Now you can drink tea from this cup and eat it too! Edible cups attract customers in Karimnagar

To put an end to such harmful microplastics, Manakondur Rythu Pragathi, a farmer producers’ cooperative society, has come up with an innovative idea to manufacture edible tea cups and set up a unit in Annaram of Manakondur mandal by spending Rs 5 lakh

Karimnagar: Plastic, which has become a part in the day to day life of the people, is posing a major threat to human beings as well as animals. Besides other purposes, paper glasses are being used to drink tea. There would be a waterproof lining inside the cup. Billions of micro-plastics would be released when hot liquids are exposed to the waterproof lining.

To put an end to such harmful microplastics, Manakondur Rythu Pragathi, a farmer producers’ cooperative society, has come up with an innovative idea to manufacture edible tea cups and set up a unit in Annaram of Manakondur mandal by spending Rs 5 lakh.

Edible glasses are being produced by mixing four types of flour such as maize, rice, raagi and maida. Besides equal quantity of each flour, some sugar would also be added.

It is said that 500 grams of sugar would be added to 10 kg of flour mixture. The mixture would be grinded for half an hour by adding 9 liters and 258 ml of water. Later, the mixture would be poured into a mouldings fixed to the machines. Glass shared mouldings of the machine would be fixed into holes wherein the mixture was earlier poured.

After heating the mixture at 180 degree temperature for three minutes, another layer of mixture would be poured and again heated at the same temperature. Finally, edible glasses would be ready to have tea.

The glass weighs between 15 to 18 grams is fit to have tea. Below 15 grams cups would be used for ice creams. Hot tea can be consumed from the cup in about 18 to 20 minutes without any leakages. The expiry of edible tea cups is 120 days.

The first of its kind unit in the state is getting a huge response from the public. Though the unit has a capacity to produce 800 glasses per day, the demand is for 2000 to 3000 cups. So, the organizers are planning to install one more machine to enhance production.

The details about the unit, society chairman Pakala Purushotham Reddy said to Telangana Today that he was planning to install another machine considering the growing demands for supply of these glasses. This time, they were planning to set up a small size cup manufacturing unit.

When asked about the idea to start edible tea cups, he informed that for the first time, they saw tea cups in Jammikunta Krishi Vigyan Kendra when they went to KVK for a training programme. To produce environment friendly tea cups, they have decided to start a unit and studied the units being operated in different states, especially in north India.

Though they started the unit in August 2024, the production was delayed due to technical problems in the machinery. Now, the production is being done without any disturbance.

When an edible tea cup was consumed, it was equivalent to eating five biscuits. So, there was no need to eat biscuits separately. Moreover, all flours were good for health. Maida, which would not usually mix with other flours, would help to bring smoothness to glass and control leakages, he informed.

Including all expenses, Rs 3 was the production cost of a cup, he informed and said that they were selling to customers at Rs 4 per cup.

An employee engaged in the preparation of edible tea cups in the unit in Annaram of Manakondur mandal