The Radio SWH TV show "Latvija zinātnē" spotlighted another promising Latvian innovation, this time tackling global food waste – the FreshWave project. The deep-tech development and the commercial strategy behind the project was explained by project leader Artis Kinēns and Kaija Kurme-Jansone, Innovation Expert at the ISSP UL and the project's business mentor on the BioPhoT platform.
Globally, a staggering 30% of fresh seafood is discarded even after being packaged and prepared for sale. The static expiration dates you see printed on boxes cannot account for real-world temperature spikes or shipping delays along the supply chain. The FreshWave team is solving this with a smart indicator embedded directly within the packaging – as seafood or meat spoils, a sensor captures these biological markers and changes colour, providing an immediate, undeniable visual readout of actual product freshness.
While currently optimized for seafood, the chemical compound is highly versatile and will work effectively with pork, chicken, and beef. "Our ultimate goal isn't just a static snapshot of freshness," explained project leader Artis Kinēns. "We want to track the product's journey continuously from the producer to the supermarket shelf, ensuring total transparency."
Developing something groundbreaking in a laboratory is only half the battle; the real challenge lies in transforming it into a scalable, marketable commercial product. During the episode, ISSP UL’s own innovation expert and BioPhoT mentor, Kaija Kurme-Jansone, mapped out the business evolution of the project and shared the critical caveats of deep-tech commercialization.
A major focus of the mentorship has been shifting the mindset from a purely scientific breakthrough to a market-driven solution. Kaija highlighted how the team has been carefully sharpening its value proposition. The technology cannot simply be accurate – it must be cost-effective enough to be integrated into high-volume commercial packaging without drastically driving up prices for retailers or consumers.
From her experience in guiding deep-tech projects through the commercial pipeline, Kaija shared several key insights on manoeuvring the ‘valley of death’, understanding the ecosystem (chain logistics and supermarkets), integration and continued development.
Supported by funding from the national research and innovation platform BioPhoT, the FreshWave technology will offer a major leap forward in reducing food waste, protecting consumer health, and optimizing supply chain logistics on a global scale.
