Edible Cutlery Made From 100% Natural Flours. 

In 2010, Narayana Peesapathy and Pradnya Keskar founded the company Bakeys in Hyderabad, India. Bakeys was the first company to produce edible cutlery. The baked utensils shaped like spoons, forks and chopsticks made of millet, rice, wheat and water. They come in various flavours varying from plain, savoury and sweet and taste like crackers. This cutlery has a shelf life of 36 months. However, they do not contain milk, additives, emulsifiers or preservatives. After use, if not consumed, the cutlery will decompose within 4 to 5 days.

Preserve Ground Water in Farming

The ingenuity of this product stems from the millet flour used. Millet contains complex carbohydrates, which do not break apart or become soggy when in contact with water or hot liquids. Furthermore, millet farming conserves water, unlike corn, rice or wheat farming.  Therefore, millet is an environmentally sustainable crop which helps preserve groundwater.

Lessons Learned

In 2017, Bakeys could not fulfil large orders made through Kickstart and Ketto, leaving several customers unhappy with their service. Bakeys’ website is no longer online. The company appears to have closed down. In conclusion, if you are looking for edible or single-use cutlery, this concept is simple, nutritious and effective. Bocado in the United States and Trishulaindia based in India also make edible spoons. However, from a strictly environmental point of view, it must be noted that edible cutlery would fall under Recovery (stage 4) of the waste hierarchy because the product decomposes, therefore, could produce energy via anaerobic digestion. Ideally, methods of prevention, reduce and reuse should be implemented first.https://youtu.be/TjUzGR2aOLw