Mimica
Reducing food waste with real-time expiry labels
Brief
The brief was to explore how expiry date labelling could be accurate and reduce the amount of food waste in households.
Narrative
Current expiry labels are based on worst case scenario. This means that the majority of food that is past the printed expiry is completely safe to eat, however it can’t be sold and many consumers will simply through it away.
Outcome
Mimica Touch is a temperature-sensitive label for food freshness. The label itself spoils at the same rate as the food or drink inside the pack, changing state from flat to bumpy when the food is ‘off’.
Mimica Touch
Mimica Touch is a temperature-sensitive label for food freshness. The label itself spoils at the same rate as the food or drink inside the pack, changing state from flat to bumpy when the food is ‘off’. Designed for flat packs or bottled drinks, this is the first of it’s kind and has the potential to radically change the way we label our food.
The innovation
Morrama has been working with Mimica for over 2 years alongside an expert chemistry team in Chester to develop a now patented design for open and closed life products. The bottle cap label has been engineered to activate at the point the consumer unscrews the cap for the first time. The chemistry inside the label is affected by the same temperature conditions as the rest of the bottle, so if you leave your milk out on a hot day, the state change of the label will increase at the same rate as the milk spoiling. On the other hand, if you store the food correctly, the label will remain smooth for longer indicating the food is safe. Unlike a fixed expiry date.
With the design now in lab trials, the Mimica team are set to ramp up to mass production later this year. You can follow their process and join the #MimicaMovement here.
