# Flat-Pack Pastas Morphing Matter Lab is Exploring Ways to Make Food & Packaging More Compact By Laura McQuarrie | Published 2021-05-06 | Lifestyle Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/flat-pack-pasta References: [fastcompany](https://www.fastcompany.com/90632573/watch-this-flat-pack-pasta-transform-into-shapes-as-it-boils) & [morphingmatter.cs.cmu.edu](https://www.morphingmatter.cs.cmu.edu/projects/morphing-pasta-and-beyond) Inspired by the way [furniture is packed flat](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bug-collection-1) to save space, Morphing Matter Lab created flat-pack pasta that can be packaged in a way that saves space and expanded when cooked. The flat-pack pasta relies on a "groove-based shape morphing technique" and it can be used to form a variety of different shapes using traditional pasta ingredients like semolina flour and water. With these shapely pasta designs that transform when cooked, Morphing Matter Lab is exploring a more sustainable future for food that helps to reduce packing space during transportation and storage. As Morphing Matter Lab describes, "For 3D-shaped pasta like macaroni, more than 60% of the packaging space is used to pack air. By making flatpack pasta, we can save a large portion of the packaging space for food." ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 5.1/10 - Popularity: 50% | Activity: 94% | Freshness: 10% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Lifestyle](https://www.trendhunter.com/lifestyle) > [Food](https://www.trendhunter.com/food) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Flat-pack Food:** Developing flat-pack food products for more efficient transportation and storage offers disruptive innovation opportunities to reduce packaging waste and increase sustainability. - **Shape-morphing:** Creating shape-morphing food products using innovative techniques offers disruptive innovation opportunities to improve packaging efficiency and sustainability. - **Sustainable Packaging:** Designing sustainable packaging solutions for food products offers disruptive innovation opportunities to reduce resource consumption and waste in food transport and storage. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Food and Beverage:** Flat-pack food products and shape-morphing techniques offer disruptive innovation opportunities to improve transportation and storage efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance sustainability in the food and beverage industry. - **Packaging:** Developing sustainable packaging solutions for food products offers disruptive innovation opportunities in the packaging industry to create more efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective packaging options. - **Logistics and Supply Chain:** New flat-pack food products and packaging solutions offer disruptive innovation opportunities for the logistics and supply chain industry to improve transportation and storage efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance sustainability. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Croissant-Shaped Pastas](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/crocchi.md) - [Modern Organic Pasta Packaging](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/flour-water.md) - [Rapid-Cook Pasta Meals](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/instant-pasta-noodles.md) - [Origami-Inspired Lunch Boxes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/foldibox-2.md) - [Flatpack Sheet-Style Oat Milks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/flat-pack-oat-milk.md) - [Soft Structural Packaging](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-project-ara.md) - [3D-Printable Packaging Pastes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/reishi-mushroom-printable-material.md) - [Upcycled Vegetable Packaging](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vegetable-packaging1.md) - [Shapely Chickpea Pastas](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/chickpea-based-pasta.md)