NWED case study: Solveiga Pakstaite won the UK leg of the James Dyson Award with Bump Mark

Pakastaite has since received commercial interest in her innovative product

Last year, Solveiga Pakstaite won the UK leg of the James Dyson Award with Bump Mark, a bio-active food expiry label.

Bump Mark is able to tangibly show you when your food is going off, rather than relying on often unreliable best before dates. This is achieved by running your finger over the label on the packaging: if it’s smooth the food is safe to eat but if you start to feel bumps, then the food has gone off. The Bump Mark is made from the natural material gelatine and it is set to decay at the same rate as the food in the package. 

Since Pakastaite won the James Dyson Award she has received commercial interest in her design and been approached by Coca-Cola, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Asda. Since these conversations, ASDA has performed a market trial and the label is set to enter into a UK retailer by the end of the year.

Pakastaite said: "They were aware of the benefits that smart food labelling can bring before, but to date, none of the competing solutions have been cheap enough to be successful. By using a waste material to create my product, the cost of adding this innovation to packaging is far more approachable and explains the traction Bump Mark has received so far."