Takeout sales have exploded during the health crisis and with it the need for packaging. But there's one problem that manufacturers don't seem to have solved yet: how to keep hot food crisp? For example, French fries in a sealed package will arrive soft, even after a very short transport time. The same is true for all hot foods that are supposed to arrive crispy, the steam accumulated from the heat and the sealing of the package will soften the food.
The Californian startup SAVRpak has decided to tackle this problem. It invented an adhesive patch containing an ice pack to stick directly under the lid of the tray. The patch absorbs moisture and thus keeps the food crisp. The company claims that this process can reduce the humidity in a closed food container by 45%, thus slowing down the rate at which food spoils without cooling it.
SAVRpak was founded in 2018 by Bill Birgen, an aerospace engineer. "For over thirty years, Bill worked on temperature, humidity, anti-icing/de-icing solutions for aircraft and space vehicles. Through his work, he saw that condensation was the real enemy of fresh food. To solve this problem, Bill looked at the laws of thermodynamics and created a patch that removes moisture from a container before the food spoils, explains the company.
In California, several restaurants and restaurant chains have already snapped up the product. The company, which at the beginning of the year was producing 2 million units each month, plans to grow to 15 million units monthly by the end of 2021, according to Washington Post . The patches are sold for $2 for a box of ten.
