Introducing Mimica Touch to supermarkets to cut food waste and mitigate COVID-19 disruption to the food industry

COVID-19扰乱了全球食品行业，联合国警告称，世界正面临半个世纪来最严重的粮食危机。食物浪费专家凯文·奎格利警告说，英国现在可能无法实现到2030年将食物浪费减半的可持续发展目标。全球三分之一的粮食被浪费（粮农组织，2015年），其中60%仍然可以安全食用。一个主要问题是令人困惑和过于谨慎的有效期，导致完全可食用的食物被扔掉。欧洲超市的食物浪费率可高达15%（tandfonline.com），其中80%归因于目前的有效期制度，英国平均每个家庭每年浪费价值700英镑的食物。GODAN执行董事Andre Laperriere表示，COVID-19可能导致发达经济体的食物浪费水平增加到生产，分配和消费的40%。无数食品生产商和零售商承诺解决食物浪费问题，但COVID-19迫使他们考虑不同的经营方式。Mimica产品将使食品行业有信心管理库存水平和浪费，同时也使消费者有信心购买新鲜食品。我们的第一款产品Mimica Touch是一款专利标签或瓶盖，当食物或饮料变质时，它会根据储存温度条件变得凹凸不平。它提供了一个准确的，实时的指示产品的新鲜度与触觉包容性界面。这种时间和温度响应可以根据不同的食品类型进行校准，以满足食品供应商的要求。该项目将支持Mimica的商业生产和市场验证在果汁饮料市场与我们的第一个版本（瓶盖）的Mimica触摸。该市场的主要参与者提供了强有力的支持和参与，并表达了对该技术的明确需求。这将建立其市场地位，提供负担得起的，准确的，包容性和循环经济兼容的产品，这是现有产品无法比拟的。与此同时，Mimica的技术团队将进行早期研究，以开发一种新颖的通用平面标签设计，以获得更广泛的产品。我们的Mimica Touch解决方案将通过支持零售商和消费者，为重建更可持续的经济做出贡献，同时努力实现我们减少全球食物浪费的使命。

COVID-19 has disrupted the global food industry, with the UN warning that the world is facing the worst food crisis in half a century. Food waste expert, Kevin Quigley, has cautioned that the UK could now miss its Sustainable Development Goal of halving food waste by 2030\. Globally a third of food produced is wasted (FAO, 2015), with 60% of it still safe for consumption. A major issue is confusing and overcautious expiry dates, leading to perfectly edible food being thrown away. Food waste at European supermarkets can be as high as 15% (tandfonline.com), with 80% attributed to the current expiry date system and the average family in the UK wastes £700 worth of food annually. According to Andre Laperriere, Executive Director of GODAN, COVID-19 may lead to levels of food waste in developed economies increasing to 40% of everything that is produced, distributed and consumed. Countless food producers and retailers have pledged to tackle food waste, but COVID-19 has forced them to look at different ways of operating. Mimica products will give the food industry the confidence to manage stock levels and wastage, whilst also giving consumers the confidence to purchase fresh foods. Our first product Mimica Touch is a patented label or cap that turns bumpy when food or drinks spoil, based on storage temperature conditions. It provides an accurate, real-time indication of the product's freshness with a tactile inclusive interface. This time & temperature response can be calibrated to different food types to suit food suppliers' requirements. This project will support Mimica's commercial production and market validation in the juice-based beverages market with our first version (bottle cap) of Mimica Touch. Lead players in this market have offered strong support and engagement, and have expressed a clear need for the technology. This will establish its market position with an offer that is affordable, accurate, inclusive and circular economy compatible, which existing offerings cannot match. Simultaneously, Mimica's technical team will conduct early research into a novel universal flat label design to capture a broader range of products. Our Mimica Touch solution will contribute to rebuilding a more sustainable economy by supporting retailers and consumers, whilst simultaneously striving to achieve our mission of reducing global food waste.