A startup has hit its crowdfunding target of £150,000 to commercialise its self-cooling drink invention.
The device – which can be inserted into drinks cans, pouches, cartons and bottles – can reduce the temperature of a drink from 22°C to 7°C within a minute, the company claims.
In its first iteration, inserted in an aluminium can, the device is activated by the consumer pressing a snowflake symbol on the bottom of the can.
The startup – Delta H Innovations – says its invention can be inserted into all types of cans, taking up around a third of the volume. The cooling reactant, meanwhile, is “actually good for the planet”, it claims.
“I believe we are the only company in the world doing such a thing right now, and if we get it right, we will own a global market and IP, that has tremendous value,” said Delta H Innovations founder James Vyse.
The company said it had secured pre-orders for the self-cooling can in the region of 250,000 units, with 10 letters of intent. Multiple patents are pending for the self-cooling can, as well as patents pending for a self-cooling pouch, cup and beer bottle.
The company’s business model at launch would see it work with beverage manufacturers who would send empty cans to the company for the mechanism to be inserted before they are returned to the manufacturer for filling and distribution.
The concept of a self-cooling can is not a new one, with a flurry of related innovation seen in the 1990s. AB InBev, Heineken, Coca-Cola and Diageo have all attempted to popularise the technology with little success.
“We’ve done a lot of research on previous attempts, and we believe cost, scalability and sustainability have been a major success factor – on many occasions the attempts were over-engineered and big – taking up half of the can – and CO2 was used as the output, which is costly and potentially explosive,” Vyse said.
“By looking at it from a brand owners’ perspective rather than an engineering perspective, we have achieved what we believe is the only self-cooling can in the world that is ready to be commercialised,” he added.
Welshman Vyse – who refers to the invention as “the pinnacle of Welsh engineering” – has been working on the business for the past couple of years, after exiting his previous business; DTC cocktail kit brand The Cocktail Man.
Initially intending to form a new drinks brand, Vyse said he soon realised he had “stumbled upon something bigger and broader”.
“Looking at the industry from a former brand owner’s perspective, I realised there isn’t a solution for cooling your drink down on the go,” he said. “Even if you take something away from a refrigerated section, it will only start to warm up the more you drink it – and that’s If the brand was fortunate enough to have a refrigerated position. Our patent pending technology solves a problem for both consumers and brands.”
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