How It Works: Edible Packaging

Our love of convenience food is burying our towns and cities in tonnes of old packaging. Plastic wrappers, cardboard trays and aluminium cans litter the streets and the scale of the problem looks set to increase.One way to cut down on this litter and waste is packaging you can eat.

The idea may sound far-fetched but taking their inspiration from nature, a company called WikiFoods has already designed a range of food encased in edible skins. 

WikiFoods’ first product, an ice-cream encased in a skin of hazelnut, peanut or coconut, can be passed from hand to hand without spoiling, and then rinsed off under a tap – in much the same way that we eat apples. The tough, edible skins are made from a gel-like material containing either algae extract or chitosan, a complex sugar derived from shrimp shells.

But they are not the only company developing edible packaging. In Brazilian burger chain ‘Bob’s’ you can already order a burger wrapped in edible paper and a group of European businesses is working on creating an edible antibacterial coating for fresh meat.

In this earthise animation, we explore the creative possibilities of edible packaging in a bid to combat the growing litter on our streets.

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