UPM, Finland, and Indicatorium Oy, Finland, will internationally commercialize food freshness indicator technology developed by UPM. Food freshness indicator is a smart label that reacts to certain chemicals and helps determine whether a food product is still fresh and safe to eat. Indicatorium is aiming to introduce food freshness indicator to the global markets. The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) will finance the initial stage of the project.

 

UPM explains that food freshness indicator is a reliable and cost-efficient label that can be easily attached directly into food packaging. It can also be integrated with NFC or RFID technology, and it has several potential applications. Consumer acceptance testing has been performed for use of the food freshness indicator in poultry product packaging. 

 

"Next, we are planning to extend the product range to fish packaging and fresh cut fruits and vegetables. Food freshness indicator offers clear financial and competitive advantages to our customers, and it reduces the amount of food waste," said Tomi Siimes, managing director at Indicatorium Ltd.

 

"The Innovation Mill program funded by Tekes is a great way for UPM to find partners to commercialize ideas and patents that are outside of our key competence areas. We are constantly looking for innovative partners for cooperation on bioeconomy projects and the utilization of by-products, developing new business models, and utilizing patents that would otherwise be neglected," noted Jyrki Ovaska, EVP, Technology at UPM. 

 

This agreement is UPM's first commercialization project within the Innovation Mill program, which is managed by Spinverse Ltd. Other large corporations that participate in the program include Fortum, Nokia, Kemira, Metso, Ruukki, and Wärtsilä. 

 

"Innovation Mill was originally developed with Nokia, and since then the program has been a huge success based on both the amount of projects and their success rate. It is great that large corporations have been actively participating in the program and can benefit from the internationally ground-breaking practices developed by it," added Kari Tilli, service director at Tekes.