Edible food packaging is here to stay. While the medium hasn't been refined for mainstream use just yet, David Edwards, creator of the edible WikiCell skin, claims brands will start to adopt edible packaging over the next few years.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 32% of household waste in the U.S. comes from food packaging, resulting in a grand total of 75 million tons of packaging waste every year. While some experts question how consumers will react to edible packaging, others surmise that if it were widely available, food manufacturers would see massive reductions in waste and cost at every step, from production all the way to consumption. Here's a look at five innovations that are turning edible packaging into a reality:
1. WIKICELL'S NEAR-INVISIBLE FOOD SKINS
While edible food packaging is just a novelty item for now, WikiCell Designs, an edible food packaging company that got $10 million in venture capital last year, is planning ahead. David Edwards, Harvard University professor, inventor of smokable chocolate, inhalable caffeine, sprayable vaccines and co-founder of WikiCell Designs, was inspired by the protective yet edible packaging found in nature, such as the outer membrane of an apple or a grape.
Edwards and the WikiCell team developed a tasteless yet edible skin made of biodegradable polymer to which palatable food particles can be added. For example, Edwards has developed an espresso shot packaged in a chocolate skin and ice cream packaged in fudge, cookie dough and coconut skin. While the skins currently still need a hard outer shell for protection, WikiCell anticipates one day the skin will not even be perceived as packaging and consumers will simply wash the packaging, dry and eat it. If the WikiCell skin ever reaches mainstream implementation, it could cut waste, boost sustainability and disrupt consumer notions of what it means to eat.
2. THE POUCH VANISHES
MonoSol, a packaging film technology firm, has developed Vivos Edible Delivery Systems, which, essentially, are food pouches that dissolve and release their contents in liquid. The pouches can be used for products that can be combined with liquid such as oatmeal, cereal, drink powder, soup, gravy, sauce, instant tea, instant coffee, hot chocolate, spices, proteins and workout supplements. The pouches melt away and leave nothing behind — no odor, no taste, no packaging.
While the packaging provides the convenience of portion control and an on-the-go delivery option, Matt Scearce, manager of media and communications at MonoSol, says the pouch currently needs protective packaging of its own such as a "stand-up pouch or injection moulded tub to prevent contamination." If the problem of secondary packaging can be solved, look for dissolvable pouches to become a popular niche in the edible packaging market.
3. THE EDIBLE BURGER WRAPPER
Bob's, a Brazilian burger chain, and its ad agency, NBS, came up with an innovative marketing scheme to distinguish its burgers from its rivals'. Wrapped in normal-looking packaging you can eat, Bob's advertises its burgers as so good, customers literally cannot wait to unwrap them. As yet, there's no word on what the wax paper-like packaging is made of:
4. PUT IT IN A TOMATO!
Created as part of her Taste No Waste initiative, Diane Leclair Bisson's FoodNest project brings artistry to waste-efficient packaging you can eat. Bisson and Gionatan Lassandro, president of Fooda, used tomatoes to craft aesthetically-pleasing, edible food vessels which made their acclaimed debut in Milan's Salone del Mobile. Bisson's project won the Core77 Award for Food Design, even beating out David Edwards, the boundary-pushing maker of WikiCells. With her work, Bisson seeks to provoke awareness of the waste we all leave in our wake.
5. THE MEAT INVISIBILITY CLOAK
Last year, Pepceuticals, a UK research firm, received a £1.3 million contract from the European Union to develop edible packaging for meat products. As yet, the project is incomplete but Pepceuticals maintains it will create an edible meat coat with antimicrobial film that actively resists contamination and decay. Such an innovation could prolong shelf life, replace plastic vacuum-sealed packaging and cut back on waste. The tasteless and transparent meat coat will even look and feel just like meat. In fact, if Pepceuticals is successful, consumers may never even notice it.
(Image credit: Stuart Webster)
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