The Development of Smart Label for the Food Delivery Market

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.