NO plastic waste with Brooke Moore's Wrapt

NO plastic waste with Brooke Moore's Wrapt - it's edible and biodegradable

A truckload of plastic enters the oceans every minute. This equates to over 12 million tonnes every year. While plastic use is declining, a major part of the problem is being overlooked; plastic wrap. In almost every restaurant, home and bakery a roll of this handy but deadly wrap exists. We’ve turned away from plastic bags and straws, but there was no talk of a plastic wrap alternative. Someone should make one, I thought. And then it dawned on me - what if I could make one?

Think back to when you were five. The sight of a different tree felt like the start of an adventure. New sights and experiences sparked enthusiasm, creativity and curiosity.

That young child in me is still here to this day. She’s led me to think creatively yet critically about everything - with the world’s plastic crisis, that curious child wanted to make a difference. What if I created a plastic wrap alternative that was not only biodegradable - but also edible?

My name is Brooke Moore, and I believe willpower and a bit of elbow grease is enough to change the world. I have enormous ambition, seeking the wackiest, weirdest and most wonderful methods and experiences. One example of this is my obsession with molecular gastronomy - through which you can change the structure of foods with ingredients and techniques. This is how I came up with the idea of Wrapt - I believe if you have a talent that can benefit the world in some way, go for it! My talent for cooking and being ‘weird’ with food meant that I could pretty much see which ingredients could work together to create a plastic. Therefore it wouldn’t be too difficult, I thought. I was wrong. But many non-sticky, too sticky, brittle, unmaneuverable agar plastics later I reached something that was very similar to plastic wrap - but edible and dissolvable.

Meet Wrapt - the world’s first edible, dissolvable, flavoured plastic wrap and packaging alternative! Wrapt strives to reduce the amount of single use plastics

by providing an environmentally sustainable alternative. The wraps are available in Unflavoured, Raspberry and Green Herb flavours, and are vegan, gluten-free and low-carb.

I specifically chose these flavours to reflect the versatility of the product as not only a plastic wrap replacement, but as a nutritious and delicious food product. Because of my culinary expertise I wanted to subtly balance out the common characteristics of foods generally wrapped in plastic wrap. For example, wrap a white chocolate and vanilla cake (sweet and sickly) with the Raspberry flavoured wrap for a burst of freshness. The green herb is also popular as a keto bread wrap alternative. The Unflavoured is perfect for those who want to retain the food’s flavour exactly as is, or for those who wish to discard the wrap as a solely biodegradable, compostable or dissolvable product - simply peel off and dissolve in boiling water!

My vision of plastic-free beaches and happy animals seems not as far in the distance. As the CEO of Wrapt, I believe that Wrapt can revolutionise the future of sustainable packaging and agriculture.

I feel that Wrapt has the potential to help with many problems around plastic pollution - one that is close to my heart is livestock death from plastic. My uncle often has trouble with his cattle ingesting silage wraps and bags, and being an animal lover myself I hate to see the harm plastic does to these poor cattle. I would aim. to have a slightly different ‘plastic’ for each purpose, for example the edible plastic wrap is not too thin but not too thick to be unpleasant to chew, whereas silage wraps and product packaging will be much thicker. I aim to license a different Wrapt product to a different licensee, who will target that industry only. This way I can target many different specific markets via different licensees, rather than having just one product with an overly broad target market.

Being a company whose sole purpose is to replace plastic, environmental sustainability is at Wrapt’s heart. This extends to the product itself, compostable packaging, natural drying processes and leaving no environmental footprint. Wrapt purchases all ingredients and packaging in bulk to reduce waste and save money, which also reflects Wrapt’s commitment to the quadruple bottom line.

I’m only 16 but I’m perhaps one of the most dedicated people you will meet; I’ll stop at nothing to get Wrapt large scale. Recently I won the GirlBoss Innovation Award. The GirlBoss Awards is the most competitive awards scheme in the country with nearly 500 applicants and an acceptance rate of 1.7%. The GirlBoss Awards are more competitive than The New Zealander of the Year Awards, KPMG’s Internship Class, NASA’s NZ Internship Class, Google’s Internship Class and every university in the world (including Harvard, Oxford, Yale and Stanford).

I was selected because I ‘have demonstrated years of unrelenting hard work, an unwavering commitment to the lives of others and that you will stop at nothing to lead and change your community, this nation, and this world.’ Following this, I was invited for interviews on Breakfast, Seven Sharp and The Breeze. I was also chosen for two YES and SEACAPE BizVentures in Vietnam and Thailand (both of which I won). The Thailand trip was part of another program Wrapt was selected for: the Global Kaitiakitanga Project, a 14-month programme created by NZ At Expo and the Young Enterprise Scheme.

At this stage I’m trying to figure out who to license to, and how to go about doing it. I’ve met with some large companies and they all sound very exciting in what they have to offer Wrapt, so it’s just about figuring out which one aligns with Wrapt the most.

I can say that I’m not afraid of failure. Entrepreneurship is like jumping over a million hurdles and getting broken ankles along the way, but healing and becoming stronger in the end. This is how innovation flourishes. No matter how difficult the trials, I will work towards getting Wrapt licensed and produced large scale, as I believe it has great potential. I am so glad I never gave up on Wrapt. One thing that I can say that I am grateful for is my entrepreneurial mindset, that inner five year old that never stops seeking.

Article by Brooke Moore https://wrapt.mystorbie.com/