Wisefood sales exec: Anti-throwaway plastic legislation whets appetite for edible tableware

27 May 2021 --- Despite operating in a “highly competitive” packaging industry, the edible tableware sector has “rather limited competition,” Isabella Barth, head of international sales at Wisefood, tells PackagingInsights. 

Edible packaging is gaining traction both as an environmentally-friendly packaging alternative and for mitigating the impacts of UK and EU legislation restricting single-use plastic in food-grade applications.

Consumers continue to fuel plastic resentment as mounting plastic pollution worldwide and poor plastic recyclability rates remain well publicized.

Nevertheless, edible packaging “only makes sense for smaller items that are likely to be eaten,” Barth highlights. The 2018 EIT Food Award winner upcycles apple fibers to create alternatives to plastic straws, plates, cups and cutlery.

“We feel that more people understand the importance of truly sustainable solutions to prevent our planet from drowning in the left-overs of our last take-out orders,” Barth flags. 

Made from water, oat bran, wheat flour and sugar, the edible coffee cups are stable for up to about 40 minutes.“It is our job to educate people about the advantages of edible alternatives in terms of sustainability, functionality and in their potential as a marketing tool.” 

Scaling up humble beginnings
Wisefood’s exploration into edible packaging began as a student project, giving apple fibers left over from German apple juice production a second life. “It was a good idea but unfortunately the straws made from 100 percent apple fiber were not stable.” 

What followed was three years of constant tweaks in the recipe. Besides locally upcycled apple fibers, other experimental materials included durum wheat semolina and wheat gluten.

“It’s important the straws stay stable for at least 60 minutes without dissolving,” Barth notes. Moreover, the straws should offer a neutral taste to avoid affecting beverage flavors, but still be pleasant enough to elicit a post-sip crunch.

“The next challenge was to adapt the recipe from manual production to automatic production and then scale up production once we had found a production partner.” 

The result is a straw that is stable for 60 minutes in drinks at room temperature, bumped up to two hours in cold drinks and alcoholic cocktails.

Grains provide the new cake pop sticks their stability, and are also made from upcycled apple fibers and stevia.Wisefood has also launched several other products in the past year, including edible ice cream spoons, coffee stirrers, and cups.

Where’s the competition?
Wisefood’s market competition is less with other edible cutlery companies than with standard plastic products, considering the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive is not yet in force. Paper and wood-based products present more competition than edible counterparts, but “have presumably not heavily come to market due to the pandemic.”

Regardless, Barth affirms demand for Wisefood products is increasing significantly. The company highlights upcoming disposable plastic bans are not limited to Europe, but will also be implemented in Canada, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and some US states. These legislative restrictions mostly include bio-based and biodegradable plastics, such as PLA.

Wisefood is enjoying strong demand from the retail and foodservice sectors. The edible straws, for example, are already used by ACCOR Hotels Group, retailers Aldi, Edeka and Rewe as well as wholesalers Selgros, Transgourmet and ChefsCulinar.

Wisefood sees more environmental benefits for its edible products than its plastic alternatives.Non-edibles still on the menu
In terms of environmental credentials, Wisefood edibles tick most consumers’ boxes. The solutions omit waste, are price competitive and fun, and fully compostable if not consumed. 

Plastic alternatives like paper and bamboo are often viewed as eco-friendly, but less so in Wisefood’s view. For instance, wood-based coffee stirrers can contribute to deforestation.

Still, Wisefood offers tableware alternatives made from paper, bamboo, palm leaf and rice. Barth muses that her company is “constantly confronted” with this choice. “In our understanding, edibles are a newer alternative and not all products can be made from edible materials.”

In the company’s experience, most customers also prefer receiving multiple solutions from one supplier. “Even though edible alternatives are our core business, we want to be the ‘go-to’ for sustainable and green tableware, cutlery and straws,” Barth says.

Isabella Barth, head of Wisefood’s international sales.Food for thought
Wisefood is headquartered close to Munich, Germany. The country is also home to Spoontainable, an edible ice cream spoon made from upcycled cocoa fibers and oat husks. 

Germany’s fast-food sector and academia teamed up last year under the MakPak project to develop sustainable packaging solutions from marine macroalgae. 

From food waste-fighting fruit coatings to seaweed-based food wrappings and potato starch noodle pouches, PackagingInsights previously explored edible packaging’s potential to propel zero-waste, carbon-neutral societies.

To date, Wisefood’s alternatives have already replaced more than 100 million single-use plastic products, targeting the 1 billion milestone for straws alone by 2022. 

Wisefood showcased its edible portfolio at the Rethinking Materials virtual summit, ahead of which PackagingInsights spoke with experts from DuPont Biomaterials, Braskem, Tetra Pak, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever.

By Anni Schleicher