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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

AirCarbon

Food Tech News: Carbon-Negative Cutlery at Target, Upcycled Food Label Launches

Welcome to your weekly Food Tech News round-up! Many companies in the food tech space made efforts to honor Earth Day, so this week all of our news is relevant to sustainability. We have stories on AirCarbon cutlery launching in Target, a new upcycled food certification, BlueNalu’s essay contest, and Perfect Day’s new advisory council.

Restore AirCarbon Cutlery launches in Target nationwide

Newlight Technologies‘ brand Restore produces carbon-negative cutlery from its proprietary material called AirCarbon. At the beginning of this week, the cutlery launched in Target locations nationwide. The cutlery is carbon-negative because its created from biodegradable plastic made from absorbed greenhouse gases. The straws and cutlery are dishwasher safe and, if disposed of, will decompose in a landfill. A 24-piece pack of wrapped straws costs $2.99 and a three-piece cutlery pack with a natural fiber carrying case costs $4.99. The products are available on Target’s website and in stores.

Upcycled food label officially debuts

Vegan, organic, non-GMO, and gluten-free food labels exist, and now a label exists for products comprised of upcycled food ingredients. The Upcycled Food Association officially launched the “Upcycled Certified” label this week. The certification can be used to signify if food, beverages, pet food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, or household cleaners contain upcycled food ingredients. The organization defines upcycled food as essentially any food using ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption and ended up in a food waste destination. The organization’s goal with the newly debuted certification is to empower consumers to make climate friendly purchases through upcycled food products.

BlueNalu announces scholarship winners

BlueNalu, producers of cell-based seafood, held a contest called the Eat Blue Essay Contest in collaboration with the Research Chefs Association (RCA). The point of the contest was to prompt discussion around sustainable seafood and ocean conservation goals set forth by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Culinary students of RCA from around the world were encouraged to submit essays. This week the three finalists were announced, and the essays can be read on the Eat Blue website. BlueNalu is awarding the finalists with scholarships to support educational expenses.

Perfect Day forms advisory board

Berkley, California-based Perfect Day, pioneers in fermented animal-free dairy, announced this week that it has formed a Sustainability & Health Advisory Council. The advisory board includes former Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, Leonardo Di Caprio, and several other leaders in the food, agriculture, and nutrition space. The council members will help guide Perfect Day on decisions regarding health and the environment. Perfect Day recently commissioned a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment to evaluate the environmental impact of its non-animal whey protein, and the report found that it generates at least 85 percent and up to 97 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional production methods.

Shake Shack Is Trialing Biodegradable Cutlery and Straws

Shake Shack announced this week it is testing the use of biodegradable straws and cutlery at six of its 310 locations, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Those items are now available at units in West Hollywood and Long Beach in California, Madison Square Park and West Village in NYC, and in Miami, Florida.

Manufactured by a California-based company called Restore Foodware, the utensils and straws are made from polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), also known as AirCarbon. According to Restore parent company Newlight Technologies, PHB is in “almost all known life on Earth, from microorganisms and trees to the human body.” Restore gets its PHB from ocean microorganisms, cultivates it in tanks, then turns it into pellets that can be melted down and shaped into spoons, knives, and other utensils, just like plastic. 

Unlike plastic, PHB is biodegradable. Speaking to NRN, Newlight CEO Mark Herrema said the substance breaks down “just like leaves and stems do.”

Newlight launched its first commercial-scale production system for AirCarbon in 2019, and launched products in 2020. At the moment, it is making cutlery and straws under the Restore brand. These items are certified carbon negative by Carbon Trust and SCS Global.

At the moment, Shake Shack does not have a timeline on whether it plans to expand its pilot with Restore’s items to other locations. However, the mere fact that the chain is exploring this option is encouraging for the rest of the industry. The shift towards pickup and delivery orders has amplified the problem of packaging waste for restaurants. At the moment, however, smaller businesses are busy trying to keep their doors open and can’t be expected to champion packaging innovation at the same time.

Bigger brands are in a better position to do so (financially speaking), and recent efforts from the likes of McDonald’s, Burger King, Shake Shack, and others suggest the restaurant biz is now taking its packaging problem seriously.