The food sector is bursting with innovation. Thanks to the latest patent filings, you can keep track of the inventions that could revolutionize the way we eat and drink. Some patents are even rather unusual!
1 – Coffee delivery by drone
In the USA, International Business Machines Corp, better known as IBM, has been granted patent US20170174343A1 to serve coffee to individuals who would like one. It’s not a delivery system, but a predictive behavior of the drone that would detect based on people’s behaviors whether any of them might want a coffee.
2 – The zero-waste trend at the heart of innovation
Have you heard of Zero Waste? In the food-to-go sector, it’s a real issue. Loliware LLC has been granted patent USD782150S1 for its edible cup concept. There’s even a sugar-free version!
3 – A compact machine for preparing flat foods
You read that right. This device, the result of patent EP2418957B1, offers a system for mixing ingredients, kneading and cooking flat edible products. Foods in this category include: tortillas, pancakes, pie doughs…
4 – A pizza truck that delivers to the customer’s door
Patent EP2984618B1 obtained by Zume Inc. proposes a vehicle system that bakes pizzas and takes them directly to the customer. The on-board preparation and cooking system enables recipients to receive a hot pizza. Freshly baked, all you have to do is enjoy it.
5 – Still convincing sweeteners
You’ve probably experienced some sort of bitterness or strange taste when consuming a diet version of a soda. Pepsico Inc has filed a patent application for a new sweetener composition that improves the sweetness experience and with less aftertaste. As of today (June 2019), this very recently published patent family is still being studied by the offices.
6 – Toothpaste to combat allergies
People suffering from food, respiratory or other allergies know that desensitization is a lengthy treatment. It involves regularly exposing the individual to his or her allergen to get the body used to it and make it less reactive. In early 2019, theEPO granted patent EP2563316B1 for a toothpaste that enables allergic desensitization via the oral mucosa. The treatment would therefore be more natural by including it in daily habits through tooth brushing.
7 – Automatically count what you eat
Connected watches are becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. With strong demand for tracking physical activity and calorie intake, Apple has jumped on the bandwagon by patenting a system based on the Apple Watch. Combining RFID technology, the American company proposes that the watch (or smartphone) detects what you eat thanks to an RFID tag placed on the packaging.
