From Eggshell to Object

At Pinch, we’re always looking for ways to extend the life of materials beyond their expected purpose. Sometimes that means transforming furniture into serving systems. Other times, it means turning food waste into design objects.

Recently, one of our signature food furniture installations, the Onsen Table, generated an unexpected surplus of eggshells. The experience centers around a perfectly cooked sous vide egg, broken over a warm bowl of nasi goreng and finished tableside with fresh herbs and garnishes. Delicious for guests, but it also left us with dozens of eggshells that would typically be composted.

Rather than sending them directly to the compost bin, we wondered: what else could they become?

(Photos by: @jennroberts_ @afrikarmando)

To explore the possibilities, we partnered with circular material designer Kendall Mitchell, who joined us in our Chelsea studio for a hands-on workshop focused on upcycling eggshells into functional objects.

Eggshells are naturally rich in calcium carbonate, making them an ideal material for circular design applications. Crushed and combined with a fully natural binder, they can be transformed into a durable paste that can be cast into molds and reshaped into entirely new forms.

Together, our team learned how to create a zero-waste eggshell composite using shells collected from recent events. We poured the mixture into silicone molds and even repurposed some of our serving trays as forms for experimentation.

The result was a collection of biodegradable vessels, each carrying a direct connection to the meals that inspired them. What began as food waste became a series of sculptural objects that now live throughout our studio.

It’s a small exercise in material exploration, but one that reflects a larger idea we think about often at Pinch: waste is often just a resource waiting for a second life.

By looking at ingredients, byproducts, and materials through a design lens, we can uncover new possibilities for how they move through the world and perhaps keep them there a little longer.