Scotland-based intelligent packaging company Insignia Technologies has launched the Stock Rotation smart label, designed to help reduce food waste and improve food safety at every stage of the food supply chain.
The label can be stuck to a box or pallet of fresh produce and features a color-changing property that helps in deciding the freshness of the fruit, vegetables, meat, or dairy goods inside the box.
Over time, color of the label changes from yellow to purple owing to its time and temperature sensitivity. This property also has the potential to highlight any problems of temperature abuse in the product.
This visual solution helps to tackle problems like stock rotation and poor practices in the transportation of fresh food, in both developed and developing markets.
The company's primary aim behind the product is to reduce food waste and enhance food safety. The packaging applications are being successfully utilised and trialled in the US and UK.
Speaking about the product, Insignia Technologies CEO David Kilshaw said: "Between 30% and 50% of food produced globally never reaches the consumer. To keep up with the world's ever increasing demand for food, the food sector must change the way it works now and reduce waste at every stage in the supply chain from farm to supermarket to consumer.
"The Stock Rotation label is the latest of the ground breaking technologies we have developed, and will play a critical role in increasing industry efficiency and improving freshness with a low cost and easy to use product."
The labels also help in cutting down on the time spent on checking date labels and improves freshness through the supply chain. It is also capable of increasing operational efficiencies.
Insignia patented the technology after five years research and development at the University of Strathclyde's Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, followed by two years of further research in state-of-the-art laboratories at BioCity Scotland.
