The José Neves company, in partnership with the Fibrenamics Institute of the University of Minho, created a smart cardboard carton packaging that is able to communicate with the user, informing him if the food is in good condition for consumption. In addition, it also allows both the consumer and the producer to monitor the quality of the product and track it from its packaging to the moment of sale.

This packaging called “TechPack” was created thanks to the development of an ink with pH indicators, which changes color due to the pH to which the packages are exposed. Whenever a packaged food spoils, the pH varies and the color of the identifier will change, indicating to the consumer that the food is spoiled. The identifier is a small colored square at the base of the package.

In view of Pedro Neves, production and logistics director at José Neves, “The fact that we can bring ‘intelligence’ to a simple cardboard box is something so important that it makes us believe that the future can be quite different from the present.”

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