HeatGenie is a self-heating packaging component for use in food and beverage products that integrates into the bottom of the package and, with the simple push of a button, heats a 10 oz portion of coffee, hot chocolate or soup to 145° Fahrenheit in two minutes.

While specific terms are still in negotiation and the European brand is not being identified, the Letter of Intent signifies the beginning of an important phase of revenue growth for the company.

“HeatGenie technology is in active evaluation by a number of Multi-National food and beverage companies, however, their evaluation period for new technologies is long and it makes sense for us to launch with a more nimble, smaller brand.   Working with a dynamic innovative brand in Europe to launch this new technology will build the interest and confidence of the larger brands.” said Rosemary Whaling, Vice President Business Development. “We’re inviting the early participation of additional regional brands as the logical way to ramp towards the hundreds of millions of units that will come from the national brands.”

To date, HeatGenie has sold small quantities of heated packages to the US Army for evaluation and built the heaters in their Austin laboratory.  An order of up to 5 million units will compel a large scale manufacturer to make the necessary capital investments.

“HeatGenie can now finalize negotiations with its large scale manufacturing and packaging partners to bring this game-changing technology to the consumer packaged goods industry. “

HeatGenie and Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) (www.crowncork.com) have been developing the self-heating package for a little over a year and plan to have fully functional samples available to food and beverage companies interested in testing the technology starting in October 2012.   Full scale production is expected in 2013.

About HeatGenie

HeatGenie™ has pioneered a safe, patent-pending, self-heating technology that can easily integrate into multiple forms of consumer packaging to heat food and beverages “on the go.”   HeatGenie is the first and only company to satisfy the non-negotiable criteria for a commercially viable self-heating:  safety, ease of use, cost effectiveness, light weight and sustainability.  For more information visit: www.heatgenie.com.

The standard ration, known by its initials: MRE — Meal, Ready-to-Eat — has been under continual improvement since it was launched in 1981. However, the heating mechanism for the MRE has not changed significantly for decades.
HeatGenie has developed self-heating technology that could change that.

The US Army jumped to evaluate HeatGenie’s innovative self-heating packaging technology by awarding HeatGenie a contract for evaluation units in 2010. Intrigued by the earlier prototype, the US Army has issued an additional purchase order for HeatGenie-enabled self-heating cans of coffee for further evaluation.

Through its development agreement with packaging partner Crown Holdings, HeatGenie will supply the US Army with functional samples of self-heating coffee. “Crown is pleased to be working with a partner like HeatGenie.  We believe this state-of-the-art self-heating technology is the best technology available and has the potential to take self-heating applications beyond the military and into the consumer market,” said Daniel Abramowicz, chief technology officer at Crown.

“The HeatGenie enabled packaging heats coffee to the ideal serving temperature in just two minutes with the simple push of a button.” said Rosemary Whaling, vice president of business development for HeatGenie. “In comparison, the MRE requires a multi-step process and takes ten minutes.  Our heater is faster and simpler for the troops to operate – both are seen as benefits by the Army.”

HeatGenie is a self-heating packaging component for use in food and beverage products that integrates into the bottom of the package and, with the simple push of a button, heats a 10.5 oz portion of coffee to 160° Fahrenheit in two minutes.

HeatGenie’s patent-pending technology heats food or beverage simply, safely and efficiently in product-specific packaging using a solid state thermal reaction.

Did you know that the National Coffee Association of USA was founded in 1911 and is one of the earliest trade associations formed in the United States and the first trade association for the U.S. coffee industry. In all those years, they had never seen a self-heating coffee product using small, safe, and effective self-heating technology.   Everyone we spoke to was intrigued by the HeatGenie powered can designed under our development agreement with Crown, especially when we pressed the bottom of the can and they could hear the coffee inside begin to heat!
We look forward to working with some of the participants in taking this self-heating technology to the consumer in the future.

Convenience drives coffee consumption habits

At the National Coffee Association Summit, the Association reviewed the National Coffee Drinking Trends study that has been conducted annually since 1950.  It is the longest available statistical series of consumer drinking patterns in the U.S.  The study engages a nationally representative sample of about 3000 consumers ages 18 and older.  Some of the most interesting learnings from the survey for 2011 were around the trend towards single-cup brewing systems and their usage.

Do consumers need yet another way to get their caffeine fix?  It would appear so.  Ownership of single-cup brewing systems jumped to 7% of consumers in 2011 from just 1% in 2005.  Consumers also reported strong interest in single-cup preparations via stick packs.  21% had tried instant coffee from stick packs.  Why?  Consumer want a more and more convenient way to get hot coffee.  HeatGenie is poised to be the next wave in hot coffee convenience.  Be sure to join us!

The HeatGenie self-heating technology, under development since 2008, heats beverages or foods within their package. To activate, consumers simply press a button at the bottom of the package. The compact modular heat source at the base of the package is about the size of a small tea candle and weighs just 1.33 ounces. The common, food-safe material within the heater provides high content energy and heat at a controlled rate. The end result is a cup of hot coffee or a bowl of soup, safely heated in the hand of the consumer in less than two minutes.

HeatGenie’s approach to self-heating is unlike other self-heating systems familiar to the food and beverage industry.  Previous self-heating technologies involved mixing quicklime or other chemicals with water. With the highly efficient solid-fuel system used in the HeatGenie system, consumers will enjoy a larger serving size of product in a lighter, fully-recyclable package. Heating times are four to six times faster and the heater itself is eight times more compact than earlier self-heating systems.

“We’ve looked at a lot of different self-heating technologies and we think this is the right one,” said Daniel Abramowicz, executive vice president of technology and regulatory affairs at Crown. “Together, HeatGenie and Crown have the expertise and resources to bring this unique technology to the food and beverage industry.”
Innovating for sustainability and recyclability is also key priority for both Crown and HeatGenie. There is no need to separate the HeatGenie heating device from the beverage or food can after use. The heating unit components are environmentally safe and recyclable before and after activation.  Materials not recovered in the recycling process are entirely benign and normally present in the metals recovery process.

HeatGenie CEO Brendan Coffey , “We are excited about this new development opportunity with Crown. As we developed our technology here at HeatGenie we recognized the need to engage with technology partners who had experience and expertise in self-heating packaging. The partnership with Crown will accelerate development and commercialization.”

Will coffee, soup, and pasta in new self-heating packages be on grocery store shelves in the near future? Innovators like Crown and HeatGenie are betting on it.

About HeatGenie

HeatGenie™ has pioneered a safe, patent-pending, self-heating technology that can easily integrate into multiple forms of consumer packaging to heat food and beverages “on the go.”   HeatGenie is the first and only company to satisfy the non-negotiable criteria for a commercially viable self-heating:  safety, ease of use, cost effectiveness, light weight and sustainability.  HeatGenie is a trademark of Ironbridge Technologies, Inc.  For more information visit: www.heatgenie.com.

About Crown Holdings, Inc.

Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies around the world. World headquarters are located in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, visit www.crowncork.com.

For more information, contact:

At Crown: Michael F. Dunleavy, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Public Relations; Tel: +1 (215) 698-5051; Email: mdunleavy@crowncork.com

At HeatGenie: Rosemary Whaling, Vice President Marketing, Tel: (512) 501-3800 ext. 108, e-mail: rwhaling@heatgenie.com

Matt Gase is an experienced food industry veteran, and currently CEO and President at Austin-based Stubb’s Legendary Bar-B-Q, a leading bar-b-q sauce and marinade company.  He previously led both start-up and established branded food businesses for Ralston Purina and ConAgra Foods.  Matt has over 20 years of senior executive experience in strategic development and operations roles, including global experience in over 30 countries.  “HeatGenie is at the point in its development that my food industry experience and contacts can lead to the successful commercialization of this exciting technology”.

Rosemary Whaling has joined HeatGenie as Vice President of Business Development.  Rosemary has extensive experience in consumer goods with major brands for companies including Procter & Gamble, Dell, Commemorative Brands and more recently as VP Marketing with Sweet Leaf Tea.  Her experience includes all phases of marketing management including strategic planning, new product development, market research, program evaluation and business operations.  “HeatGenie is a great example of the kind of entrepreneurship that breeds in Austin.  It is an innovative technology that meets a known industry need and I’m excited to get involved at this stage of its development.”

“We are very pleased to add Matt and Rosemary’s experience and knowledge of food products to HeatGenie.” said founder and CEO, Brendan Coffey.  “The next stage for HeatGenie is to move the technology from the development phase to the marketplace.  To that end, HeatGenie has also begun its next round of fund raising.”

Concurrent with Mr. Gase’s addition to the HeatGenie Board of Directors, series A lead investor David Steakley stepped aside for Mansoor Ghori to become the series A board representative.  “We are deeply appreciative of David’s continuing active participation and support.” said Coffey.

Mansoor Ghori is President and CEO of Accent Capital in Austin.  Prior to joining Accent, he was a Managing Director at Transamerica Technology Finance Corporation, where he managed all new investments in IT, life science, and telecommunications in the southern United States. Prior to Transamerica, he was a Principal with Sternhill Partners, a $100 million venture capital firm based in Houston. He has also served as Senior Vice President with Imperial Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, focusing on technology investments.

About HeatGenie:

HeatGenie™ has pioneered a safe, patent-pending, self-heating technology that can easily integrate into multiple forms of consumer packaging to heat food and beverages “on the go.”   HeatGenie is the first and only company to satisfy the non-negotiable criteria for a commercially viable self-heating:  safety, ease of use, cost effectiveness, light weight and sustainability.  HeatGenie is a trademark of Ironbridge Technologies, Inc.  For more information visit: www.heatgenie.com.

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.

Packaging innovations that help people pack more into each day and be as efficient as possible with their time will win consumer loyalty. The quick prep times and even quicker ease of clean up achieved through HeatGenie’s self-heating packaging gives consumers exactly

For more about this hot issue join me in St. Petersburg, FL at the Packaging Strategies’ Package Design & Development Summit from March 1st to 3rd, 2011. I’ve been asked to speak Thursday, March 3rd on ultra-convenience packaging and what the future holds for busy consumers.

Along the way we also achieved several key business and technology development milestones including:

(1) Converting from a pull-tab operation to a production worthy, one-step, push-button activation of the heater device

(2) Working with partners to show our heater in three different can styles including: a small can suitable for heating 8oz portions of food; a narrow beverage can modeled after a to-go cup for drinking on the go; and a large can modeled after some of the industry big bowl products

(3) HeatGenie’s first two orders: one from the US Army focused across a handful of different usage models and one from a major US Brand focused on thermal characterization using their product. The data generated in these sample evaluations give us insight into brand requirements and help us in our optimization efforts.