Eat with a spoon, eat that too: UAE firm creates edible cutlery to push green in novel way – News

CEO Pooja Ravinath is even considering exploring partnerships with airlines and is already in talks with Emirates, Saudia and Oman Air

Photo: Pooja Ravinath

A UAE-based company has come up with an innovative solution to an unsustainable practice: edible cutlery. Pooja Ravinath, CEO of Green Aura, the company behind “Eatlery,” spoke to the Khaleej Times about the inspiration behind it.

“We wanted to create an alternative to plastic or wooden spoons. The best part about edible cutlery is that even if you don’t like it and decide to throw it away, there is no waste left in the environment as it will be gone in less than 30 days completely disintegrated within the time frame,” she said.

The 100% vegan bakeware is made from a cookie dough-like grain mix that remains stable for more than 30 minutes when served cold or hot, she said. “The cutlery won’t shatter when you’re eating soup, rice or curry. It also won’t affect the taste of the food until you bite into it,” she says. These spoons are even sturdier than some plastic spoons, she adds.

The current range, which was launched in the UAE market only 3 months ago, includes two sizes of ‘sweet’ spoon, savory spoon, sweet stirrer, small ketchup flavored potato chip fork and large chocolate flavored spoon. The ketchup used in Chip Forks is made from tomato extract and contains no artificial colors or flavors. “It’s only when you eat it that you get a strong ketchup flavor,” she explained.

The savory “spoon” is used for rice and soup, while the sweet “spoon” can be used for things like cereal or ice cream. Pooja said a lot of people asked her if she could make plates too, but it didn’t make sense to her. “If you make a plate, no one will eat it because it’s heavy. After you finish eating, you don’t eat the whole plate,” she said.

Eatlery’s ingredients include grains sweetened with date extract and sugar made from caramelized brown sugar. “We try to use only good ingredients when making them, and we’re always trying to improve the taste,” she said, adding that they’re all nut-free, palm oil-free and certified vegan. They are done with patented technology from Germany and manufactured in India.

While most people still don’t know about them, Pooja said those who found out were stunned by the concept. In terms of pricing, she added that they are trying to be as competitive as possible, but ingredients are a deciding factor. A pack of 10 tablespoons costs about Dh20, and a pack of 30 chip forks costs the same.

Pooja said customers found the spoons convenient and tasty. “For example, my 6-year-old eats this as an after-school snack,” she says.

She is currently exploring partnerships with airlines and is already in talks with some regional airlines including Emirates, Saudia and Oman Air. “We make single-pack cutlery for airlines. It makes sense for them because fuel consumption is based on weight from one destination to another,” she says.

However, the range of restaurants does have its limitations. For example, no knives and forks have been made, and the stirrer is very short. “The problem is breakage; we’re working on that and developing a solution,” Pooja said.

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