Main image via Sustainable Brands
Does it sometimes feel like the fruits you bought seem to just go bad overnight? That you throw out more produce than you actually eat? Spoiled produce can be frustrating, and EXPENSIVE.
via GIPHY
But you don’t have to worry about that any longer because a Malaysian company, Stixfresh, has figured out a way to solve this problem: a sticker that is able to preserve the freshness of fruits for up to two weeks!
It all started when Zhafri Zainudin, founder of Stixfresh, had a chat with a friend, who is in the business of fruits. He was telling Zhafri how he had been losing money due to his fruits perishing too quickly.
via GIPHY
A proverbial light bulb went off in Zhafri’s head. “Maybe I can’t stop nature, but could I slow it down?,” he thought.
He then set out to come up with a way to make fruit last longer. Zhafri, and his partner, Buquari Othman, took about three years to perfect this sticker, before officially establishing Stixfresh in 2017.
“We did a joint development with our local university, UPM, research institutions and agencies such as Mardi and SIRIM, and recently with Bogor University and University of South Australia,” said Zhafri to Vulcan Post.
Image via Mashable
They spent almost RM1.8 million on research and development, patenting, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and machinery equipment for production and exhibition.
The 100% organic, Malaysian made sticker is coated with sodium chloride and beeswax. It works by removing ethylene, the ripening hormone found in fresh produce (come on guys, we learned this in Form 5), thus slowing down the ripening process. You can watch it happen for yourself in the video below:
In the beginning, the edible sticker was only targeted to extend the shelf life of mangoes. Later on, they found out that it also works on other types of fruits of the same size, such as avocado, papaya, dragonfruit, star fruit, apples and pears. The sticker also helps protect the fruit from diseases and fungal attacks during transportation and storage.
Operating out of Senawang, Negeri Sembilan, Stixfresh recently won the Asean Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2018 for Best Food/Agri Tech Startup. They now have their sights set on the global market, with a focus on Europe, Africa, Asia and the American continent!
Also, before you ask, the stickers are single use only. So, once you peel it off the fruit, you can’t stick it on another fruit.
Info via The Sun Daily