Environmentally friendly, edible container produced from natural raw materials. Looking for a solution to reduce the amount of plastic used and its exposure to ecosystems, three girls from Madona have achieved such a product.
“It's totally eco and utterly 'green' thinking, and of course vegan too. The whole society is now focusing on the green economy and sustainable ideas, and of course the global warming problems and everything else are also affecting our lives at the moment. So we figured out that there should be something exactly about “green” thinking, directly related to ecology,” explained Agnese Aizpuriete, head of the student company Re-Grain.
“It's handmade. Right now, I'm alone, producing it at home. The main raw material is whole-grain rye flour. There are other ingredients, of course, but since the product is vegan, it is perfectly safe for humans and also for animals,“ said Paula Stradiņa, head of the production of Re-Grain.
“It takes quite a long time because it takes a long time to refrigerate in shape this dish so it doesn't deform. (..) They are heat-resistant, the big plate, the small plate, baskets, and crackers, because we're doing zero waste production. It means that we still bake crackers from the dough that remains over from making a plate,” said Paula Stradiņa.
The idea of producing edible disposable dishes has just started successfully and funding has been obtained in the Swedbank business plan competition. “One of the main challenges of the competition was to attract crowd funding and indicate the amount you want to achieve directly during the project. And we also achieved this amount and more than we intended. That means that the money will come to us afterwards, and we will be able to invest in equipment and also develop wholesale trade,” said Agnese Aizpuriete.
According to the information available, edible rye flour dishes in Latvia are a unique product. The business has already received cooperation offers, looking towards Scandinavian and other European Union markets. The demand is also boosted by the fact that, with 1 July of this year, disposable plastic containers will no longer be sold in the European Union.
