Diners at KFC restaurants throughout Britain soon will be able to have their coffee -and eat the cup, too.
KFC, one of the chains operated by Yum Brands, is going to test an edible cup made from a wafer coated in sugar paper and lined with a heat-resistant white chocolate. The new cup will debut about the same time as KFC restaurants plan to introduce Seattle’s Best Coffee, part of Starbucks.
“We have been experimenting with edible packaging to see if it could be a feasible product to bring to market in limited quantities,” Jocelyn Bynoe, brand manager for Yum’s international operations, said.
The new cup addresses several of the trends bedeviling the food business today.”This type of edible packaging is definitely aligned with the global consumer mind-set in terms of sustainability and simplifying their life,” said Shilpa Rosenberry , senior director of global consumer strategy at Daymon Worldwide, a consulting firm that works with many food companies.
Other companies have been offering similar items. Lavazza, the Italian coffee brand, had edible cookie cups, while Coolhaus sells its ice cream sandwiches in potato starch wrappers. In New York, Dominique Ansel Bakery offers a chocolate-chip shot, with organic milk poured into a cookie cup.
The cup’s chocolate lining will melt and soften the crisp wafer, the same way a biscotti softens when dipped in coffee. “Not only do the edible cups taste amazing, but they smell delicious, too,” Brandy Wright, a designer at Robin Collective, said.
