Edible Packaging – The Fast Approaching Sustainable Packaging Trend

Plastic has been a mainstay in the food industry for decades, and concerns about its environmental harm have reached global levels. As we learn more about the importance of sustainability and the various initiatives taken to reduce our dependence on plastic, we must consider the many alternative options and innovations becoming increasingly available as technology advances.?

One such alternative worth considering is edible packaging. Governments, businesses, and packaging experts are already investing more money into this alternative, resulting in a quickly expanding market ready to be tapped. So as suppliers continue to cultivate more resources for consumable solutions, this new packaging movement will only gain traction over time.?

Now is the perfect time to delve into this market, and we'll provide you with everything you need to know to get started!

What is Edible Packaging?

As the name suggests, edible packaging is a type of sustainable food packaging that you can eat alongside food or biodegrade quickly. Any film, sheet, layer, or coating qualifies as edible packaging if it meets these requirements. With the package being consumed instead of disposed of, this sustainable packaging method is perfect for helping reduce our dependency on plastics while naturally generating less waste as everything is eaten, leaving nothing behind.

This alternative comes at a crucial point in time for the food industry as it has recently come under fire for the sheer amount of waste produced. Most traditional food packaging comes from non-biodegradable materials, and statistics from the United States Environmental Protection Agency show that food and plastic accounted for over 30% of solid waste in 2018. So if you’re looking for an opportunity to switch to an eco-friendly option, now is the time!

Edible Packaging Options

Although consumable packages are a newer addition to the many sustainable alternatives, you've probably encountered them before. Hard cookie coffee cups, ice cream waffle cones, sweet gelatin packaging, fruit-like casings, and candy wrappers made of potato fibers are just some examples of consumable packaging. And as companies continue to innovate, expect to see many more variations reach the market in the near future!

But if you’re wondering what is already available, some popular innovations include;?

Straws: Consumable straws, like those showcased here , are a trendy innovation to reduce dependence on regular drinking straws. Tasteless pasta made of wheat and water, fruity apples made from leftover apple fibers, or sweet sugar straws are available for whatever beverage you wish to drink, whether it’s something fizzy, fruity, or alcoholic.

Food film: A more recent development. Researchers from the University of Nottingham developed edible and 100% biodegradable food film using plant-based carbohydrates such as konjac flour, starch, cellulose, and proteins. This innovative food packaging film offers better storage, safety, and shelf life while being much more environmentally friendly than plastic.

Eco-bags: Indonesian company, Avani , developed a consumable, biodegradable eco-bag from cassava root that can dissolve in warm water, but the intention of this bag wasn’t to be consumed by humans. Avani’s eco-bag nourishes fish and insects when consumed instead of poisoning them with plastics!

Spoons: Bakeys have created the world’s first consumable cutlery line from rice flour, wheat, and sorghum to combat plastic cutlery pollution. Designed to be fully vegan with no trans fat or preservatives, this company aims to create an eco-friendly eating utensil suitable for mass audiences. With over 40 billion plastic utensils used yearly in the United States alone, cutlery plays a massive role in the environmental harm caused by the food industry, and Bakeys aims to lessen that impact.

Bottles: Ooho, the edible bottle, is the leading consumable alternative to plastic bottles. Developed by Skipping Rocks Lab , Ooho uses a technique popularized in cooking, spherification. Skipping Rock Labs created a transparent gel wall solid enough to hold liquid in a spherical pouch-like container and entirely consumable by utilizing a double membrane of sodium alginate and calcium chloride.

How is Edible Packaging Made?

As shown above, consumable packaging comes in many forms. This type of sustainable packaging is relatively new, so innovation and experimentation are a constant, and there is no one method to make edible packaging. However, there are several guidelines packaging innovators must follow to ensure their invention is the least intrusive to consumer experience and is indeed environmentally friendlier than traditional means:

1. Protect and preserve the product. Since many common resources used in edible packaging consist of some shortcomings, the packaging is usually made with several different components to balance and support each other’s weaknesses.
2. Be edible or biodegradable without harmful environmental impact. You want to avoid including synthetic and toxic materials such as plastics. Use natural materials such as wheat, seaweed, alginate, fruit, or plant fibers in combinations that complement each other.
3. The packaging should have a neutral or tasteless flavor in most cases. The reason for this is that if the taste is too strong, there's a risk that the item inside will absorb the flavor and compromise the product. To avoid this, always consider tasteless or subtle, complimenting flavors to accompany your product.

Why You Should Consider Edible Packaging for Your Business

Now that we better understand this new type of sustainable packaging and covered the extensive innovation going into its development, you might wonder what the benefits of joining the edible packaging market are. Like other sustainable packaging options, the benefits are the same and more!

The first benefit is the most significant business concern: satisfying customer expectations around sustainability. Because there is inherently zero waste tied to edible packaging, and it is natural and biodegradable, it can be a great way to show that your company is willing to commit to the environment in the long run and will help build a loyal customer base that your business can rely on.?

Secondly, with many innovations and options available, edible packaging is diverse, multi-purposed, and can be used in various ways for versatility and cost-saving.

Lastly, edible packaging is a great way to protect our planet. By eliminating the typical waste cycle and circumventing recycling methods, no traces are left behind to end up in landfills or improperly disposed of, making this option one of the best alternatives.

The Drawbacks of Edible Food Packaging

But just like with any other sustainable packaging, there are still disadvantages. This packaging method still needs to be perfected and, at the current time, may still need non-consumable materials, which may negate some environmental benefits.?

Furthermore, because edible packaging can be more sensitive to temperature and heat, more care is required during shipping, which may be costly for some businesses to maintain.?

And while plenty of research has shown its safety and effectiveness, there may be difficulty in gaining customer trust for edible food packages. People are so used to throwing away packaging or seeing it as a disposable item that it will take time for the culture to shift towards consumable packaging. But the good news is that it isn't impossible.?

The Future of Edible Packaging

One thing that has become apparent is that the future of packaging is starting to change. We're moving towards more environmentally-friendly options that can significantly help reduce waste, such as plastic packaging and other toxic materials while creating a new standard of sustainable initiatives.?

Although more research and development are needed to scale this new sustainable packaging option and make it suitable for large-scale use, the current results show much progress. So as more policies change and resources are invested into sustainable, edible packaging, we're poised to see more innovation for more than just the food industry.

Expect changes in various industries, not only for edible packaging but sustainable packaging as a whole.?

If you want to read more about sustainable packaging, please visit us here or contact our product specialists to learn more about what sustainable packaging options we have available for you!