We’ve posted her previously about attempts by Fast Food and other foodservice operations to develop environmentally sustainable disposable Beverage cups and other serving containers. Now, Air New Zealand is testing new cups that are not only compostable but edible…
Corn-and-paper beverage cups from Twiice are also
being used by Air New Zealand as Dessert bowls…
Many organizations that use millions of plastic foam ‘disposable’ Coffee cups every year have been talking about developing compostable, environmentally sustainable substitutes for years, now. But Air New Zealand is now running trials of a new hot Beverage container that is not only fully biodegradable but edible, too.
What they’re using
Air New Zealand serves more than 8 million cups of Coffee, aboard its flights and in its lounges, every year, and Air New Zealand Senior Manager of Customer Experience Niki Chave says the ultimate goal would be to remove those containers totally from landfills. To that end, the airline has partnered with another NZ company to develop a plant-based cup.
“We’ve been working in partnership with innovative New Zealand company ‘twiice’ to explore the future of edible coffee cups, which are vanilla flavoured and leakproof. The cups have been a big hit with the customers who have used [them] and we’ve also been using the cups as dessert bowls,” Chave says.
“It’s terrific that Air New Zealand has partnered with us to showcase to its customers and the world that a little bit of Kiwi ingenuity and innovation could have a really positive impact on the environment while at the same time delivering a really cool and tasty customer experience,” says ‘twiice’ co-founder Jamie Cashmore.
Another step in the right direction
“The ‘twiice’ edible cup trial backs up Air New Zealand’s recent switch to plant-based coffee cups on board all aircraft and in lounges,” Air New Zealand says, in a news release. “The plant-based cups are made from paper and corn instead of plastic, which enables the cup to break down in a commercial composter. Switching to plant-based coffee cups is expected to prevent around 15 million cups from going to landfill annually. The airline is also encouraging customers to bring their own reusable cups on board aircraft and into its lounges.”
Chave says the airline will continue to trial ‘twiice’s’ edible coffee cups and work with the company and other partners to explore scaling options that could make it a viable long-term product for the airline.
My take
I’ve always believed that a little shot of vanilla makes almost any umami flavour taste richer. One of my favourite tricks is to ad a few drops to the mic when I make my own Chocolate Syrup. I also add 1/2 tsp. / 2.5 ml to my homemade Pancake Syrup. Since it goes so well with Chocolate, I can just imagine how well it will go with coffee. What I still can’t get my head around is what a bite of Coffee-soaked Vanilla-flavoured Corn Foam will taste like. But I’m up to try it!
~ Maggie J.