Mississauga, ON-based Rapid Aid Corp. has been the leading global developer and manufacturer of temperature-related solutions for the healthcare, transportation, food, and retail sectors since 1975. Rapid Aid’s TempAid division specializes in design and manufacturing of highly engineered packaging solutions for shipping temperature-sensitive goods. For the food industry the company’s focus has been on low-cost sustainable solutions using environmentally friendly materials. Rapid Aid Corp. has an ISTA certified Thermal Testing Laboratory where it qualifies its designs to show that they will protect the safety of food items when the packages are used to in the field, allowing them to optimize for cost and effectiveness. The company received $99,471 in funding to conduct experimental research to develop sustainable and smart packaging for the Canadian meal kit market.
We spoke to Anthony Alleva, director of Packaging Engineering and Validation for Rapid Aid, to learn more about the company and its plans.
Q: What is your company’s mission?
A: Our mission is to protect the health and well being of our customers by ensuring that their temperature-sensitive goods arrive with the most freshness possible in an environmentally responsible way.
Q: Why did you apply for this funding and how will you use it?
A: TempAid has developed our Earthwise gel packs and biodegradable coolers to have components available to the Canadian food market that can protect products sustainably. The next step is to do laboratory studies to show how our materials can be used together to maximize food freshness while minimizing cost and carbon footprint. We are hiring additional staff in our laboratory and will be implementing computer modelling software to allow us to speed up the introduction of these sustainable materials into the industry.
Q: What excites you most about working in this area of the food industry?
A: My life’s work has been in helping food and pharmaceutical companies protect their goods thermally, and developing more eco-friendly solutions is a passion of mine.
Q: Why is collaboration so important for accelerating innovation in the food industry? Is it difficult to find good collaborating partners, and what would make the process easier?
A: Collaboration is critical for identifying requirements and industry trends to allow us to meet the needs of the future. Temperature control in the food industry is so important. More stakeholders providing input makes it easier to develop packages that work for the most applications possible. Standardization is really key to having long-term solutions, so the more input we get, the better our engineered designs will be.
Q: Please comment on the importance of public funding to help companies clear innovation hurdles and access leveraged funds.
A: We wouldn’t be able to embark on such an innovative project without the help of public funding. We’re attempting to really take the development of temperature controlled packaging for the food industry to the next level, which will require a lot of time and equipment that would be difficult to justify otherwise.
Q: Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for your company?
A: TempAid is planning to scale up our production to meet the needs of our customers, as the need for temperature-controlled shipping solutions is exploding right now. Our goal is to increase our sustainable product offering and add even more highly engineered technologies, including biodegradable phase change materials.
Q: What are your passions or hobbies outside of work?
A: I entertain myself with all sorts of geeky things like Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons.
Q: If you had to pick one person to make you a meal, who would you choose?
A: Of course my Mom. No matter how old you get there is never a better a cook. I’ll take her fettuccini alfredo over any restaurant.
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