As people realize the seriousness of plastic pollution, many countries have begun to impose strict regulations on plastic products. Manufacturers are also devoted to environmental protection. With the emergence of edible foodservice packaging, the global food packaging industry has ushered in a powerful innovation storm.
Scoff-ee cup
KFC, one of the leaders in the fast-food industry, has experimented with edible coffee cups in UK. This coffee cup is made from biscuits, and the coated part is made of sugar paper instead of traditional plastic film. Furthermore, sweet whiter chocolate is added as the insulation of the cup. The cup actually become a dessert. What could be more intoxicating than this combination of delicious coffee and sweet desserts.
When the hot coffee meets the crisp biscuit, the biscuits will gradually soften, and the heat insulation of white chocolate will be slowly melted, which will add a sweet flavour to the coffee. In addition, according to the manufacturer’s description, a special aroma is added to the biscuit cup, which is a mixture of light coconut, fresh grass and flowers. Drinking it and eating it, will be warmer in this winter.
Edible Chopsticks
An edible chopstick is used by “Eleme”, which is one of the leaders in the takeaway industry. This is not a joke; the appearance of edible chopsticks is keeping same as traditional ones, but the inside of chopsticks is mysterious. You must know ice creams have a variety of flavours, but can you believe that the edible chopsticks also have multiple flavours ？For edible chopsticks, 3 flavours are available, Matcha, Oat and Purple Sweet Potato. According to the introduction of the manufacturer, the chopstick is made of flour, brown sugar, rock sugar, milk and water. The method is similar to traditional baked desserts. Besides, it not easy to deform even if touching the water, and can be saved for 10 months. Otherwise, it can be degraded after a week if being discarded. Eleme conveys the concept of environmental protection to consumers by its practical actions.
Ooho Water ball
Ooho edible water ball is designed by three university students in UK. With its own unique packaging style, it makes a change in the traditional packaging industry. The raw materials of Ooho are natural thickeners (E-401) from algae and calcium chloride (E-509). Ooho uses a double membrane structure to contain water. The outer membrane has the function of isolating bacteria. If you want to drink the water inside, just tear off the outer one and drink water with the inner membrane together. In addition, its materials are much cheaper than plastic, so manufacturers can use lower costs to produce more eco-friendly products. Edible water ball brings innovation in the food packaging industry. This technology might also be applied to other industries after it matures.
Furthermore, many interesting edible foodservice packaging products also quietly appeared in the market. Such as, the core bowl in Bangalore, India, the edible burger’s paper of Bob‘s fast restaurant in American.
Environmental protection is a kind of design idea, and edible food packaging still in developing stage, which has many technical limitations, might cause practicality and performance/cost ratio problems. However, edible food packaging will be the future trend.
