For a limited time in June, those who visited the McDonald's location inside the Mall of Berlin—a concept called The Better McDonald's Store—had the chance to experience an eco-friendly experience from the fast food company. The restaurant served only burgers in grass-based packaging and McFlurries with wooden spoons at the plastic-free pop-up concept. As well as seeing plastic-free packaging and wooden cutlery, visitors were familiarized with paper straws, condiments and sauces in edible cups and Chicken McNuggets served in paper bags.
On-site, McDonald's was able to test out a variety of waste-reducing alternatives to single-use plastic and receive valuable customer feedback on its efforts. With The Better McDonald's Store, Diana Wicht, the Sustainability Department Head for McDonald's Germany, states: "Normally, McDonald's goes out with perfect solutions. This time we said, 'We don't have perfect solutions yet… please help us!"
Plastic-Free Fast Food Concepts
'Better McDonald's' is Introducing Wooden Spoons & Edible Cups
Trend Themes
1. Eco-friendly Packaging - The trend of eco-friendly packaging presents opportunities for companies to develop alternatives to single-use plastic and reduce waste.
2. Wooden Cutlery - The use of wooden cutlery offers a disruptive innovation opportunity for businesses to provide sustainable options for utensils.
3. Edible Packaging - The concept of edible packaging opens up possibilities for companies to create sustainable and unique packaging solutions that reduce waste.
Industry Implications
1. Fast Food - Fast food chains have the chance to embrace eco-friendly packaging and cutlery options to reduce plastic waste and improve sustainability.
2. Food Packaging - The food packaging industry can explore the development of innovative materials and designs that are eco-friendly and can be consumed.
3. Sustainability - The push for sustainability in various industries creates opportunities for companies to develop and promote products and practices that reduce environmental impact.