Regularly people ask, “Why are you developing your self-heating packaging technology in metal cans, what about flexibles and polymers?” Let me dispel any confusion on this topic. We fully expect to support flexibles and polymers over time, but to start with it makes sense for us to take advantage of metal’s quick time to market and low environmental impact.

Time to Market

Self-heating technology has to satisfy many non-negotiable criteria to make it commercially viable: Safety, performance and simplicity are critical, as is cost. Metal packaging is a winner on each point. Furthermore, metal has fantastic heat distribution properties. It diffuses heat faster than other packaging option. Our solid-fuel technology – consisting of food-safe materials that produce a high specific energy conversion at a controlled heating rate – utilize the excellent heat transfer properties of metal packaging and keep the package construction simple.

Environmental Impact

Central to Heat Genie’s innovative technology is our commitment to sustainability, recyclability, and the environment. When we looked at different packaging options from a sustainability perspective, metal had a great story. Metal has a 66% recycling rate – far higher than other packaging formats. This fits well with the environmental story of our technology. Our heating device is designed to provide very efficient storage and delivery of energy. No emissions come from the sealed heating device. After use, there’s no need to separate our heater from the container as the heating unit contains recyclable components. Materials that are not recovered are benign as well as normally present in the metal recovery process.

Will we develop other packaging formats in the future? Absolutely! But for now the format of choice for the HeatGenie technology is metal. As an innovative startup in the packaging industry, we knew we needed to work with solid partners who saw the inherent value of innovation and with a packaging platform that had the issues worked out of it. The metal can, it’s been a market leader for 200 years, I’d call that a winner.