The Development of Smart Label for the Food Delivery Market

食品配送市场智能标签的开发

• 批准号: 90053
• 金额: $ 5.99万
• 依托单位: INSIGNIA TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=90053
• 关键词: Development; Smart; Label; Food; Delivery

Like many sectors, the food industry has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Insignia Technologies, experts in smart label technology, are developing innovative smart labels which can add real benefit during these challenging times. This project aims to develop intelligent labels to help ensure food deliveries occur quickly, safely and at the correct temperatures, providing reassurance regarding the quality and safety of the food being delivered.COVID-19 has significantly changed consumer behaviour regarding how food is purchased and consumed, with more consumers now using online delivery services rather than shopping in-store or dining out. Supermarket deliveries have boomed in 2020, as consumers avoid safety challenges associated with in-person shopping. The trends show many households who previously shopped in-store are now committed online shoppers. Hot food delivery companies have also seen a surge in demand recently as consumers swap dining out for takeaway deliveries.Growth of the food delivery sector as a result of COVID-19 brings new challenges. It is essential that controls/procedures are in place to ensure deliveries are quick, safe and at the correct temperature. Delays and poor temperature controls during grocery deliveries result in poor food quality and perishable items spoiling prematurely, ultimately leading to food being wasted. With hot food, customers expect their food delivered hot and fresh every time and failure to fulfil orders quickly and efficiently leads to customers receiving unsatisfactory food, again leading to food being wasted. Food waste is one of the top sustainability challenges globally and the UN states that if food waste were a country it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, with the resources consumed producing food that is then wasted having a CO2 footprint of ~3.3bn tonnes. Therefore, it is important that consumers know their food has been stored and transported correctly, and hot food orders have been fulfilled quickly and efficiently, to avoid unnecessary waste.This project will address this challenge by developing innovative labels for use as a tool to indicate food has been maintained at correct temperatures and delivery has occurred within a set timeframe. Using Insignia's patented sensing technology, labels will be designed to change colour over pre-set timeframes at specified temperatures and, if these temperatures are exceeded, the label will change colour faster. When receiving deliveries, if the label has not fully changed colour then customers know the expected temperatures and delivery times have been met and their food is still at optimum quality. Different label constructions will be tested to achieve a series of time/temperature profiles and the labels will be tested under different conditions to optimise them for use in various delivery settings.

与许多行业一样，食品行业受到COVID-19疫情的影响。然而，Insignia技术，在智能标签技术的专家，正在开发创新的智能标签，可以增加真实的好处，在这些具有挑战性的时候。COVID-19极大地改变了消费者购买和消费食品的行为，越来越多的消费者现在使用在线配送服务，而不是在店内购物或外出就餐。超市送货在2020年蓬勃发展，因为消费者避免了与亲自购物相关的安全挑战。这些趋势表明，许多以前在实体店购物的家庭现在都致力于网上购物。随着消费者从外出就餐转向外卖配送，热门食品配送公司的需求最近也出现了激增。2019冠状病毒病导致的食品配送行业的增长带来了新的挑战。控制/程序必须到位，以确保交付快速，安全和正确的温度。食品杂货配送过程中的延误和温度控制不良导致食品质量差和易腐物品过早变质，最终导致食品浪费。对于热食，顾客希望他们的食物每次都是热的和新鲜的，而不能快速有效地完成订单会导致顾客收到不满意的食物，再次导致食物浪费。食物浪费是全球最大的可持续发展挑战之一，联合国表示，如果食物浪费是一个国家，它将是第三大温室气体排放国，生产食物所消耗的资源，然后浪费的二氧化碳足迹约为33亿吨。因此，让消费者知道他们的食品已经正确储存和运输，以及热食订单已经快速有效地完成，以避免不必要的浪费是非常重要的。该项目将通过开发创新标签来应对这一挑战，作为一种工具，用于指示食品已经保持在正确的温度下，并在规定的时间内交付。使用Insignia的专利传感技术，标签将被设计为在指定温度下在预设的时间范围内改变颜色，如果超过这些温度，标签将更快地改变颜色。当收到货物时，如果标签没有完全改变颜色，那么客户就知道预期的温度和交货时间已经达到，他们的食品仍然处于最佳质量。将测试不同的标签结构，以实现一系列的时间/温度曲线，并在不同的条件下测试标签，以优化它们在各种交付设置中的使用。