Eat your food packaging material in the future- put it in pot, and leave no waste

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Hall F, Global Dilemma StageEnglish

The project EAT-pack will change the food sector with the development of the sustainable edible food films (EFF), revolutionizing the future food supply. The EFF will cover the whole food product tightly and become part of the dish when heated (zero-waste). The main ingredient, citrus fiber is sustainable and scalable, being a sidestream of a sidestream from the juice and pectin industry.

Read the exciting interview with Susan Løvstad Holdt

What is your background, and what do you work with?

I am a biologist by training and have for many years worked with seaweed-composition, extraction methods, and applications. The idea for the edible food film came from seaweed hydrocolloids that are gelling at room temperature but becomes liquid at high temperature. The edible food film may not have any seaweed in the final recipe.

What is the biggest challenge in the green transition of the food industry, in your opinion?

For me, the biggest challenges are legislation, settled systems/value chains and customer behavior. Legislation is not ready for thinking out of the box. Even though all ingredients of the film are approved as food, putting the film into the pot, does not fit into the current legislation, and can therefore not be realized.
It is difficult to change conventional systems, that are cheap and still legal, even though everyone knows we need more sustainable solutions.
Customers need to be ready to change. The idea may be too radical. 

How does the food industry look on the planet's terms, in your opinion?

Everybody knows we need to change… systems and habits. And it needs to be big changes to make an impact. With the edible food film, we hope to shake people a bit, and think very different about how things can be done differently. Incorporating new innovative solutions. Why not have zero waste in the food system, or at least part of it. We will start with making a sustainable edible food film, that you put in the pot, being part of the food, leaving no waste. The film will be made mainly form a side stream, so the solution is not competing with food, scalable and sustainable environmentally and economically. 

What are you looking forward to at the Global Dilemma Conference at FoodTech, and what do you hope participants will gain from attending?

I hope to meet new people and also make a seed in peoples mind, about re-thinking the way we are doing things now, and I hope that can germinate so people are open for new solutions for a more sustainable future.