Draft:Solveiga Pakštaitė

Solveiga Pakštaitė is a Lithuanian-British industrial designer, inventor, and entrepreneur based in London, United Kingdom.^[1] She is the founder and Chief Design Officer of Mimica, a food technology company whose product, Bump, is a patented, temperature-sensitive food freshness indicator aimed at reducing unnecessary waste.^[2] Pakštaitė has received numerous international awards for her work.

Early Life and Education

Pakštaitė was born and raised in Lithuania. She grew up in a household shaped by the lasting effects of Soviet-era food rationing.^[3] Her parents' experience instilled in her a deep aversion to food waste, which is a value she has described as formative to her work later on.^[3]

She moved to the United Kingdom when enrolling in the Industrial Design and Technology program at Brunel University London.^[3] There, she developed an interest in inclusive and user-centered design, viewing design as a way of solving human problems through physical, informational, and experiential means.^[3]

Mimica Origins

Mimica got its start as an accessibility project. During her final year at Brunel, Pakštaitė was on work placement with a UK blind charity, where her brief was aimed toward improving the experience of public transport for visually impaired individuals.^[4] While interviewing participants, she became interested in a separate accessibility problem that was not necessarily aligned with her brief. Pakštaitė wondered how the blind community deals with expired food products.

She found that many avoided buying fresh food entirely, relying instead on heavily processed and long-lasting products.^[4] Consequently, this lifestyle promoted elevated rates of diabetes and obesity within that community.^[4] Inspired by the bumpy skin of an overripe banana, Pakštaitė began to wonder if a food label could communicate freshness through touch rather than text.^[4]

Pakštaitė later said "I quickly realized that we are all blind to our food's true expiry dates," and noted that this phenomenon "contributed to an excessive amount of food waste worldwide. That's why I decided to start Mimica."^[5]

During her final year at Brunel, the idea won the James Dyson Award in 2014, and Pakštaitė filed a technology patent not long after graduation.^[4] Spending the next few years on the invention full-time, she founded Mimica formally in 2017.

Bump (Mimica Touch)

Bump, which was originally called Mimica Touch, is a bio-responsive, temperature-sensitive food freshness label.^[6] Bump Tag, one iteration of the product, is a flat label applied to packaged perishable foods like meat and fish, while Bump Cap is a bottle cap designed for juices, smoothies, and other perishable beverages.^[6]

Inside each label is a bioresponsive hydrocolloid gel calibrated to deteriorate at the same biological rate as the food product it is attached to.^[7] As the food begins to spoil, the activator gradually breaks down the gel's structure, causing it to liquify and reveal the bumps underneath.^[7] A bumpy label is indicative of spoiled food.^[7]

Traditional expiry dates are calculated on bad storage scenarios, as manufacturers have no true way of knowing what kind of environment the consumer will be putting the product in.^[5] Bump solves this issue with its temperature-sensitive technology. Bump, therefore, spoils faster if the food has been stored at a higher temperature. This means the label reflects each package's actual conditions rather than an average estimate.^[8]

During a consumer trial, Bump Caps for orange juice helped 97% of households enjoy up to six added days beyond the printed expiration date.^[9]

The Pain Point: Food Waste

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), approximately one third (1.3 billion tons) of all food produced for human consumption worldwide is lost or wasted each year.^[7]

In the United Kingdom, approximately 60% of food thrown away in households is still safe to eat.^[5] If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, accounting for approximately 10% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.^[9]

Impact and Recognition

Pakštaitė and Mimica have received worldwide recognition for their work. The achievements and recognitions are listed below:

• UK James Dyson Award (2014), won while Pakštaitė was still studying at Brunel University.^[4]
• MIT Technology Review Inventor of the Year (2017), in collaboration with the Innovators Under 35 Europe Program.^[10]
• Two Cannes Lions at the International Festival of Creativity.^[11]
• Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Technologies Competition winner in the food and drink category (2019).^[7]
• Featured in Awesome Entrepreneurs, part of the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series.^[12]
• Honorary lecturing at University College London.^[13]

Major UK supermarkets including Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, and Waitrose have begun eliminating best-before dates from many products, which aligns with Mimica's mission.^[12] In partnership with Arla Foods, a large dairy producer in Europe, Mimica conducted consumer trials of Bump-labeled milk in the UK.^[14] Additionally, the company is collaborating with ABP Food Group to introduce Bump Tags on beef products across UK and EU supermarkets.^[9]

Pakštaitė has cited potential future applications in vaccines, cosmetics, organ and blood donations, or any product for which real-time longevity information could prevent waste or improve safety.^[15]

References

Category:Lithuanian inventors Category:British inventors Category:Women inventors Category:Industrial designers Category:Entrepreneurs Category:Food technology Category:Living people