Together with Saltwater Brewery, a small craft beer brand in Florida, we decided to tackle the issue head on and make a statement for the whole beer industry to follow. We ideated, designed, prototyped and manufactured Edible Six Pack Rings. A six-pack packaging design made with materials that instead of killing animals are edible. By using byproducts of the beer brewing process such as barley and wheat, this packaging goes beyond recycling and strives to achieve zero waste. The Edible Six Pack Rings are the first ever 100% biodegradable, compostable and edible packaging implemented in the beer industry.

We know, this is only the beginning, the material we are in the process of patenting together with a small startup of young engineers in Mexico has the potential to impact the CPG and Food and Beverage Industries. Saving hundreds of thousands of marine lives as a result.

The Edible six-pack rings are made out of the wheat and barley remnants from the brewing process, this design not only reduces waste, but re-uses it. The material is 100% biodegradable and compostable, and most importantly non harmful to animals. We needed to make sure the product was able to endure the typical handling of a six pack, and that’s why underwent several strength, water and resistance tests, verifying that this first batch of product, was up to par with its plastic enemy.  

By using byproducts of the beer brewing process such as barley and wheat, this edible packaging goes beyond recycling to achieve zero waste and zero harm to wildlife. These is the first ever 100% biodegradable, compostable and edible packaging implemented in the beer industry. After numerous design rounds, variations in raw material mix and stress tests, we used five 3D printer generated molds to manufacture our first batch of 500 Edible Six Pack Rings just as strong as the harmful plastic rings.

We initiated manufacturing of our aluminum and inox steel machined mold to produce 400,000 Edible Six Pack Rings per month. Enough for current Saltwater Brewery demand. The material we are in the process of patenting together with a small startup of young engineers in Mexico has the potential to impact the CPG and Food and Beverage Industries and save hundreds of thousands of marine lives as a result.

Through the launch of the first batch of Edible Six Pack Rings we increased:

The perception in consumers minds that when you buy a Saltwater Beer you support Ocean Conservancy Initiatives.

Willingness from consumers to pay a premium price for Saltwater Beer.

Most important we fulfilled our vision to help a small brewery to substantially and truthfully guide the Beer and other packaging intensive industries to a more environmentally & sustainable business practice that directly has a positive influence in our planet and associated wildlife.

Edible Six Pack Rings are a true testament that for brands to be successful today, it is no longer about being the best IN the world. But rather, being the best FOR the world by being courageous enough to take a real stance.

Americans drank 6.3 billion gallons of beer in 2015. Fifty percent of that volume is increasingly sold in cans as craft breweries continue to grow and choose can over bottle.

Beer cans come together with plastic six-pack rings. The preferred packaging design solution for years. It is lightweight, resistant, easy to carry and provided the beer industry with a solution for years. However, most of these plastic six-pack rings end up in our oceans and pose a serious threat to wildlife for the potential entanglement and even worse, animals eat the plastic and die of hunger as their digestive systems get clogged. According to GreenPeace, 80% of Sea Turtles and 70% of Seabirds are ingesting plastic today. This translates to 1,000,000 seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles dying each year.

It seems beer cans and plastic won’t go away. Unless design gets rid of at least one.