Frozen food plays a critical role in daily diets, particularly in developing countries, by extending shelf life and reducing food waste. Maintaining sub-zero temperatures throughout the supply chain (‘cold-chain’) is essential, yet current monitoring solutions are limited.
ColdChain addresses these challenges with a novel RFID-based solution. Building on advances from the CONNECT Centre, it developed a low-cost, disposable RFID tag with integrated sensing. Unlike conventional methods, the tag remotely signals if a product has been exposed to temperatures above zero, using standard UHF RFID readers. Each event triggers a unique ID, enabling precise, continuous monitoring throughout the supply chain.
The key objectives for Coldchain are:
1.Developing a low-cost, disposable RFID tag integrated with capacitive sensing for temperature monitoring in frozen food packages.
2. Enabling remote transmission of unique ID codes corresponding to different sensed conditions, allowing accurate tracking of cold-chain breaches.
3. Demonstrating scalability for the Irish and international frozen food industry.
Expected Impact
1. Societal Impact: Improved Cold-Chain Accountability, detects temperature breaches early, reducing spoilage and waste.
2. Cost Savings and Efficiency – Lowers transportation and storage losses for the frozen food supply chain.
3. Market Competitiveness – Enhances consumer trust and supports scalable adoption nationally and internationally.
