Nature doesn’t need plastic to package food, so why do we? That was more or less the view of David Edwards when he developed edible and healthy food packaging. Based on examples from the world of nature, Edwards introduced food balls with tasty, zero-waste packaging and called them Wikipearls.
Edwards is a scientist who invented several sophisticated solutions with his company Le Laboratoire in Paris. With the Foodlab department he developed Wikipearls, which are balls of food wrapped in an edible shell that can hold all sorts of tastes that combine with the food contained inside. The idea was based on the peel of grapes or the inner skin of a coconut — all edible skins that keep fruit inside fresh and protected.
The skin of the Wikipearls is water-repellent and blocks oxygen for a while, which helps to keep the food inside fresh. It is an insulator too, making it possible to carry a ball of ice in your lunchbox. Alternatively, a Wikipearl ball can contain yoghurt, cheese, vegetables, fruits, and even liquids like soup, cocktails or water.
The skins can take all combinations of tastes and healthy additives, turning Wikipearls, according to reports, into a new sensory sensation for tongue, fingers and eye alike.
Last year Le Laboratoire opened a Wikibar in Paris, where the Wikipearls could be tasted and bought. A new Wikibar will open soon in Cambridge, USA (650 East Kendall Street). Thanks to collaboration with Stoney Field yoghurt, Wikipearl’s frozen yogurt pearls are now available in food stores in Boston, Cambridge and Lynnfield, USA.
For those living elsewhere there is no other way than to lick your fingers while reading the descriptions of all the examples on Wikipearl.com. The site is continuously updated with new, unexpected applications for foods and dishes you’d never have imagined existed.