Airline releases edible coffee cups for its passengers

With the environment under the rapidly over-heating spotlight, 2020 looks set to be a year defined by attitudes to sustainability. Already, consumers are increasingly aware of the impact that their habits have on the natural world. Problems posed by plastic and fossil fuel pollution are at the top of the global agenda. Hence why some companies are starting to act. 

In a bid to set a new trend in the aviation industry, Air New Zealand has taken a dramatic step to curb its carbon footprint. Instead of offering customers inflight refreshment in wasteful plastic, the company is now encouraging travellers to eat their cups after they’ve finished drinking. 

The concept has been pioneered by New Zealand-based biscuit company “Twiice”, the coffee cups are made from vanilla-flavoured Biscotti that “…will stay crisp at least as long as it takes to drink your coffee, and longer.”

As Twiice explains on its website:

“Handmade in New Zealand in small batches, the twiice edible cup is no-waste and no dishes. You won’t find anything artificial in it either — we only use real ingredients, free from additives and preservatives, so it’s not just edible — it’s delicious!”

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“We know what you’re thinking though — won’t my drink leak or spill, or won’t the cup crumble like any other biscuit would? Nope, not at all. The twiice cup is leakproof and will stay crisp at least as long as it takes to drink your coffee, and longer. So bite into that vanilla-flavoured goodness and be satisfied that one less takeaway cup will end up in New Zealand’s landfill.”

Despite their unusual provenance, the airline claims that the cups have already proved a hit with passengers. As Air New Zealand senior manager customer experience Niki Chave said:

“We’ve been working in partnership with innovative New Zealand company Twiice to explore the future of edible coffee cups.”

“Our current cups are compostable, but the ultimate goal would be to remove these totally from landfills.”

He continued:

“The cups have been a big hit with the customers who have used these and we’ve also been using the cups as dessert bowls.”

Given that the airline has historically used around eight million coffee cups per year, according to their own estimates, this change-up could make a sizeable impact.