TerraCycle, Inc. started in 2001 when CEO and Founder Tom Szaky dropped out of Princeton University after his freshman year to sell liquefied worm poop in a reused soda bottle, for fertilizer purposes. Despite having little brand recognition and only rudimentary manufacturing operations, Szaky managed to get major big-box retailers like Walmart and The Home Depot to start testing the product in 2004. By 2006, TerraCycle's worm-poop-based plant foods were being sold nationally across the United States and Canada in Walmart, Target, The Home Depot and Whole Foods Market retail stores.