All SproutWorld pencils are made from sustainably certified wood and are 100% natural and zero waste.
Browsing the web over a decade ago, Michael Stausholm came across a Kickstarter campaign from a group of robotic students at MIT in Boston, who had been tasked with designing "the sustainable office tool of tomorrow".
Stausholm, who was working in the textile industry, had chanced upon the perfect product to explain a growing trend towards sustainability during his talks on responsible sourcing and production.
Their Kickstarter was a seeded capsule "Sprout" pencil, with the stub then planted in a pot. “Here was a product that you used to write with, but then instead of throwing it out afterwards, you gave it literally new life by being able to plant it and so you completely reused everything,” recalls Stausholm.
“I just thought this was a solution to my problem and how to explain to people what sustainability is all about.”
Billed as the world’s only patented plantable pencil, SproutWorld was founded in 2013 after the Danish entrepreneur acquired the global rights from the students and turned from speaking engagements to the commercial world.
The company has since sold over 75 million plantable pencils to over 80 countries, with a current revenue of £4.3m ($5.7m), and has a dynamic customer base ranging as parental gifts to teachers to being endorsed by Michelle Obama and Richard Branson.
Michael Stausholm's SproutWorld is the company behind the world’s only patented plantable pencil.
Obama, who had a kitchen herb garden at the White House, used the Sprout pencils for her book tours while Branson learned about the product while flicking through Virgin Airlines’ tax-free catalogue and purchased the pencils for his Necker Island guests. Meanwhile, National Geographic has also hailed it as one of its breakthrough inventions.
“It always makes me proud to see how this product is being mentioned,” says Stausholm.
“In the end, it's a simple product but it's also how you can communicate with it. It's how you can teach your children about both writing, colouring and then planting.”
SproutWorld sources its raw materials from Poland where primary production is based, seeds from the Netherlands and Italy and a secondary production in Minnesota where the firm sells to North America.
Stausholm originally launched in retail in Denmark and also sold to museums and zoos before he "suprisingly" started fielding enquiries from companies asking to engrave their logos on the pencils. His first B2B order was for a Danish TV station launching a new nature channel and the product has resonated ever since.
The company now has B2B customers including Disney (DIS), Nestlé (NESN.SW) and Marriott (MAR).
The company sells direct to consumers as well as B2B customers including Disney, Nestlé and Marriott.
There are now a variety of different plants, from basil and coriander to melon and cucumber, all made from sustainably certified wood and 100% natural and zero waste. A few years ago, SproutWorld also introduced an allergy-certified eyeliner range.
The Dane had originally believed that schools would also become a major customer of the pencils given the educational piece, but soon realised that funding was hampering any sales. However, consumers have still latched on to the product value.
“We sell editions on Amazon (AMZN) such as mindful, love and teacher's edition. And we see that pencils are being used as teacher appreciation gifts or maybe the teachers buying a box and handing them out to the kids.”
With annual pencil sales numbering a stable 15 billion pieces manufactured and sold globally, SproutWorld sold around 6 million in 2024.
“Hopefully, we can inspire other companies to see it shouldn't be that difficult to use all natural materials and inspire others to think about how you dispose of your products,” adds Stausholm.
Behind the brand: SproutWorld founder on…
Sustainability
Having a Sprout pencil is not going to save the world, but it's about all the everyday things we do that adds up. We normally say "from small things, big things grow". It's very much the inspiration part that makes me wake up every morning.
What has changed a lot for us are the buzzwords. Right now it's biodiversity with companies, but just like 10 years ago with sustainability, we still don't know what we're going to do about it so for us it's about trying to make it more concrete.
SproutWorld was founded in 2013 by the Danish entrepreneur Michael Stausholm.
Pencil copycats
From the start we've seen an incredible number of copy products from mainly China, but also India and Turkey. Six years ago we made an agreement with a company that has AI software to look for copy products, both images and mentions. That has completely changed the game with a success rate of 75% and no way we could have done that without AI.
US tariffs
Fortunately, we have local production in the US, but I think it's going to affect everyone doing business with the US. Hopefully things work out because there are no winners in a trade war, right?
