Portuguese reusable fish crate with colour-change bacteria label reaches real-world trials

The Embalagem do Futuro® mobilising agenda, with 79 partners and 19 research subprojects, is developing lighter glass bottles, digital product passports and a smart fish-transport system. The latter pairs a reusable insulated crate made partly from recycled fishing-industry material with sensors and PetriTag®, a paper label that changes colour when spoilage bacteria grow. It was a finalist at the Technology Excellence Awards 2026 in Chicago and is now being trialled in real conditions. Its developers say there are still no quantified figures on food waste avoided, and no validated life-cycle assessment against disposable polystyrene boxes; a digital platform is being built to calculate both.