Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ifoodbag gen2 (Unique, low-cost, low-footprint, reusable hybrid carrier bag system that enables food to be kept cold/frozen for up to 24 hours)

Teaser

The development of cold chain, a temperature controlled logistic system, has enabled us transporting fresh/frozen food and pharma over long distance from point of production to point of sale. However, getting frozen or cooled foodstuffs safely across the ‘last mile’ from...

Summary

The development of cold chain, a temperature controlled logistic system, has enabled us transporting fresh/frozen food and pharma over long distance from point of production to point of sale. However, getting frozen or cooled foodstuffs safely across the ‘last mile’ from grocery point to point of use is a challenge that has not been well solved. The result of breaks in the ‘last mile’ of the cold chain are poor food quality. Every year roughly one-third of total food production (ca. 1.3 billion tons), half of which in logistic and consumption stage, is lost or wasted globally. This means that huge amount of the resources and greenhouse emissions in food production are wasted. The most common solution for ‘last mile’ now is a plastic bag which only solved one aspect of problem – light, cheap bags that do not disintegrate on the way home – whilst ushering in an environmental disaster and low performance in temperature retention. Ifoodbag AB has the objective to address the challenge of the ‘last mile’ with a unique, low-cost, low-footprint, reusable hybrid carrier bag system that enables food to be kept cold/frozen for up to 24 hours. In this project, ifoodbag AB will extend the prototype development by producing an improved second generation ifoodbag system, with higher performance and lower costs, based on direct customer requirements feedback from the initial trials. Production methodology and supply chain will be improved and streamlined. External evaluation and commercial pilots will be performed with food retailers, verifying that the improved design meets with all applicable production, food packaging, cold chain and other standards. The result of this project will be a gen2 of ifoodbag system ready for market launch, capable of reducing plastic bag use for temperature controlled goods by up to a factor of 10, helping to decarbonise the grocery sector, whilst further improving the performance and impact in the online grocery segment.

Work performed

Ifoodbag AB has identified and analysed its key customers and also their business segments. The requirements from customers have been collected and documented for the prototype development. Ifoodbag AB has developed several prototypes by improving the material and system designs of ifoodbag. The developed prototypes have been tested under conditions that simulate real using environment. The approved prototypes showed not only improved performance but also with a potential of lower production cost compared with ifoodbag gen1. The results of the R&D work have been summarized and are in the process of patent registration for intellectual property protection. Ifoodbag AB has identified more than 10 grocery companies suitable for the future proof-of-concept tests of ifoodbag gen2 products in order to demonstrate its potential to significantly decarbonise the last mile of the grocery home delivery cold chain and reduce the waste of food during transportation.

Final results

The developed ifoodbag gen2 prototypes are intelligent paper carrier bags to solve the ‘last mile’ challenge and have the following functionalities beyond the state of the art:
• Keep fresh and frozen food up to 24 hours;
• Low-cost;
• Biodegradable and recyclable;
• High sustainability (low footprint since they are produced from natural resources);
• Easy to use design.
Ifoodbag AB expect the following impacts after the launch of gen2 products into market.
• Reduce the CAPEX, OPEX and carbon footprint of logistic chain for fresh and frozen food;
• Replace the use of plastic carrier bag for temperature controlled goods and therefore reducing the oil, water and energy consumption and CO2 production associated with their production;
• Reduce the environmental pollution caused by plastic bags;
• Decrease the food waste by enable an unbroken cold chain of fresh and frozen food;
• Decrease the cases of poisoning and illness by consuming spoiled food;
• Create new opportunities for food/pharma segment and their transportation, simplify people’s life.

Website & more info

More info: http://ifoodbag.se/pages/project.html.