A New York-based food design agency has envisioned what your grocery store will look like in 2065, and you’ll only have to wait a year to find out.
Whether it will focus on products resulting from sustainable agricultural practices or forgo packaging all together, two recent projects are showing that the supermarket of the future will respect the environment and be minimalist.
Studio Industries is creating a physical pop-up grocery store through a project called the Future Market that will launch in New York City in the summer of 2015.
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The supermarket of the future will include smart shelves that will display products customized to every shopper based on an embedded food ID chip, according to Supermarket News.
There will also be a heavy focus on environmentally-friendly products. Products will include limited varieties of single origin chips resulting from food manufacturers' embrace of crop rotation and other sustainable agricultural practices.
The agency unveiled its project at the Future Food Expo, which took place in Brooklyn over the weekend, where it also debuted its first product from the year 2065.
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Crop Crisps, whose packaging is inspired by Wheat Thins, will come out in four different varieties including sesame and quinoa.
“These four crops support proper crop rotation methods and are planted in yearly succession as part of a four-year cycle,” the agency noted on its Future Market website.
In 2065, consumers will only have access to Wheat Crop Crisps, while 2066 will be the year of Sesame Crop Crisps.
“After decades of large-scale, mono-culture farming, the soil and environment of 2065 can no longer bear the stress of these antiquated practices,” it added. “The yearly crop rotation actually helps to restore natural balance and harmony to the soil and environment.”
Meanwhile, in Europe, a Berlin grocery store has created a new concept, taking a slightly different approach to being environmentally conscious. Original Unverpackt, which opened last Saturday, is a minimum-waste grocery store that has no cardboard, no cellophane, no throwaway plastic trays and no brands, according to a CityLab article.
“The idea works like this: All of Original Unverpackt’s dried goods—rice, cereal, spices—are stored in large dispenser bins, and customers fill containers they have either brought with them or purchased in the store,” the article said. “Liquid goods such as juice or yogurt are sold in jars or bottles with a deposit on them.”
There’s no meat or cheese, but you can buy chewable toothpaste tablets.
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