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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

packaging

Big Idea Ventures’ GFRP Fund Acquires Edible Packaging Startup DisSolves

Today, Generation Food Rural Partners I, LP (GFRP), a member fund that is part of the food tech investor Big Idea Ventures (BIV) family, has announced its acquisition of DisSolves, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based maker of biodegradable and edible packaging solutions.

With this deal, GFRP gets a patented technology that utilizes GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) biodegradable and edible components to create films and packaging materials. That technology is what’s behind Dissolves’ first product, a polysaccharide-based film that can be used to package up individual servings of powders, baby formula, and instant coffee, which can then be dropped into liquids (like water, milk, or coffee) where it will dissolve and not alter the taste.

“Our partnership with GFRP will accelerate our efforts, allowing us to implement pilot programs with leading food producers and move towards scaled manufacturing of all-natural dissolvable food packaging,” said DisSolves founder Jared Raszewski. You can see Raszewski explain how the product works in the video below.

DisSolves Duquesne New Venture Challenge - Round 2

If a fund acquiring a startup to commercialize and scale sounds a little different than the typical way a venture deal works, you’re right. However, according to BIV Chief Investment Officer Tom Mastrobuoni, GFRP was created to build companies from scratch and commercialize them. The only difference with DisSolves, said Mastrobuoni, is that they didn’t need to start from zero, validate the technology, or find a founder. DisSolves provided all that off the shelf.

The typical BIV model “is we are starting a company from the ground up,” said Mastrobuoni. “The Investment Committee usually approves the first million dollars to be deployed into that company, and that’s done because we’re bringing on a new CEO, we’re doing techno-economic analysis of IP. We want to make sure what we’re actually building is what we thought we were going to be building during the IC (investment committee) process.”

Mastrobuoni says from there, the GFRP IC has a second phase where it will approve a $3-$5 million capital investment that enables it to take that initial company and product foundation and get it from sort of prototype to minimally marketable products, all the while utilizing shared resources across the BIV family such as fractional CFOs and manufacturing expertise. Since DisSolves already accomplished what is usually done with the first round of capital, GFRP and DisSolves will be able to move right away to this second phase of capital deployment to enable commercialization scale-up.

DisSolves appealed to GFRP and BIV because the fund saw an opportunity within a growing space of more sustainable packaging where there haven’t been any established winners, particularly in the single-serve segment. Mastrobuoni says that as bigger food brands begin to realize the difficulty of reaching their corporate sustainability pledges over the next 5 to 10 years, they’ll begin to embrace technologies like those from DisSolves, which can solve a lot of the single-use serving packaging that ends up in the waste stream.

“A lot of these corporates have made 30 by 30, 25 by 25 promises,” said Mastrobuoni. “And it’s going to be interesting when those years hit to see how many of them have actually hit those numbers, not by buying carbon offsets but actually achieving reductions in their footprint.”

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Mastrobuoni’s guidance suggests the company was probably valued at around $1 million or so. Raszewski will continue with the company as Founder & Chief Product Officer, and GFRP will install Scott Bolin, the founding CEO of another BIV portfolio company in Terrasafe (which also makes sustainable packaging), as president of DisSolves. Bolin will also continue in his role with Terrasafe.

GaeaStar Wants to Solve The Single-Use Plastic Problem With an Ancient Indian Solution: Clay Cups

One of the biggest problems of the food and beverage industry is the waste produced by single-use plastics. Because of this, there’s been a movement in the container industry over the past decade to create biodegradable plastics made with plant-based inputs, which suppliers claim can be put into the compost bin or recycled. While many of these approaches promise to reduce the amount of plastic in the waste stream, some experts still consider them problematic.

This is why a new company named GaeaStar is attempting something entirely different, aiming to end single-use plastics not by creating more eco-friendly plastics, but by employing a centuries-old Indian tradition: clay cups that disintegrate into dust.

The idea behind the company first emerged when Sanjeev Mankotia was walking around New Delhi in the mid-2000s. His cousin ordered a chai from a street vendor, and upon finishing her drink, she threw the cup on the ground, breaking it into pieces. Mankotia, who was born in India but spent most of his life in the U.S., pointed out that she was littering and asked her why she had done so.

“She said, ‘It’s made out of dirt, why do you care?'” Mankotia recalled in an interview with The Spoon. “And I didn’t have a response to that.”

He realized that these clay vessels and their disposal method were long-standing traditions in India, and he wondered if this could work elsewhere.

“I thought, ‘Why can’t we do this in the West instead of having these paper cups with plastic inside?'” Mankotia said. “And in reality, it’s actually a better user experience.”

At the time, Mankotia, an engineer by training, was a consultant in the finance industry. For the next decade and a half, he continued his consulting career while contemplating how to turn this container idea into a viable business. He eventually decided to pursue the idea after feeling he had achieved all he could in his consulting career.

“I felt that I had climbed that mountain in consulting, having C-suite positions,” Mankotia explained. “And I felt I was at the point where I had this idea, and I wanted to really start working on something for the next generation.”

He knew the containers in India were handcrafted by local artisans, who sourced clay from riverbeds and made hundreds of them per day to dry in the sun. However, Mankotia knew this approach would need to be adapted for the Western market, where he envisioned a company supplying restaurants and coffee shops with these containers.

Drawing on his experience as a consultant, where he had encountered additive manufacturing, Mankotia knew that a 3D printer capable of producing these containers at scale would provide a solution. However, no printers on the market were designed for the high-volume output needed to make thousands of cups daily.

So Mankotia decided to build his own.

“We developed a printer that could print one in less than 30 seconds,” Mankotia said. “And we want to try and get it to less than 10 seconds and closer and closer to the point of use.”

After Mankotia and some engineers developed the first printer, they realized they would need a system to produce the cups near the customer. So they began designing a micro-factory where they would print the cups and dry and cure them within a day using an oven.

The company’s first micro-factory launched in Berlin in 2022, and it was in the same city where they held their first pop-up and quickly sold out of the 3500 cups they made. After that, they officially launched in Berlin and are now making tens of thousands of containers per month, including ice cream cups for a German ice cream shop called Rosa Canina.

With a fresh infusion of capital from a $6.5M seed funding round, the company has its sites set on the U.S. market. Mankotia says the first market they will open is in San Francisco, where they will build a 200 square-meter micro-factory that will eventually feature up to 4 printers. He believes that once the micro factory is up and running at full efficiency, the company should be able to produce up to 4 million cups annually per location.

As for the cups themselves, one obvious concern is whether they can withstand the handling of a consumer because no one wants their drink container to break when they set it down or squeeze too hard. But, according to Mankotia, the containers have ten times the strength of a paper cup and are strong enough to be put in the dishwasher. The company believes some will keep and reuse the cups when they take them home. The point of it all, said Mankotia, is they now have a guilt-free choice.

In the future, Mankotia wants to continue to build printers that could eventually manufacture the cups on premise, where an operator could make cups with the push of a button. To do that, he said the company is working on eventually incorporating the technology into the printer that can cure the vessels quickly. The technology involves energy pulses similar to those used in microwaves, and the company is currently working with some German research institutes with expertise in the technology.

The company’s first partner in the U.S. is Verve Coffee Roasters. The coffee roaster will give its customers at select cafes an option to have a GaeaStar container when ordering particular food and beverages. GaeaStar says they will use this collaboration to fine-tune its original container prototype “to meet the needs of Verve and other U.S. businesses.”

Cove’s Biodegradable Water Bottle Inches Closer to Market (But Don’t Expect Plastic Waste to Disappear Anytime Soon)

Is the end of the plastic water bottle finally in sight?

According to a story in Bloomberg, one startup’s vision of delivering a fully biodegradable plastic alternative to the water bottle is inching closer to reality after years of development and delays.

Cove, a company that has raised $20 million since its founding in 2018, says it is close to finally shipping its bottle, a product made using fermented cooking oil. The California-based company says that oil, which is turned into a polymer called polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHA, eventually dissolves in water or soil without leaving behind toxic waste or residue.

From Bloomberg:

“…the PHA pellets move to Cove’s 25,000-square-foot factory, where they are sent through machinery to vacuum away moisture, sift out metal, and stretch, cut and mold the material into a hollow canister fit for water. A label is then printed directly onto each bottle (“Cove’s plastic-free, renewable bottles”). The ink, made from algae, is meant to biodegrade, too. Water from a purification plant nearby is poured in. By Cove’s estimates, its bottles will disintegrate in water and soil in under five years.”

The progress towards a final, shippable product hasn’t come quickly. The company not only struggled early on with finding the right material recipe that would provide a water bottle that could withstand freezing or high temperatures and survive drop tests, but has also taken some time to optimize the production of the bottle. After initially working with outsourced manufacturers, the company brought production in-house. You can see a little of the production facility at work in the video update from the company CEO Alex Totterman below:

Progress Update - Production is Live

According to the company, the bottles will cost about $2.99 a piece initially, which tells me that these are not intended to really replace the standard water bottle anytime soon (the cost of a traditional plastic water bottle costs well below that, with the material cost of the plastic and production coming in at 25 cents or below).

Still, the bottling industry has to start somewhere, and Cove is at least building infrastructure, materials and a process to create an alternative to plastic that could eventually see its price reduced over time. This is an achievement in itself, as many others have tried to bring biodegradable water bottles to market without much success. While Coca Cola has developed what it claims is an entirely plant-based bottle, they’ve yet to commercialize the product fully. Others, like Metabolix, shut down before they could ever find significant market traction.

In the meantime, I hope we’ll see more retailers, restaurants, and consumers embrace plastic alternatives, whether aluminum-canned or paper-boxed water. Airlines like Alaska (is there a venue where more single-use plastic is used than on flights?) have started to switch to boxed water, and I don’t see why every food service venue doesn’t as well.

New York is Banning Styrofoam Food Containers – What’s next for To-Go Packaging?

Styrofoam food packaging, made from a hard plastic called polystyrene, poses a plethora of problems. First off, it takes an extremely long time to degrade, and it accounts for 10-40 percent of all litter found in streams. The production of polystyrene also releases about fifty different chemicals byproducts into the air, water, and local communities. This is exactly why the state of New York will ban the use of single-use styrofoam food containers and packaging peanuts starting January 1st, 2022.

According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the new rule applies to restaurants, caterers, food carts, food trucks, food stores, grocers, cafeterias, coffee shops, delis, colleges, schools, and more. However, there are a few exceptions to the ban, including raw meat and seafood sold with the intention of being prepared off-premises by the customer. Non-profits and places of worship that supply food to those in need may also continue to serve food packaged in styrofoam if they qualify for a certain waiver.

There are no federal bans on styrofoam packaging yet, and all current bans are on a city or county level. In addition to New York, there are 11 other cities throughout the U.S. that do not allow food or beverages to be served in styrofoam packaging, including major cities like San Francisco (CA), Portland (Oregon), and Seattle (WA).

Without styrofoam, what is next for to-go food packaging? Companies producing and developing alternatives to traditional food packaging are focused on using sustainable and biodegradable materials that release little to no chemicals when processed.

In recent years, one of the most popular alternatives to styrofoam is using plant-based fibers to create compostable food to-go containers. Many different fibers can be used for this application, including sugar cane, corn, potato, and bamboo. Packaging made from paper, especially recycled paper, is another common choice. Although these materials are compostable, some compostable packaging contains “forever chemicals” that never break down. A Hong Kong-based company called Ecoinno uses sugar cane and bamboo to craft to-go containers without the use of any of these particular chemicals or plastics.

During this past summer, delivery service Delivery Hero launched a sustainable packaging program for restaurants it serves in an attempt to cut down on single-use and toxic packaging waste. QSRs like Burger King and Taco Bell have begun trialing various alternatives to their original single-use packaging, like reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging.

This week, a London-based company called Notpla raised €11.7 million (~$13.1 million USD) for its seaweed-based packaging that “disappears”. The alternative packaging fully degrades within 4-6 weeks without the use of any special processing. Although NotPla’s packaging is intended to be a direct replacement for plastic and not styrofoam, this still has potential for the restaurant and food space.

Despite the awareness of the negative environmental consequences of styrofoam, not many cities or states in the U.S. have enforced a ban. Hopefully, with the rise of more packaging alternatives, we will see more places adopting legislature around single-use packaging and plastics. In the meantime, if you are interested in supporting restaurants that use sustainable packaging, check out the free app Jybe.

Tired of Cold Take Out? SavrPak Believes It Has The Answer With New Packaging Prototype

Although everyone seems divided in these tumultuous times, there are still a few things in this world we all can agree on: Jeopardy won’t be as good without Alex Trebek, Facebook is evil, and cold food sucks.

While we can’t do too much about the first two, the final one might be a solvable problem, at least according to SavrPak. That’s because the company has debuted a new delivery packaging prototype that it claims will keep food at a safe temperature.

This is important because once food drops below 140o F, bacteria forms on the food’s surface. Unfortunately, that doesn’t take long for food packaged up in the typical foam or molded pulp packaging.

According to SavrPak, the company’s new packaging prototype can keep food at 140o or above for more than 20 minutes. While the typical wait for food ordered via a delivery service like DoorDash is about 40 minutes, a good chunk of that time is waiting in the prep queue and the actual making of the food, and 20 minute time window is about the average time it takes for a food package to arrive at the customer’s door once it’s picked up by the delivery driver.

And not only is hot food safer, but it also tastes better. And while there have been research projects on everything from using exhaust fumes of delivery vehicles to using inductive heating and chemicals as ways to keep food warm in transit, the beauty of SavrPak’s approach is its simplicity. SavrPak new prototype uses a small plant-based patch that is placed in the food packaging that extracts moisture and keeps the food warm. The packaging is insulated, and the combined impact is warmer (and less soggy food).

The soggy-free food part is no surprise for those familiar with SavrPak’s history. The company was originally called Soggy Food Sucks after Bill Birgen developed a patch to keep the lunches he made to take to work at his day job as an aerospace engineer from getting soggy. After patenting the technology and debuting it at The Smart Kitchen Summit’s Startup Showcase in 2018, companies from around the world began to contact Birgen. Last year, the company rebranded to SavrPak, and Mark Cuban even decided to invest after co-CEO Greg Maselli sent him a cold email.

I asked Birgen how it feels to create successor technologies and see the company grow beyond that original concept he came up with for your work lunch?

“It’s been incredible to see SAVRpak resonate with people and businesses around the world,” said Birgen. “I’m most energized about our plans to help the food industry be more sustainable. We see huge potential in SAVRpak’s ability to extend the shelf life of produce and reduce food waste.”

According to company co-CEO Grant Stafford, the company’s new packaging prototype is being trialed by Kitchen United and a variety of QSRs, and he expects the product to roll out in both the US and Mexico this quarter.

Delivery Hero’s Sustainable Packaging Program to Provide Restaurants With Eco-Friendly To-Go Containers

Delivery Hero today launched its Sustainable Packaging Program that gives restaurants on its platform more eco-friendly options for their to-go orders. The concept is currently piloting in Austria, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Qatar, and Singapore. Delivery Hero said in today’s announcement that it will expand the program to other markets in the near future.

The company will deploy 10 million units of “sustainable packaging” by the end of 2022. Specifically, that means providing packaging that’s either fully plant based or plastic alternatives that are free of perfluoroalkoxy-alkanes (PFAS), the manmade chemicals frequently used to make grease- and liquid-resistant packaging. 

For its eco-friendly packaging, Delivery Hero is collaborating with Eco-Products and BIO-LUTIONS on various products including boxes, compartment containers, salad bowls, soup bowls, and sauce containers. (Delivery Hero invested in BIO-LUTIONS in 2019.) These will, according to the company, be available to restaurants on the Delivery Hero platform at “affordable pricing.” 

Several efforts over the last year or so have seen restaurants and restaurant-related companies address the industry’s packaging (aka trash) problem. Major QSRs like McDonald’s and Burger King have both piloted reusable container programs, while parts of the U.S. have companies like DeliverZero, which works with restaurants to bring reusable containers to the delivery process.

Delivery Hero’s news is notable because up to now, no major delivery service has announced plans to actually take over the responsibility of finding and providing eco-friendly packaging. Normally, this task is up to the restaurants themselves. Especially given the last year, many smaller businesses do not have access to affordable options that aren’t mainstream plastics. Delivery Hero, meanwhile, operates 13 subsidiaries, in addition to its name brand, all over the world, so its potential impact could be huge. Company co-founder and CEO Niklas Östberg said in a statement today that the Sustainable Packaging Program “aspires to pave the way for the industry and deliver a more climate friendly service for customers and communities around the world.”

The program follows the company’s earlier announcement of becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2021. 

If you want to learn more about Delivery Hero and other happenings in the restaurant world, join The Spoon on August 17 for a virtual Restaurant Tech Summit. The day-long event will discuss the digitization of the restaurant industry and what that means for its players. Grab a ticket here, and come ready to ask some questions.

Could DS Smith’s “Greentote” Solve Grocery’s Plastic Bag Problem?

My online grocery shopping and curbside pickup with Walmart is pretty delightful except for one thing: all the plastic bags. I’m not sure if it’s corporate policy or what, but it seems like Walmart’s pick-and-pack employees give just about every item its own bag. The result is a ton of waste (and just as much guilt).

Perhaps Walmart should look into the Greentote, a new type of reusable and recyclable cardboard packaging from DS Smith. The Greentote is basically an open ended box, but, as the press announcement last week described, it is also “reusable, moisture-resistant, modular, 100% recyclable container made from renewable resources.”

The Greentote comes in two sizes, and DS Smith said it can hold more than three times the number of groceries than plastic bags. Plus, Greentotes can interlock with one another to ensure food safety during travel.

The press release didn’t say how much Greentotes cost, or whether they are strictly B2B or have a consumer sales component, but they are presumably more expensive than plastic bags. Unlike plastic bags, however, Greentotes, which are fully recyclable, won’t pile up in your home or end up in waterways. Additionally, a store opting to reuse Greentotes would also need to establish a new workflow to reincorporate returned boxes, rather than just dumping single-use bags into the world.

While cost will undoubtedly be a huge determining factor in adoption of recyclable containers like Greentote, Walmart, at least, seems to be admitting that it has a plastic bag problem. In a corporate blog post last week, Walmart announced nine winners of its “Beyond the Bag” innovation challenge and that Walmart Mexico y Centroamerica and one of its Vermont locations will go bagless (h/t Grocery Dive).

Hopefully these pilot programs prove successful, and my curbside pickup will feel a little less guilt-ridden.

Heineken UK Beer Packs Ditch Plastic Rings in Favor of Cardboard

Heineken UK is now tackling the problem presented by all those plastic rings connecting their bottles of beer by ditching them for a more environmentally friendly cardboard topper to hold those cans together.

Heineken UK today announced the Green Grip, its new cardboard packaging that is 100 percent plastic free. It will first be used by brewer on Heineken, Foster’s and Kronenbourg 1664 multi-packs before being rolled out across the company’s entire line of beverages.

Heineken says that between the Green Grip and the removal of shrink wrapping on consumer packs, the company will eliminate more than 517 tons of plastic annually.

Plastic waste has been a big problem for us and our planet, with more than 8 million metric tons entering our oceans every year. Then along came the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated our plastic problem as people go through millions disposable gloves, and, more relevant to Spoon readers, single-use restaurant takeout containers.

Heineken UK isn’t the only beer company looking to get rid of the plastic rings on its multi-packs. A couple years back, Carlsberg started gluing cans of its brew together into a Snap Pack instead of using the plastic rings. And last year Coca-Cola and AB InBev announced plans to use the KeelClip paper-based multi-pack topper to be rolled out across Europe this year.

Admittedly, these are small changes, but if enough companies can follow suit, these small changes to the way we carry a six-pack into our next party (whenever those are allowed again), could make a really big impact on our planet.

TemperPack Raises $31M for Its Styrofoam-Free Thermal Packaging

Sustainable packaging company TemperPack has raised a $31 million Series C round, according to AgFunder News. The round was led by Wheatsheaf Group with participation from existing investors, and brings TemperPack’s total funding to roughly $78 million.

TemperPack’s main mission is to change the packaging industry by reducing our reliance on non-sustainable materials used to ship foods, medications, and other perishable items. To do that, the Richmond, VA-based company uses a patented material it calls ClimaCell, which it makes from “renewable plant-based components and paper.” The material acts as an insulating element in packaging materials. In essence, it does the job of Styrofoam but is made from plants and 100 percent curbside recyclable.

In the food world, TemperPack already works with meal kit company HelloFresh, as well as surplus produce companies Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods. 

The Series C round comes at a time when the world is sorely in need of more sustainable packaging options for food items. Thanks to the pandemic, record numbers of consumers are shopping online for groceries, restaurants have moved to mostly off-premises formats, and even the once-beleaguered meal kit category is making a comeback. All of those food options for consumers mean a lot more potential for packaging waste if more earth-friendly, easily recyclable alternatives aren’t found. 

TemperPack and planned to raise new funds closer to the end of 2020, but told Crunchbase that increased demand for its product allowed the company to do that sooner. That’s at least some encouragement if you’re worried about the amount of packaging piling up in landfills thanks to the pandemic. 

The company says it will use the new funds to buy more equipment to increase the manufacturing of its ClimaCell product. There is also a possible expansion to Europe. Currently, it operates facilities in Richmond and Las Vegas, NV.

Ecoinno Raises $6M for Compostable Food Packaging Made of Sugar Cane and Bamboo

Ecoinno, a Hong Kong-based company making sustainable packaging from plant fibers, has raised $6 million in Series A1 funding from Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs and Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund (h/t South China Morning Post). This brings the startup’s total funding to $8.8 million.

Founded in 2015, Ecoinno uses a patented technology to make a sustainable packaging material out of pulp from bamboo and sugar cane. Called green composite material (GCM), the product is compostable and will decompose in 75 days.

Thus far, GCM has been trialed chiefly in CPG applications like coffee capsules, as well as single-use takeaway food containers. South China Morning Post reports that it’s first customer will be an undisclosed Hong Kong airline… once the coronavirus pandemic passes and flights to and from Hong Kong resume in full. The airline will use Ecoinno’s biodegradable food and drink containers to serve passengers.

Ecoinno will use its new funding to scale up production of GCM and expand R&D for more applications of its biodegradable packaging. It’s also building a fully automated factory in Tai Po with robotic assembly lines.

Since most of us are relying on takeaway and delivery to get our food these days, packaging is definitely top of mind. Even before COVID, fast food chains like Taco Bell and Starbucks had outlined ambitious plans to cut packaging waste and switch to recyclable or compostable options.

But not all compostable packaging is actually, well, compostable. Some contain so-called “forever” chemicals which are harmful to humans and never break down. Sweetgreen and Chipotle have both taken big steps in 2020 to transition to truly compostable containers, though it’s tricky to find biodegradable food packaging that’s strong enough to hold food, especially liquid, without breaking. Ecoinno’s GCM is made of 100 percent plant fibers, so no pesky forever chemicals.

Of course, the GCM hasn’t been put to the test yet. But considering we’ll probably see more to-go orders for a long time yet, even after restaurants reopen dining rooms, now is certainly an opportune time to invest in green packaging innovation.

Waste Free! Loop Expands Reusable Packaging Program Throughout the U.S.

With the coronavirus pandemic forcing me to order more things than ever online — from groceries to toiletries to fancy dried beans — I’m accruing quite a lot of single-use packaging at my house. And I feel bad about it.

Maybe I’ll soon be able to assuage some of that guilt when Loop, the reusable packaging service, expands nationwide over the next few months (tip via Fast Company). Loop, an initiative from recycling company Terracycle, sells name-brand CPG products directly to consumers that are packaged in reusable containers made from metal and glass. After the consumers use them up, they put the empty containers back in the tote they came in and Loop picks them up to be sterilized and refilled.

Loop launched in the U.S. last May with a pilot program in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. According to an Instagram post from the company, Loop will roll out its reusable-container service across the contiguous U.S. sometime this summer. Globally, Loop is available in Paris and has plans to head to Canada, Germany, Japan, and the U.K. this year.

At launch Loop already had a roster of big-name partners like Kroger, Pepsi, Nestlé, and Walgreens. The platform has expanded to include roughly 200 products, including plant-based burgers and ice cream from Häagen-Dazs (my personal favorite).

I know what you’re thinking — during a pandemic when we’re all anxious about contamination, are we really going to be okay with receiving groceries packed in containers that someone else has already used? Especially since bring-your-own mugs and reusable totes in retailers are becoming a thing of the past?

Loop’s CEO certainly thinks so. He told Fast Company that Loop has seen evidence that “consumers are comfortable with reuse during COVID.” Since Loop has a reuse protocol in place — with stringent cleaning measures and pre-established health and safety checklists — he’s confident that they’ll be able to continue their closed-loop packaging practice without putting users at risk.

If users are comfortable with this, Loop’s extended platform could be a real help to cut down on our persistent packaging problem. Even if your delivery boxes are technically recyclable, COVID-19 is causing challenges for the waste management industry as a whole. Many packaging elements — like styrofoam and ice packs — aren’t recyclable anyway. Considering that the EPA reported that over 32 million tons of packaging and containers went into landfills in 2017 — almost a quarter of the total waste from the entire year — this is an issue we need to take seriously.

Today is Earth Day, so there’s no better time to take a moment and consider how we can help preserve our planet. Come this summer I know one small step that I’ll be taking cut down on the amount of packaging I’m tossing out. Bonus: I still get to enjoy my chocolate-fudge ice cream.

When It Comes to Food, What Compromises Will We Make in the Age of COVID-19?

This weekend I went to my favorite neighborhood coffee shop and, just like always, reflexively brought along my takeaway mug. But when I got there I saw the signs that — duh — coffee shops aren’t using takeaway mugs anymore in an attempt to cut down on potential contamination. So I got my coffee in a paper cup and, once outside, poured it into my own mug so that it would be easier for travel.

That interaction got me thinking: with restaurants shifting from dine-in to all takeout and delivery, what will the toll be on packaging? Americans already throw out a staggering amount of food and beverage to-go containers, most of which ends up in a landfill. It’s too early to see any new data from the past few weeks, but I’m willing to bet that that number is increasing.

Really, we’re between a rock and a hard place: on one hand I want to support my local restaurants and cafés however I can, which, right now, means ordering takeout. At the same time I feel guilty when I end up throwing away a clamshell container, cutlery, napkins, and a cup and plastic straw every time I get a veggie taco meal with a drink to go.

This quandary brings up a bigger question that will only grow as we continue into the great unknown of post-COVID-19 life: what are we willing to sacrifice? The question applies to several sectors of the food world.

Grocery. Ordering groceries for delivery has the benefit of convenience and brings less risk of contamination. However, if you’re ordering from Instacart or Amazon, you’re supporting an enterprise that doesn’t necessarily take care of its workers the way it should.

On top of that, you might not be able to get exactly what you want, when you want it. Our own Chris Albrecht wrote about his not-entirely-pleasant experience with online grocery delivery, which was both “misleading” and “confusing.”

Food delivery. If you want to support local restaurants/eat delicious food that you don’t have to cook yourself but aren’t leaving the house, food delivery is an easy option. But as our resident restaurant expert Jenn Marston wrote, delivery is not without its fair share of compromise. Third-party delivery services often take large percentages of each sale from restaurants, despite deals that they’re implementing in the face of COVID-19. They’re also notorious for treating drivers poorly.

However, if you’re trying to really do the social distancing thing or are in quarantine, delivery might be one of your few viable options for feeding yourself.

Health. If you’re working from home right now, like most of us are, staying healthy might be a real struggle. Snacking is all too easy when your pantry is right there all the time and filled with dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

Admittedly, eating healthy is likely not the highest priority for a lot of folks right now. And there are tools that you can use to help stick to a balanced diet, if that’s a goal for you right now. But if this crisis lasts significantly longer and people are stuck eating canned foods and takeout with nary a fresh vegetable in sight, we could start having another health crisis on our hands.

Image via Blue Bottle.

Packaging. As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, single-use packaging for food is a humongous issue plaguing our planet. Before ish hit the fan with coronavirus, a crop of companies were stepping up to reduce their waste. Sweetgreen and Chipotle were rolling out fully compostable to-go containers with no “forever” chemicals. Pre-prepped meal delivery services like Daily Harvest were also transitioning to compostable packaging. These companies are hopefully still moving forward, but other initiatives, like Blue Bottle’s drive to transition to all-reusable cups by 2020, are likely put on pause.

What’s next?

For now, people are going to prioritize feeding themselves and their families — packaging and ethics are not necessarily the highest concern. Nor they should they be. But I have to wonder: will these questions start to factor in again once things go back to normal?

The truth is we don’t know when things will return to the way they were — or what parts of the meal journey will be permanently altered. Will we go back to our old balance of dining in and takeaway? Will we continue to order out more since many folks have struggled with unemployment and thus have less spending power? How many restaurants will even survive to reopen?

The scary answer is, we don’t know. But you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll be here to report on the shifting food space throughout the coronavirus pandemic — with a cup of to-go coffee in our hands.