Edible insects gradually make their appearance on the Dutch market. Perhaps the best sustainable solution to the world food problem. Stepfive clients have already taken a foretaste. Our end of the year mailing consisted of delicious handmade bonbons filled with buffalo worms or crickets. We wonder who dared to taste!
Stepfive wishes you all the best for 2015!
The more we consume, the bigger the pile of waste we leave behind. (…) Smart and edible packaging: the best examples. Read and see all of it in the first online international edition of ‘Food Inspiration Magazine’. Beautiful designed and loads of interesting stuff on food, packaging and everything else that connects with food one way or another.
Food Inspiration Magazine: Connecting through food.
Few people eat an orange peel, but it is edible. We do eat the peels of other fruits, like peaches and apples. The peel is a kind of durable, biodegradable packaging. The fact that these fruits come in their own built-in packaging is convenient. It means they do not have to be sold in boxes or bags.
That idea is the inspiration behind a company that David Edwards has founded. He wants to change the way we package and eat food. His vision is that one day you will go to the supermarket and, instead of buying cartons of juice and cans of soup, you will fill your cart up with balls of food and drink.
Packing design evolves. An edible bottle made from organic materials that is biodegradable too? No problem. Dr. David Edwards (professor at Harvard) is working on the WikiCells project that looks into creating edible packaging. WikiCell membranes can hold the drink together and can also be consumed afterwards. These membranes could be made out of something tasty, like chocolate or candy.
There are some hurdles to be taken though. Hygiene for instance. Products in ready-made packaging go through many hands – literally – before they reach the end consumer, and despite the companies’ assurances of their products’ safety, it is unlikely that consumers would be willing to nibble on something whose hygiene can so clearly be compromised. Still, marketing and recycling experts agree that there is room for experimentation.
Wish to try some of Edwards’ experimental edible packaging? You can sample them at the stunningly beautiful Lab Store Paris.
