It’s consumers who are holding edible packaging back

Sparking attention in 2012 with ventures such as WikiFoods and Pepceuticals (the latter of which attracted a £1.3m European research contract in its attempt to create an edible coating for meat), edible packaging seemed like a short-lived buzz. But it’s recently seen a revival, with more and more developers getting in on the game. Its supporters are optimistic it could present a viable solution to some of the Earth’s most pressing environmental issues.

Those issues are all too well-known: over 75 million tons of waste packaging was tossed into landfills in 2010 according to Slate, and in the UK an estimated 2.5 billion cups are thrown onto the heap every year (enough to circle the world 5.5 times, according to LondonWaste).

Plastic packaging may also pose health risks. Studies have claimed BPA (a chemical used in the lining of most tin and plastic packaging) can affect the brain and nervous system. That’s led France to ban it from 1 January 2015, following in the footsteps of other EU countries including Belgium, Austria and Denmark. A recent study by the Food Packaging Forum meanwhile found that over 170 chemicals frequently used in packaging could be connected with cancer and fertility problems.

The biggest challenges we see with any disruptive technology are normalising the behaviour and increasing awareness and comprehension

Skin up
Eric Freedman, Senior Vice President of Marketing at WikiFoods, believes edible packaging could be a viable replacement. The company’s sphere-shaped WikiPearls, created by Harvard Professor David Edwards, use a similar concept to fruit, with what Freedman calls a “skin” to protect the food or drink. “Dr Edwards wondered whether it would be possible to design food and beverage packaging like nature designs fruits and vegetables”, says Freedman. “What followed was a longer reflection with Harvard students around the possibility of transporting water in ways inspired by our biological cell.”

According to Freedman, the technology, consisting of a protective electrostatic gel (created through interactions between natural food particles, nutritive ions and a polysaccharide), protects the wrapped food or drink while reducing exposure to unnatural materials or chemicals. After a couple of quiet years selling the product in obscure places – namely the WikiBar in Paris – the concept spread its wings in 2014, joining up with US yoghurt brand Stonyfield to launch Frozen Yoghurt Pearls, and start a roll-out of the products across 50 US stores.

WikiFoods isn’t alone in its endeavour; in 2012, Brazil’s first fast-food chain, Bob’s, started using edible wrappers on some of its burgers, while Australian firm Plantic created a bioplastic using corn starch 10 years ago. New York startup Loliware meanwhile launched itself into the edible packaging stratosphere a few years ago with the novel concept of edible cups, made of a seaweed-based gel called agar that can be either eaten or composted. Co-founder Chelsea Briganti believes the cups could provide a solution to the environmental issues associated with packaging waste. She told The Guardian: “Billions of plastic cups are entering the landfill every year. If Loliware replaces even a small percentage, that would have far-reaching impact.”

Three Imperial College London students seem to agree, coming up with Ooho, an edible water bottle consisting of an algae membrane, developed through a cooking method known as gelification. Packaging labels (using rice paper or similar) can even be attached and eaten. The students have at least managed to convince the design community, ranking among the winners of the Lexus Design Award 2014.

Edible but not appetising
But the design judges might be the only ones fully convinced, at least in the near future. The ‘bottle’ created isn’t particularly practical or appealing, and even co-creator Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez admitted that in the tests some chose not to eat it. “It’s a gelatinous texture that we are not used to”, he told The Guardian.

Adopting these types of edible packaging on a wider, commercial scale is therefore likely to be a long way off, with a shift in consumer mentality needed before they can properly hit the shelves – something Freedman recognises. “The biggest challenges we see with any disruptive technology are normalising the behaviour and increasing awareness and comprehension, both with retailers and with consumers,” he says. Part of that comes down to potential hygiene issues, but Freedman points out fruit and other fresh goods are already sold unpackaged – and, like fruit, the Wiki ‘skin’ can be washed.

For Freedman, making edible packaging a reality would involve changing the way we shop. “We envisage, in the near future, a merchandising solution that is completely package free”, he says. “Whether from a served bar situation like a gelato bar, or a bulk option in the freezer where consumers can fill their own containers and pay by weight or unit.” Such a transformation is not unheard of: American grocery store ingredients doesn’t sell a single packaged product. But that seems to defeat the very object of ‘edible packaging’, which in theory should protect goods as effectively as plastic packaging.

However, packaging industry consultant Sara Risch told NPR that, if edible packaging is anything like fruit skins, it wouldn’t keep goods fresh for long. That could be risky when it comes to refrigerated products such as meat, and food regulators are likely to take some convincing. As a result, the WikiPearls sold in stores, such as Loliware’s edible cups, are still sold in (biodegradable) packaging. Moving away from that is likely to prove a challenge.

But Freedman is optimistic plastic could be done away with, and that goods such as meat could potentially work. “Meat sounds like a fun one for us to tackle”, he says. “Wiki Meatballs? Wiki Sausage? Wiki Tenderloin?”

That aspect of ‘fun’ is where edible packaging seems to be limited, however. It’s still very much a novelty concept, thought up by excited scientists envisioning a fantasy world from their cloistered laboratories. If edible packaging can be produced on a commercial scale and developed to the point where it protects goods as effectively as plastic, it might well be able to – very gradually – find its way onto supermarket shelves. Even then though, it will likely be some time before people can bring themselves to actually eat the packaging of their food, and achieving that shift in attitude may well prove the largest obstacle. In the meantime, other alternatives are needed if the pressing health and environmental issues associated with packaging are to be solved.