Edible arrangements and fancy chefs turn food into art, but what about food packaging?
Designers are combining culinary arts with food packaging, creating vessels that are safe for the environment and even edible! No need for fancy garnishes, the packaging itself is a work of art.
Combining biological engineering and design creates new ways of not only using food, but talking about food consumption.
Swedish design studio Tomorrow Machine has many creative packaging solutions, but one of the most exciting designs comes from the series “This Too Shall Pass”. The series includes packaging for oil-based products, smoothies and short lifespan liquids, and dry foods, such as rice. The oil package is “made of caramelized sugar, coated with wax”, and to open it you crack it like an egg. The package melts in water after use. The smoothie package is made of “gel of the agar-agar seaweed and water”. As the contents become closer to expiration, the package begins to wither. The rice package uses biodegradable beeswax and to access its contents you peel the package like a fruit!
Another innovative food packaging design is called “Edible Growth”, an ongoing project created by food designer Chloé Rutzerveld. The project combines 3D printing with food management and presentation, as everything, even the dirt, is edible.
These designers are part of a new wave of waste management design, where not only are we thinking about how to cut down waste, but how to make waste management LOOK good. It’s not only an innovation in design, but in biological engineering and sustainability too.