As Chaos Leaves Consumers Craving Comfort Food, One Brand Scores a Sustainable Makeover

Let’s face it, no matter where your sympathies may lie over what’s been going on in the nation’s capital, we’re all craving comfort food. Whether you were infuriated over the insurrection or believe free speech is under attack, we all crave carbs to curb the angst.

Even before last week’s violence, the months-long pandemic has given a lift to simple, carb-heavy pleasures. Washingtonians now apparently have a thing for Philly cheesesteaks. Chicago restaurants capitalized on pre-election stress. California’s Central Valley has witnessed residents going for even more timeless Mexican favorites like pozole and cocido. And at the beginning of the pandemic, food processing companies couldn’t make mac and cheese fast enough.

Now the folks behind a comfort food icon, Kraft Mac & Cheese, are striving to make the product a little less guilt-inducing.

No, we’re not talking about replacing that gooey, neon-hued cheese — that’s always going to be around. Face it: Half of us love it. The other half feign horror at the ingredients, but while they profess to avoid the stuff, many indulge when no one’s looking. If you don’t have a box stashed in your cupboard, you’re not living.

Here’s what’s changing: For those of us who can’t even bother to boil some water and want even faster instant gratification, Kraft also offers a microwavable version that's ready in less than five minutes. Sales of those microwavable cups have been on the upswing, which makes sense: If you have yet another Zoom call, you want something fast to get you through that next hour-long virtual slog.

But here’s the sticky, gooey situation: Recycling systems across the U.S., and around the world, have been torn apart as plastic trash exports have screeched to a halt and single-use plastics keep piling up. Even if your local garbage pickup service accepts plastic, there’s another problem: Many recyclers won’t take plastic items that still have paper or plastic labels affixed to them.

So, Kraft Heinz says it’s come up with an answer: It’s testing out a recyclable, fiber-based cup (shown above). Instead of a resin-or paper-based label, branding and barcodes will be directly printed on the cups. The company says the goal is to develop a cup that is both recyclable and able to break down at industrial-scale composting sites. If all goes to plan, we may see these cups of comfort food goodness in stores by the end of this year.

Image credit: Hermes Rivera/Unsplash