Edible packaging: the future is in our hands
Food packaging has always been a very delicate issue.
In fact, the importance of food packaging is no longer limited to simple product protection or pure marketing.
The increasingly insistent needs of consumers, linked to their own health and that of their loved ones, mean that the restrictions applied to new packaging methods are increasingly severe.
In such a complex general climate, edible packaging seems to be a more than convenient solution.
What is edible packaging?
Edible packaging means packaging made using edible materials.
The basic principle on which this idea is based is to coat food products just as it happens naturally: with their peel, or with that of other food.
The advantages brought by this type of packaging are obviously numerous.
The biodegradable materials that protect food can be consumed together with the product, considerably reducing the environmental impact. The production of waste is in fact considerably lower, as well as that of synthetic packaging.
Some examples
Although the concept of edible packaging may seem weird, it isn’t actually that recent. For a decade or so, scholars and innovators have been trying to find the perfect combination of ingredients – just like in any recipe – to produce healthy, safe and environmentally friendly packaging.
Like edible packaging, in fact, the waste problem is far from recent.
One of the main objectives of the emerging realities linked to innovation and sustainability is to create useful and healthy products for everyone, respecting the established guidelines and improving them, where possible.
Let’s discover together some realities that have made sustainability a virtue.
Return to nature
Many times it happens that, in order to progress, you need to take a step back.
Yes, because if it is the new technologies that allow the achievement of certain goals, it is the natural cycle of life that makes us understand that, just like in nature, the only real protection of a food is the food itself.
This is the basis of the idea of David Edwards, founder of WikiCells and faithful admirer of the concept of edible packaging.
WikiCells is a company that produces completely natural barrier wrappers, that pack fruit and vegetables. The membrane is washable and sanitizable, as happens in nature for fruit.
The feasible ideas regarding edible packaging are quite a lot: many are the sublime minds that are developing projects inspired by the return to nature, as many are the initiatives that are already making their way onto the market.
The change is here, you just need to notice it.