United Caps’ Bump Cap gets Save Food design award

United Caps, an international manufacturer of caps and closures, has been awarded gold at the inaugural Save Food Design Awards held at the Shanghai World of Packaging event (SWOP 23) for its innovative Bump Cap product, developed in collaboration with MIMICA. Astrid Hoffmann-Leist, United Caps’ Chief innovation and Communication officer, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

“We are proud to have received this prestigious inaugural award,” said Hoffmann-Leist, who is stationed in Malaysia and responsible for all business activities in the Asia Pacific region in her additional role as Business Director. “As closure experts, we are in a unique position to develop very ambitious and complex closures, both through our own research and development, as well as in collaboration with innovators like MIMICA.”

The Bump Cap is an innovative one-of-a-kind solution designed to reduce global food waste by making it easy to determine whether food products continue to be safe to consume. This intelligent freshness indicator is designed to change the way people think about what a cap can do and how they can actively fight food waste. The cap makes it easy to determine if contents have begun to degrade. Not only is reducing food waste important for the planet, but this alone also reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as food waste is responsible for up to 10% of the world’s GHG emissions. Once the beverage begins to degrade, bumps occur on the top of the cap, giving a tactile indicator of freshness.

Using patented gel technology that is much more accurate than a ‘best before’ date, Bump Cap has been proven to extend shelf and storage life and can be used on most perishable products, including milk and juices. This gel technology is embedded in the Bump Cap and activated upon first opening of the beverage. Without any physical contact with beverage contents, it uses time and temperature to accurately measure when the beverage spoils.

The Save Food Initiative is dedicated to addressing one of the world’s most critical challenges: food loss and waste,” stated Thomas Dohse, director of the Alliance. “The packaging and processing sector plays a crucial role in mitigating food loss and waste. As members of this industry, we have a hands-on role to play! Together, and with the support of our partners of the Save Food Initiative, we tirelessly work in processing and packaging to rescue and conserve food, contributing to a positive impact on the environment.

As a testament to our commitment, the Save Food Initiative was thrilled to launch the Save Food Design Award and Sustainability Design Award, hosted for the very first time at SWOP 2023 in Shanghai from November 22nd to 24th, 2023. Having United Caps Bump Cap as a winner is a terrific example of the creativity and innovation industry leaders can bring to solving this critical challenge.

“At United Caps, we are committed to leaving the world better than we found it,” Hoffmann-Leist added. “The United Caps product is well aligned with this goal. We are especially pleased that our efforts have been recognized by Save Food with this award. Bringing the Bump Cap to the APAC market demonstrates our ongoing efforts to deliver world-class functionality and sustainability. We are also delighted with the performance of our plant in Kulim, Malaysia, a key element of our Close to You strategy that helps us better serve the Asia Pacific region and brings us closer to customers to ensure we understand their needs and respond effectively to them.”

Hoffmann-Leist notes that the Malaysian staff has become a cohesive and fast-growing team in a state-of-the-art facility that is ramping up production with exciting plans for significant growth thanks to its innovative portfolio and the group’s outstanding R&D capabilities.