Eat your froyo and the package: New eco-friendly frozen yogurt from Stonyfield

Stonyfield has taken eco-friendly packaging to the next level with a new froyo dessert with edible packaging. The small yogurt balls, called frozen yogurt pearls, feature scoops of yogurt encased in edible, protective skins.

The organic yogurt maker collaborated with WikiFoods Inc. to develop the skins. Made from organic fruit by Harvard professor and WikiFoods founder David Edwards, the skins are similar to grape skins. They can be placed straight into your grocery bag, washed and handled, without being damaged.

“We’ve long dreamed of the day that after you eat the yogurt, you eat the cup too,� said Stonyfield’s co-founder and chairman, Gary Hirshberg. “We still have a long way to go to achieve that dream, but just as the first mobile phones were pretty big and clunky, the Wiki Pearl technology is a giant step and great start in the right direction.�

The pearls come in six flavors with fruit skins around vanilla or chocolate yogurt. Flavors include peach and vanilla, banana and vanilla, banana and chocolate, coconut and chocolate, strawberry and chocolate and strawberry and vanilla.

Stonyfield is working with retailers to create a completely package-free experience, with a possible self-service dispenser for the product, but until then, Whole Foods is selling the yogurt pearls in the freezer section in pre-packaged biodegradable cellulose sacs made from wood fiber. A pack of two is $3.99.

Or, for a real package-free experience, you can pick up the pearls at Wikibar counters in select stores, where you can grab the pearls and put them straight into your basket.

The yogurt pearls can be found exclusively at a couple of Whole Foods market locations in Boston, but the company is in talks with the market chain to expand elsewhere.

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