Ice cream lovers in Jakarta, Indonesia are now able to enjoy, not only the refreshing ice cream but also the delicious cups it comes in. Ong Tek Tjan, a food and beverages retailer has decided to sell his ice cream in cups that need not to be thrown away and are, instead, eaten as well. What makes the cups edible is that these are made from seaweed. Customers are enjoying this even more, as the cups come in different flavors like green tea and peppermint.
With their goal to reduce the contamination of the environment, Evoware, a startup company from Indonesia, has designed these edible cups and other containers by making use of farmed seaweed in production. The seaweed they use is free of chemicals.
Ong supports this environment-friendly effort by using Evoware's Ello Jello containers. The downside up to the moment is the higher price of his merchandise. Even so, Ong is optimistic that his customers would be able to adapt after some time.
Being rated second in the list of the biggest plastic marine polluter, Indonesia has decided to join a cleanup drive led by the United Nations. Indonesia is said to have the world's dirtiest rivers and their beaches that were once pristine are now littered with plastic waste. China tops the list that Indonesia is now putting effort to get out of.
Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, is the home town of David Christian, co-founder of Evoware. The city is home to over 10 million people as well. Christian has expressed his worry over the sudden surge in plastic pollution in his beloved home town and was inspired to come up with the concept of seaweed-based packaging that is edible as well. Christian pointed out how plastic waste could take hundreds, or even thousands of years before it would degrade. He said that plastic waste can even contaminate the environment. Christian has also observed that the amount of plastic waste being produced in Jakarta alone seems to be ballooning.
Ong discussed that Ello Jello cones are five times as expensive as ordinary crepe cones and that plastic wrappings and papers are still being used for packaging. Vince Lantang Helda, another customer, has the same woes about Evoware's packaging.
Currently, Evoware products are made by hand. This makes it difficult for the brand to compete with the price that plastic has to offer. Customers are still hopeful that this would improve.
