EDISH: GIVING ETERNAL LIFE TO FOOD CONTAINERS

TitleEDISH: GIVING ETERNAL LIFE TO FOOD CONTAINERS
BrandMARUBENI CORPORATION
Product / ServiceEDISH
CategoryA05. Brand Strategy & Experience
EntrantHAKUHODO INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation HAKUHODO INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation 2 MARUBENI CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN
Production HAKUHODO INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 2 HAKUHODO PRODUCTS Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 3 HAKUHODO I-STUDIO Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 4 PULASU INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD Shizuoka, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Yoshitaka Kitagawa Hakuhodo Inc. Creative Director
Shoichi Fukui Hakuhodo DY holdings Project Manager
Kota Yamakawa Hakuhodo Inc. Art Director
Sotaro Akira Hakuhodo Inc. Copywriter
Takeshi Ito Hakuhodo Inc. Copywriter
Yuki Kusuda Hakuhodo Inc. Strategic Director
Tatsuya Ishidaka Hakuhodo Inc. Strategic Director
Takaho Nakanishi Hakuhodo Inc. PR Director
Ichiro Senba Hakuhodo Product's Inc. PR Director
Anna Ikoma Hakuhodo Product's Inc. PR Director
Masato Aoki Hakuhodo DY holdings Executive Sponsor
Miho Kaneko Vector PR Director
Kumi Kobayashi Vector PR Director
Yuta Yoshioka Vector PR Director
Tomoka Yamada Vector PR Director
Adeline Lau Vector PR Director
Ikuto Oshima 21 Inc Producer
Kazuki Shiraishi 21 Inc Production Manager
Takahiro Maruo TRIBUS Photographer
Hashmi Rafsanjani GRAB Project Manager
Hui Shi Tjan GRAB Project Marketing Manager
Jaydee Lok GRAB Project Marketing Manager
Sophia Foo GRAB Campaign Manager
Ruyee Cheong GRAB Campaign Manager
Mai Truong GRAB Campaign Manager
Linggih Taufik GRAB Campaign Manager
Ken Mandel GRAB Executive Sponsor

Why is this work relevant for Innovation?

Edish seeks to provide a radical solution to the formidable challenge of waste from the catering industry in which firms operate in various environments, by linking containers with a composting system tailored to the business model of each operator. In addition to the business perspective, it has a consumer perspective that strives to raise public awareness about the problem of waste from catering operators through innovative food experiences, and could change the public perception of upcycling.

Background

Japan ranks second in the world by volume of single-use container waste per person. Increased demand for takeout and delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic only made things worse. The virus also caused a step-change in public awareness of personal hygiene, creating a strong psychological barrier to the reuse of containers, a practice which had been expanding gradually. The business models of restaurant operators also hindered container reuse, as it entails an additional washing process. Thus, food-related waste is becoming a serious problem along with the large amount of waste from the catering industry including residues from food manufacturing and cooking, as well as leftovers from restaurants.

Describe the idea

To avoid affecting people’s lifestyles and the practices of restaurant operators, we attempted to reduce containers and other meal-related wastes through a system for using, collecting and upcycling recyclable containers. We focused on the rich nutrients contained in food waste discarded in the production process, such as wheat husks, coffee dregs, orange peel and tea leaves. Those waste materials were molded into containers using proprietary technology, to be supplied to restaurants and caterers. Used containers are collected in a dedicated box, and then mixed with leftovers to be regenerated into nutritious compost or feed. The recycled products are supplied to parks and farms nearby to produce food for the consumer market. Thus, through a double upcycling process, our system transforms waste that would have been discarded into something of different value.

What were the key dates in the development process?

16 January 2020: Acquired a right for commercialization at the Business Plan Contest organized by Marubeni Corporation. 30 July 2020: Launched a prototype of the recyclable dish “edish” at Kasai Rinkai Park. 12 February 2021: The recyclable dish “edish” won the Social Products Prize at Social Products Award 2021. 6 September 2021: Selected by the Ministry of Environment as a Demonstration Project for a Plastic Resource Circulation System toward a Decarbonized Society for FY2021.

Describe the innovation / technology

The uniqueness of edish is its flexibility to allow the development of various upcycling mechanisms by combining different raw materials, container forms and collection methods, effectively helping operators in the catering industry solve their distinctive problems, such as takeout containers thrown away by tourists, dregs from coffee stands, and huge amounts of leftovers from hotel buffets. For the production of edish, we used diaphragm-making technology to develop a technique for molding dishes from a variety of food wastes. This highly sophisticated molding technology is unique in Japan.

Describe the expectations / outcome

Introduced in various locations including park cafés in Tokyo, government staff canteens, drinking and eating spaces close to nature such as beaches and camp sites, stadiums and other sports facilities, and hotel buffets with lots of leftovers, edish has been producing compost to be supplied to flowerbeds in parks, farmers in the local community, and local schools for environmental education, among others. We have helped reduce waste by about 8.4 tons in a year, while upcycling some 1.3 tons of food waste. We are now building a production system to apply the dish-making technology to product package and packaging materials. We also aim to turn whole streets and districts into a recycling society through community ownership of the composting system.

Links

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