WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Air New Zealand, the national airline of the island country, is testing edible coffee cups in an effort to reduce the amount of waste on its flights.
The carrier is trialling an edible biscotti coffee cup from family-run business Twiice for select customers in the air and on the ground. After finishing their coffee, passengers can actually eat the vanilla-flavoured cup like a normal biscuit.
The edible cup is made from wheat flour, sugar, egg, vanilla essence and natural vanilla flavour. Twiice says the cup is leakproof and will 'stay crisp at least as long as it takes to drink the coffee, and longer.'
Air New Zealand, which serves more than eight million cups of coffee a year, said this new coffee cups will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.
In a statement, Air New Zealand said the coffee cups were being tested 'in the air and on the ground' as part of its efforts to find 'innovative ways to meet sustainability challenges'.
'We've been working in partnership with innovative New Zealand company 'twiice' to explore the future of edible coffee cups, which are vanilla flavoured and leakproof. 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.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX