Australian packaging firm Smart Lid Systems has sealed its first major contract in the local market with food services company Toast Food Group, which will use the company's locally developed coffee smart lidding technology in a number of popular tourist and office sites in the Sydney area.
The contract will see the lids, which change colour depending on the heat of the cup's contents, introduced to café outlets serving Foxtel Australia, News Limited, The Royal National Park, and the Museum of Sydney.
The company's award-winning Smart Lid changes from a dark colour to a bright red with the application of heat. It also has the added feature of indicating whether the lid is securely attached to the cup.
The lid is the brainchild of the Bayss family – father George and his two sons Nick and Anthony, who have between them been involved in the café and food service industry for over fifty years.
The trio formed the Smart Lid Systems company about 12 years ago to develop the concept, and pitched the concept to Australia’s largest manufacturer of foam containers and plastic lids – Rema Industries & Services, which now manufactures the lids under licence for all markets, and has the exclusive rights to market the product in the Asia Pacific region.
Anthony Bayss told PKN the contract represented an important win for the company in its home market.
“The grand plan for us, after all the work and R&D we have put in over the past 12 years, is to start concentrating on sales now and bring on more sales staff,” he said.
“This one is a very exciting one for the company to help us move forward.”
He said while the lids had drawn interest in a number of overseas markets in recent years, particularly in Europe, the high Australian dollar had made it difficult to pick up any firm export contracts.
“So we decided to put those efforts to one side and concentrate on launching the lids in our home market of Sydney first, and then use that as a launch pad when we look to selling overseas again,” Bayss said.
He said the lids were a great “attention getter” for the food services sector.
“The Smart Lid grabs the coffee drinker's attention and creates an instant rapport with the café staff,” he said.
“The Smart Lid was invented by café owners, for café owners and we have applied decades of combined café and barista service to develop a product that places coffee house owners and consumers at ease regarding the safety concerns of hot beverage spillages.”
Bayss also said the company would soon start online sales of the product, with home packs of the Smart Lid to be made available through the company's website later this month.
