Water is an essential resource for life, as emphasized in this United Nations statement, and it’s obviously not breaking news! Essential for us humans, it is also crucial for plants, animals, and so on. Cieau estimates that each person should drink from 1.3 to 2 liters per day to maintain good health. And so, we consume water, in plastic bottles, or possibly in reusable bottles, but there are very few other options available. Only gelled water can be consumed for medical reasons, however, it is very uncommon. In 2017 already, we talked about a British invention, Ooho by NotPla, in this article, an edible bubble made from algae, which has since made a successful journey. Discover or rediscover this invention, as well as its meteoric rise to the highest echelons of the British Crown.
What is the Ooho edible bubble?
The co-founders of NotPla, Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier, started with a simple question they wanted to answer. « How can we package water in a way that works in harmony with nature, bridging the gap between the lifespan of what we consume and their packaging? » And it’s simply by observing Nature that they came up with the idea of using algae as packaging. Have you ever seen algae pockets filled with water?
This packaging, made from algae, can contain any kind of liquid.
They are resistant, waterproof of course, and also flexible enough to be pierced, and of course, edible for many algae species. Starting from their student dorm kitchen at Imperial College London, they concocted dozens of recipes before finding the right balance. Eureka (I found it) said Einstein when discovering the theory of relativity, the two students exclaimed Oooooooooooooooh… An onomatopoeia that has since become the name of their invention Ooho with a few « o » less!
Water inside, but not only!
Ooho is a revolution in packaging: a water bubble wrapped in a thin edible film, entirely composed of algae and seaweed. This biodegradable, simple, and natural protection degrades in just 4 to 6 weeks, unlike plastic bottles which take over 400 years to disintegrate in nature. This flexible packaging can contain not only water but also any other carbonated drink, spirits, and various liquids. Furthermore, this solution is more economical than plastic, but above all, it addresses an urgent environmental imperative.
After being launched at the London Marathon in 2019, as we reported in this article, the Ooho bubble seems to have caught the attention of high-profile British personalities. The Prince of Wales, William, since his father Charles was crowned king, launched an « ecology-related contest, » the Earthshot Prize, in 2021. The following year, the prize went to NotPla for its edible algae-based food packaging. On March 8th, the Prince of Wales again met with NotPla’s CEO, to congratulate him for signing a contract with Levy UK, one of the largest British catering companies.
