wenwen fan develops colorful seaweed wrappers as alternative, edible food packaging

multidisciplinary experience designer wenwen fan has developed a series of colorful seaweed wrappers as an alternative, edible food packaging solution. ‘seaweed U’ seeks to redesign the experience of eating seaweed, which has been identified as a sustainable, nutritional superfood for the future generation. in fact, the project makes a case for eating seaweed as a way to help combat climate change. ‘according to scientists, building seaweed farming network on just 9% of the world’s ocean could offset carbon emission entirely,’ notes the royal college of art graduate.

all images courtesy of wenwen fan

with ‘seaweed U’, wenwen fan seeks to promote a more convenient, playful and palatable seaweed diet solution as a way of food education in western societies. ‘although seaweed is commonly seen in asian diets such as sushi rolls and miso soup, many people in western societies are still unfamiliar with how to cook with seaweed, some are also held back by its green and slimy food texture,’ explains fan. as such, the royal college of art graduate has created innovative, vegan seaweed wrappers and dissolvable pouches that can be used as edible packaging.

the edible wrappers and pouches provide extra nutritional value including vitamins, minerals as well as polysaccharides from seaweed that may help support gut health. fan has also created an online platform that offers customization of seaweed products to suit each individual’s nutritional needs and flavor preferences. so far, there are three suggested scenarios to choose from: ‘trick or treat’, ‘the lazy pouch’ and ‘super chef’.

‘trick or treat’ is a healthy snack made from fruity-taste seaweed skins, which can be combined with a more familiar food palate, like nuts and berries. ‘the lazy pouch’ is a single serve, dissolvable pouch with different types of seaweed like wakame, dulse and kelp etc. to choose from. last, ‘super chef’ offers a creative DIY food experience where people can play with this versatile material in combination with ordinary ingredients to make creative dishes such as transparent onigiris, ice cream raviolis and even colorful spring rolls.

project info:

name: seaweed U

designer: wenwen fan