Air New Zealand trials edible coffee cups
Air New Zealand has announced that it is now trialing edible coffee cups with customers in an effort to explore new ways to meet its sustainability challenges.
The airline, which serves more than eight million compostable-cups of coffee each year, aims to remove its coffee cups from landfills entirely.
“We’ve been working in partnership with innovative New Zealand company twiice to explore the future of edible coffee cups, which are vanilla flavored and leak-proof,” said Niki Chave, Air New Zealand’s Senior Manager of Customer Experience, in a press release from the airline. “The cups have been a big hit with customers and we’ve also been using the cups as dessert bowls.”
twiice co-founder, Jamie Cashmore says the edible cups serve as examples of the future of packaging.
“It’s terrific that Air New Zealand has partnered with us to showcase to its customers and the world that a little bit of Kiwi ingenuity and innovation could have a really positive impact on the environment while at the same time delivering a really cool and tasty customer experience,” Cashmore said.
According to the release, Air New Zealand will continue to trial twiice’s edible coffee cups and collaborate to explore how the product can become a long-term staple for the airline.
The trial comes on the heels of Air New Zealand’s recent switch to plant-based cups on board all aircraft and in lounges. They are made from paper and corn instead of plastic so that the cup breaks down in a commercial composter. It is expected to reduce about 15 million cups from ending up in landfill annually. The airline is also encouraging customers to bring their own reusable cups on board aircraft and into its lounges.
twiice has plans to expand its range of edible crockery with new products next year.
