Mimica Touch relabels the food waste problem
by Startacus Admin
Mimica Touch - The startup that has created a biologically active food expiry label to help combat food waste.
In the UK, 7 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year. Much of this is due to people looking at the ‘use by’ date and throwing away out-of-date food and drink without stopping to check if it really has gone bad. Whether this is easy to check for yourself, like a block of Cheddar or a bottle of milk, or something risky like chicken or fish, a huge number of people choose the safe and costly route of simply throwing it away if the date says so.The problem of both food waste and sustainable living is a big issue to solve. Think, Too Good To Go who recently raised 6m to keep fighting food waste or pioneering meat wholesaler Ethical Butcher with their carbon negative meat, as two recent examples.
Use-by dates. The question of whether use-by dates should be done away with has been debated more and more in recent years but, if so, should it be replaced by a simple ‘best before’ or something a little more clear cut for people?
London-based Mimica Lab thinks the latter. Rather than have people take the risk of potentially unsafe food and drink, the startup has created a new, unique label to better indicate whether their consumables have spoiled.
The Mimica Touch is a label that changes its texture so that when you rub a finger over it and it is smooth, the food is still good, but when the label becomes bumpy, the food has spoiled.
It’s a simple method that is plain to understand, doesn’t rely on the estimates of printed dates, and simultaneously provides those with visual impairment a clear indicator of whether their food is still safe.
This technology stands to save the average family between £470 (Mimica’s estimate) and £700 (The Telegraph’s estimate) per year on food wastage. This is probably one of the reasons that Mimica Lab founder Solveiga Pakštait was named 2017’s Inventor of the Year by MIT’s Technology Review and won the James Dyson Award for her invention in 2014.
The idea of a simple label to massively reduce food wastage is one that will never go out of date!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Here are some tips, courtesy of accountancy experts Howlader&Co, on how to generate substantial profits by maximising productivity in your startup.
The Manchester based startup that is on a mission to transform the energy system...
.png)
Developing Experts empower teachers and parents to teach science with confidence and ease, with an ever-growing library of interactive, online science lessons.
Startups focused on Connected Digital Mobility, including connected vehicles, autonomous travel, smart cities, future transport services, take note!
The online marketplace where you can buy goods directly from independent retailers all in one place.
With the aim of reaching 1 million classrooms and kitchen tables by 2021, EdTech startup Makematic have raised £1m to help brands connect with education through bitesize content.
AI: Artificial Intelligence, currently the buzzwords about town betwixt the tech-savvy among us. So will robots become part of the family as our pets have?
The startup that has created a biologically active food expiry label to help combat food waste...
The startup that is "saving and improving human lives with artificial intelligence analytics for healthcare".
KeepAppy, is a personal wellness app, designed to empower users to take control of their mental and physical wellbeing, and enable people to track all of the vitals that most impact an individual’s wellbeing.
Published on: 10th March 2019
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- IlluminationLAB to power energy focused startup innovation 5th Mar 2019 American Electric Power (AEP) has launched IlluminationLAB which will include a bootcamp, energy summit & 10-week proof of concept program to co-create innovative energy products and services.
- Startup World cup returns to Belfast for 2019 27th Feb 2019 The Startup World cup returns to Belfast for 2019 with the NI regionals held on 25 March and once again delivered by Belfast Global Shapers.
- Rolls Royce seek data driven tech solutions 27th Feb 2019 Business intelligence, AI and machine learning focused tech startups, take note! Rolls Royce are currently seeking a data driven tech proof-of-concept solution.
- Travel startup NAVA wins Travel Technology Europe Disrupt Award 2019 22nd Feb 2019 London-based disruptive tourism and travel startup NAVA, has been named the winner of the 2019 Travel Technology Europe Disrupt Award.
