Inside chocolate’s first compostable packaging
EXCERPT FROM PRODUCTION PROTOCOL, BY ARIE GELEIN
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MARCH 2010: Go Waste-Free!
No high-quality biodegradable foil has been applied in the chocolate industry to date. Based on their regenerative principles, Original Beans is looking for a renewable and compostable (and ideally climate-neutral) foil that works on two old high-speed wrapping machines.
JULY 2010: Research Done
From research and initial tests (from PLA to starch), we conclude that the cellulose seems the best. Only disadvantage: the foil, in spite of being certified ‘Home Compostable’, does not look ‘eco’.
OCTOBER 2010: Disaster!
Disaster!! On the production day, the foil turns out to be unusable and slips in the machine. Production is called off. Literally overnight, all print designs for the carton packaging, announcing a bio-foil are changed.
MARCH 2011: No Clue?
Tests continue to be executed with different types of films, but with the same bad results. Most annoying is the lack of a satisfactory explanation.
AUGUST 2012: Surprise!
The moulding team continues to press ahead. Success!! To the relief of everyone, the improved foil performed nearly flawlessly on the machine.
OCTOBER 2012: Paradigm Shift
We don’t yet know what happened and why, but it has become clear that a foil from living material is altogether a new category of chocolate packaging.