In Sweden, food tech firm Saveggy has introduced an edible, shelf-life-extending packaging for cucumbers.
Made from rapeseed oil and gluten-free oat oil, the coating is being tested by Saveggy, Swdish grocer ICA, and vegetable grower Odlarna.se. The program includes roughly 250,000 cucumbers sold across 700 ICA stores.
“This innovation makes it possible for us to remove plastic from cucumbers entirely without compromising quality, something we know our customers appreciate,”
Kerstin Lindvall, Sustainability Director at ICA, told Green Queen.
According to Saveggy, approximately 3,000 metric tons of plastic are used annually for produce packaging in Europe.
“Cucumbers highlight the challenge: food waste on one side, plastic-wrapped shelves on the other,” Arash Fayyazi, co-founder of Saveggy, added. “Our goal is to reduce food waste and plastic pollution together—with respect for nature, people, and the resources that make our food possible.”