Aotearoad was founded in 2016 by two women who wanted to make a change to the ever-increasing presence of plastic on supermarket shelves. They are both passionately connected to the ocean and dreamed of creating alternatives for everyday products in home compostable planet-friendly packaging.​ Vanessa and Monica found a gap in the market for affordable paper compostable packaging in the health and beauty category. No product ticked the sustainability box of being NZ made, plastic-free, compostable, 100% natural, affordable, user friendly, and most importantly effective.