Veuve Clicquot is already using potato starch and grape skins in its champagne packaging. The company has also used other raw materials such as sugarcane, corn, mushroom root and potato starch.
The ubiquitous champagne maker is not alone, reports Born2Invest. Favini aims to use grape skin, which are rich in cellulose and lignin, to make paper.
Edible food packaging is also possible. “We can basically surround any food or beverage with a skin like a grape skin that’s fully edible, and then consume it,” David Edwards, a Harvard bioengineer tells Index.
Biodegradable and edible plastic alternatives are increasingly important given the large amount of plastic waste in the oceans.