Days of throwing away a ketchup bottle with its inside still strewn with red streams are over. Thanks to this technology called ‘Liquiglide’. Developed in 2009 by MIT’s Kripa Varanasi and David Smith, this coating acts as a slippery barrier between a surface and a viscous liquid. Applied inside a condiment bottle, the coating clings permanently to its sides, while allowing the condiment to glide off completely, with no residue. The coating can also be designed to be made entirely of food, so it’s edible and safe for consumer packaging of food-based products.
Liquiglide aims to address wastage, which is one of the major problems encountered globally. A large amount of product goes to the bin, for the sheer reason that it gets stuck within the packaging. And it’s not just the consumer who is unwilling to take additional efforts to swipe out that last bit, even the recycling industry has to spend a lot on cleaning the container before putting it back in the system. Liquiglide dispenses the product completely out of its container, which negates the 5%-20% product wastage that occurs otherwise. Watch the video, the way you’ll look at that bottle of ketchup on your dinner table will never be the same.
