Smart lids launch in Australia

Posted by AFN Staff Writers on 7th August 2013

Some like it hot, most hate it cold; now judge it by lid before it gets cold. Australian packaging firm Smart Lid Systems has launched heat sensitive takeaway coffee lids in several outlets in Sydney. Apart from the gimmicky marketing angle, the new technology is likely to have wider application in the area food safety.

The Smart Lid changes colour to red when it is placed onto a cup of hot coffee or tea. As the drink cools, the packaging returns to its original dark colour.

“Any business or customer relationships are based on communication and interaction,” said Anthony Bayss, Director of Smart Lid Systems. “The Smart Lid grabs the coffee drinker’s attention and creates an instant rapport with the café staff,” he said.

Smart Lid Systems is a licensee of the Australian Made Campaign, and the Company said the product is “an Australian invention, designed, patented and manufactured” in Sydney. The product is also available for export via pallet orders.

“The Smart Lid was invented by café owners, for café owners and we have applied decades of combined café and barista service to develop a product that places coffee house owners and consumer at ease regarding the safety concerns of hot beverages,” Mr Bayss said.

Smart Lid Systems said the changing coffee sector, including the affordability of domestic coffee making machinery for “quality coffee at home”, has also created consumer demand for the Smart Lid. The Company said home packs of the Smart Lid will be available online from mid-August 2013.

The Smart Lid was developed in collaboration with Australian foodservice plastics manufacturer Rema Industries, with research and development occurring in Japan, France and the US.