Edible and Seaweed Packaging Impacting Consumers Hunger for Cleaner Solutions

3 Trends Driving the Future of Food, Beverage and Packaging

Awareness around how to protect our planet is nothing new. Perhaps accountability is, as younger consumers drive market innovation for a better future.

Momentum around eco-friendly products in the food and beverage space has been growing significantly since the early 2000's. Development and implementation with packaging and lower carbon footprint products have allowed manufacturers as well as consumers to have stake in the game.

Food and beverage innovators are re-defining the future with new applications and technologies and here are 3 consumer trends driving solutions.

1. On The Go and Convenience The concept of eating 3 square meals a day at home is no longer. Busy schedules, travel and longer commutes equate to needing easy, clean and functional solutions. The average consumer now eats 6 to 8 snacks a day. They're looking for products to support their on-the go and active lifestyles while providing additional nutritional benefits.
2. Sustainability The hot topic. Sustainability used to be optional for many in their business model. Some built their brand around it others implemented aspects of it when consumer pressure became necessity. Think Ben & Jerry's. The OG of sustainability. I remember my wife telling me about a festival she had gone to in the early 90's in Vermont. Ben & Jerry's was a sponsor and festival goers could walk up to large mounds of grass seed, grab an empty (recycled) pint cup and fill it to the brim with the goal of taking it home and adding back to the earth and holding on top the pint cup as a pencil holder. The brand they desired was aimed at full circle sustainability and consumers who paid a premium for their ice cream weren't just paying for the taste. Even though we know it tastes amazing! They paid for sustainable identity and actual accountability.
3. The expectation today is not IF your are incorporating sustainability it's a matter of WHEN and HOW you will be incorporating this aspect if you are not already. Consumers want to know product sourcing, label identification and processes. Many have a heightened awareness around their purchasing beliefs and clean label has become a way of life for food, beverage and lifestyle products. Positions have been solely created in companies to focus exclusively on sustainability. Consumers are taking note and brand loyalty can be generated around this concept if the product is done well and corporate follow-through and responsibility is achieved.
4. Added Benefits As consumers choose alternative lifestyles such as plant-based alternatives the need for nutrient rich options are in high demand. Adaptogens, minerals and vitamins in products satisfy the consumers need for more.

One company on its way to hitting the 3 trends above is Foodberry formerly known as Incredible Foods. This food tech company has been around for ten years and they are now hitting the mark in CPG with a snack category product that reverse-engineers fruit skins to act as edible packaging. Above are the Roasted Red Pepper coated hummus berries. Additional flavors include PB&J Berries, Caffeine Packed Coffee Berries, Dragon Fruit Wellness Berries and Lemon-Yogurt Berries.

They have identified consumer needs around convenience, sustainability and added benefits. While I've not had the opportunity to try this encompassing product I appreciate the deliverables mentioned on the first page of their website and if they are truly 'delicious, healthy and sustainable' there's a future with consumers as taste is the always the number one factor for re-purchase.

Another fascinating, 'one to watch' company you may have heard of was Ohoo edible water. I couldn't get enough of this concept when it began. Water requiring no packaging. Once again meeting the three trends above it certainly got people thinking. Only problem when they considered marketing in grocery stores and other avenues the membrane was too thin and required additional packaging and negated one of the main visions of the product- to reduce need for packaging.

So what does any good entrepreneur do? They pivot. It seems an unintentional focus on packaging of Ohoo led them to a new start-up called Notpla: Disappearing Packaging. All of their containers are 100% natural seaweed coating. The idea is once the package is used it can be thrown into the compost bin the same as a fruit peel. The company celebrates its products robustness while confirming it is made for a world that wants to be around in the future. In addition to hitting the relevant consumer needs they appear to be an informative, collaborative and fun brand to follow and I will be keeping a lookout for this company to continue growing in the food and beverage space.

As consumers continue to re-enter the post pandemic world the demands for convenient, sustainable and nutritious solutions continues to increase. In addition companies will be further required to provide better visibility and traceability of their sustainability initiatives. Following this category closely and looking to see who's paving the way next.