They didn’t want to concentrate on products she felt were already being done, like oil and protein powder.

So she chose something that would stand out – hemp beeswax food wraps.

Available in funky retro tie-dyed colours, they are perfect for a dinner party, you might say they really are the bees’ knees of food wraps.

“We decided we wanted to have something different because we want our business to be a bit unique from everyone else, so we went ‘okay what if we dyed them and dipped them and we get our beeswax’,” Maxine Shea, co-founder of Australian-based business Hemp Collective and Fields of Hemp, told us.

LOCAL BEESWAX & HEMP COMBINE FOR SUSTAINABLE HEMP FOOD WRAPS

The locally made wraps, which can be purchased online, are all-natural, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, water-resistant and sustainable.

An Australian couple created sustainable hemp food wraps using local hemp and beeswax. Photo: A picnic party place setting including a bowl covered with a hemp food wrap.

An Australian couple created sustainable hemp food wraps using local hemp and beeswax.

The beeswax is sourced locally and infused with organic coconut oil and pine tree resin from the Byron Bay community in northern NSW, not far from where Shea and her husband and business co-founder Mike have a hemp farm for industrial use.

“People go ‘oh is it farmed from bees that are being harmed’ and we went ‘well no the beekeepers look after their bees’” Maxine said.

The product also fits in with the ethos of the couple and their business. Maxine has a background that includes studying and teaching about waste education.

“We came up with the hemp beeswax wrap because we’re trying to eliminate plastic within our business. I come from a zero waste (belief) and moving forward I think it’s important as a society,” Maxine said.

“With a focus on plastic at the moment, it is killing a lot of wildlife and is an unsustainable product and. The beeswax wraps made sense.”

Perfect for storing food and keeping produce fresh – from vegetables and fruits to flowers to kids’ lunches – the list of uses for the wraps is endless.

The biodegradable wraps, which can be moulded into a pouch or cone (no pun intended) are also easy to use, are water-resistant, and are easy to wash.