Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A small New Zealand company says it has partnered with the country's national air carrier to flight-test its innovative edible coffee cups made from a vanilla-flavored biscotti.
Auckland-based food company Twiice announced the trial run with the airline on its Instagram account Wednesday, saying it was "beyond excited" to begin its partnership with Air New Zealand.
Twiice touts the "handmade" edible cups as a "no-waste" alternative to paper coffee containers, made only from real ingredients and with no additives or preservatives. Also, it promises, they won't leak or crumble, saying the biscuit is "leakproof and will stay crisp at least as long as it takes to drink your coffee, and longer."
An Air New Zealand official said that after giving the edible cups an initial try-out in airport lounges, the airline is ready to introduce them on an experimental basis as an in-flight amenity.
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"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," said Niki Chave, Air New Zealand's senior manager customer experience.
The goal, she added, is to reduce the carrier's landfill waste stream, and if the edible cups prove feasible they would be seen as an improvement over the compostable paper coffee containers now in use on flights.
Air New Zealand, Chave said, serves 8 million cups of coffee annually on its international and domestic flights and would explore "scaling options" for the edible cups should they prove popular.
