Marketing Edible Packaging as an Eco-Friendly Product: A Guide for Small UK Food Businesses

The study examines the potential of small food businesses in the UK to market edible packaging foods as an environmentally sustainable product to boost the acceptability and sustainability of packaging. The study adopts a secondary qualitative research design and an inductive approach that is based on interpretivism and thematic analysis, taking into account the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Diffusion of Innovation theory. The results show that although edible packaging offers great environmental and competitive benefits, commercial implementation is hindered by consumer perceptions of hygiene, safety, cost and business resource constraints. This study offers evidence-based recommendations, including cost-effective digital marketing, clear eco-labeling, collaboration, and education on sustainability narratives to help create consumer trust and support market uptake in the UK food industry.

Marketing/Hospitality

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