was while I was a grad student in that program that I became interested in entrepreneurship as a tool to solve some of these issues that I have been interested in and excited about for a long time.

You touched on your home countries being Spain and Mexico, so you have lived in different countries. Do you feel the way we maybe talk about and approach sustainability varies depending on the geographic market from what you've seen, or are we kind of all coming to a common consensus? I would love your experience in that area.

And yeah, I think it's been really interesting seeing sustainability come about as a topic and as a choice and opportunity for innovation in different places. I've definitely found that different people and different communities around the world adopt sustainable behavior and practices for different reasons. I think that's really exciting. I think that means that there's an opportunity to get more people on board. Whatever resonates with the community is how it should be pitched.

In the US, I think people tend to embrace sustainability for moral reasons, which I think is great. In the Philippines, interestingly enough, I saw a lot of sustainable behaviors adopted by necessity. For example, people repurposing or upcycling materials as a means to cut costs, such as using empty plastic containers as planters. I saw that everywhere, or using natural materials as a traditional cultural practice. For example, banana leaves are very commonly used as plates or food wrapping. I think it's been really cool to see that there's no lack of reasons to embrace sustainability, and ultimately, I hope that communities everywhere will find what resonates with them and understand that sustainability really just means for something to be sustainable; it means that it's more enduring, which means that it just makes more sense in the long run. I think we need to have sort of that long-run perspective.

It's beautifully said and certainly kind of pulls the thread all together of those different pieces.

You also mentioned while you were studying and then working you were interested in how entrepreneurship could maybe play a role in bridging the gap between perhaps human behavior and then what you were seeing from the sustainability lens. Did you always know that you wanted to ultimately be an entrepreneur? Was this born through experience?

No, I did not actually. Since I was little, I've always liked to tinker and get creative, usually with crafts or DIY projects. I really enjoyed learning new skills and making physical things actually. But entrepreneurship was never really in my mind growing up. I've always enjoyed collaborative, community-oriented work, and for some reason, I thought of entrepreneurship as a more individualistic approach. I don't know if that's because as a society, sometimes we emphasize the founder's journey, and yeah, I don't know. It just never really occurred to me. But I found that it's really all about relationship building and creative problem-solving—two things that I really love. And I'm really enjoying the process and finding that it's a really rewarding and effective means to creating change. So yeah.

And certainly, I'm sure having spoken to other entrepreneurs it definitely sounds like it can be a lot too. You're kind of on 24/7. Do you have any tips that you use personally that you might recommend to other listeners just to stay motivated and recommitted to the work on a day-to-day basis?

Yeah, I don't know if it's a tip, but what I feel really motivates me is just surrounding myself with people who are mission-aligned. I think the most evident way is through my teammates, my co-founder, and the people that work with me. Every time that I talk with my team in the Philippines and hear about the latest updates from the farmers or the engineers or the workers at the factories, I'm really reminded of how big this ecosystem is, how many change-makers are so invested in the success of our company, and really want to see our vision realized. That's really inspiring. And yeah, I think if you're at a stage where you don't have a team yet, even just talking to other entrepreneurs, talking to other founders, talking to other people working in the impact space, reading about the latest innovation in climate tech, or whatever impactful industry you're interested in. I think all of that and seeing all of those innovations and hearing all those stories are really inspiring and personally really help me recommit and remember why I really want to be part of that community who is building the businesses and, in our case, the materials of the future.

I definitely count you part of that inspirational community. If our listeners want to learn more about Nutshell or even the broader packaging company, where would you direct them to check out?

Nutshellcoolers.com. We're also on social media @NutshellCoolers. Fortuna Cools is our B2B company, the company through which we sell our B2B solutions for insulated packaging made from coconut fiber. We also have some social media accounts @FortunaCools. And yeah, always available myself to talk to anyone interested in this space at tamara@nutshellcoolers.com.

Fantastic. Thank you so much for joining. We do like to end every episode with the same question, which is: what do you think it will take for businesses and leaders to be resilient going forward?

Yeah, that's a great question. I think from my experience building Nutshell, I think deep empathy is key. When we approach problems, I think we need to think about the full system and all the people involved and really work together to create solutions that stand to benefit all. That means taking the time to understand the perspectives and needs of all stakeholders, from your employees to your customers to partners and the environment. And yeah, I think and I found that this process of deep empathy leads to key insights that allow us to make better decisions, build stronger partnerships, prepare for challenges, and I think that's what it means to be resilient.

I think there are a lot of great examples of that in the circular economy, where stakeholders, including the planet, are brought together and all benefit from a solution and are motivated to make it work. I think circular solutions are efficient, innovative, and very attuned to local communities, and they literally keep resources in a continuous loop, which I think is just being resilient by design. So I think paying more attention to those kinds of solutions and really focusing on building empathy with all the stakeholders.

I love that idea of “resilient by design”. So thank you for all of the gems you dropped today. This has been such a pleasure speaking with you. I encourage everybody to check out your website, your social media. All of the pieces, like I said, are so beautiful, and at the same time, the mission and values that you're bringing to the table are phenomenal. So thank you once again.

Thank you so much. Really appreciate you giving us the opportunity to share it with your community as well and having us here today.