This project will calibrate and validate an existing technology for use with packaged seafood which indicates when it should no longer be consumed, thus reducing seafood waste.
£257,172
15 months
Significant quantities of seafood are wasted due to temperature condition uncertainty in the supply chain, and overall, 70% of food wasted in the UK is still safe for consumption (WRAP, 2021). Expiry dates are major drivers of the £320m/29 million kg of seafood wasted by UK households (WRAP,2015), equivalent to 72.5 million of CO2.
Bump by Mimica is a patented temperature-sensitive tag on packaging that turns bumpy when food should no longer be consumed. The unique gel chemistry inside the tag mimics food spoilage and can be calibrated to different food types. Bump technology has been designed specifically for scale & impact from a cost, manufacture integration and recyclability perspective. It can simultaneously reduce seafood waste’s carbon footprint while increasing profitability and savings across the supply chain.
The R&D project objective was to bring the product to the next stage of system development, validation testing, and system demonstration required to reach TRL7 by the end of the project. 50 prototype tags on seafood packaging were tested with consumers in a ‘Living Lab’ to reflect the operational environment. The results showed positive findings: participants generally trusted the concept of the Bump Tag, and vast majority of them could correctly identify whether a Bump Tag was bumpy. This number increased to 100% with familiarity. Furthermore, all participants correctly identified that the tag was to help with indicating freshness on first experience and the directions of use were clear and read easily.
Mimica Lab Ltd