NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — KFC is planning to brew up something quirky for its customers in the United Kingdom — a 100% edible chocolate coffee cup.
The cups are part of a marketing gimmick to mark the launch of Seattle Best Coffee (a Starbucks brand) at KFC restaurants in the U.K.
“We thought about how we can make this moment even more special,” said KFC spokeswoman Jenny Packwood.
According to the fast food restaurant, the shell of the cup is like a hard biscuit and it’s lined with a layer of white chocolate on the inside. The outside of the cup bears the KFC and Seattle’s Best Coffee logos.
KFC’s U.K division reached out to London-based firm The Robin Collective to come up with the concept.
The conversations took place in January, said founder Robin Fegen, who said his firm is well-known for dabbling in experimental food concepts such as edible spoons and “medicinal” marshmallows.
“They wanted something fun and entertaining to mark the Seattle Best Coffee launch here,” said Fegen.
So when KFC sent him a sample of the actual waxy cardboard cup that it would be using for the coffee brand, it was the Eureka moment.
“Why not make edible versions of it,” he said, adding that the firm has since made a few hundred edible cups for KFC.
But won’t it melt?
“The hotter the coffee, the faster the cup will degrade,” he said. “So maybe this isn’t the best cup for your coffee that’s straight out of the kettle.”
Packwood said the edible cups are currently a test, and not available for purchase yet.
“But we are exploring what we’d need to do to make these feasible at a larger scale,” she said.
And KFC has no plans to introduce the novelty cups in the United States.
