Tastee Tape

The People Building It

Tastee Tape is a 2022 venture that began as an undergraduate engineering project. A team of four chemical and biomolecular engineering students at Johns Hopkins University, including founder Marie Eric, created the initial prototype for their senior product design course, aiming to solve the specific problem of burritos falling apart [Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, 2022]. The concept was named a TIME Best Invention of 2022 [TIME Magazine, 2022]. The company formalized its structure as Tastee Tape LLC [Google Patents, 2024]. It entered the IndieBio accelerator program, leading to an undisclosed seed funding round led by SOSV [Crunchbase]. Following the TIME award, the product received media coverage, including features on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and CNN [IndieBio][CNN]. The company filed a patent application for its edible food adhesive film in July 2023, which was published in January 2024 [Google Patents, 2024].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding story and key 2022 milestones are well-documented by university and press sources. Accelerator and investor relationship is confirmed but funding details are not disclosed.

What They Have Built

Tastee Tape’s core product is a single-use, edible adhesive film designed to wrap food items like burritos or secure leftovers. The company describes it as a patent-pending, fully plant-based, and biodegradable alternative to conventional plastic wrap [Tastee Tape]. The technology is rooted in a formulation of FDA-approved, food-grade ingredients. The company claims the film is free from forever chemicals, microplastics, and parabens, and is home compostable [Rethinking Materials, 2026]. A U.S. patent application for "Edible food adhesive films" was published in January 2024, listing Tastee Tape LLC as the assignee [Google Patents, 2024]. The ingredients are described as common food additives, suggesting the formulation leverages Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) substances [CNN].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Patent filing and ingredient claims are documented; commercial readiness and detailed specifications are not independently verified.

Market Size and Demand

The market for sustainable food packaging is driven by consumer and regulatory pressure to replace single-use plastics.

Metric	Value
Global Sustainable Packaging Market (2027 Projection)	$413.7B
CAGR (Projected)	7.4%

Demand is propelled by consumer awareness of microplastics and "forever chemicals" (PFAS) in conventional food contact materials [Tastee Tape]. Regulatory momentum is also building; legislation like the EU's Single-Use Plastics Directive and various state-level bans in the US are restricting traditional plastic packaging. The product's initial use case, securing handheld foods like burritos, addresses consumer mess and waste.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is from a single third-party report; regulatory and demand drivers are widely reported public trends.

Who Else Is Fighting for This

Tastee Tape operates at the intersection of sustainable packaging and edible materials.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator
Tastee Tape	Edible, plant-based adhesive film for consumer food wrapping	Seed (SOSV)	Patent-pending adhesive film made from common food ingredients
Notpla	Seaweed-based packaging for liquids, sauces, and coatings	Series A ($10M+)	Focus on B2B applications
Evoware	Seaweed-based edible food wrappers and sachets	Seed / Grant-funded	Strong local supply chain integration in Indonesia
Loliware	Hyper-compostable, seaweed-based bioplastics	Series A ($15M+)	Material designed for commercial food service and hospitality

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor funding stages and differentiators are based on Crunchbase profiles. Tastee Tape's patent status is confirmed.

Opportunity

The opportunity centers on Tastee Tape becoming the first widely adopted, consumer-branded edible adhesive, establishing a new category within sustainable food packaging that could scale into a multi-hundred-million-dollar consumer goods and materials licensing business.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The patent and media recognition are well-documented.