Saint Petersburg businessman patented new packaging for fresh fish storage

Ara Gasparyan, director and owner of Saint-Petersburg-based Laboratory of New Technologies (OOO Laboratoria Novykh Tekhnologyi), has patented new packaging for fresh fish and he is ready to start its production, according to Delovoy Peterburg.

The know-how hidden inside the container consists in tiny protective elements acting as antiseptics and absorbents thus considerably extending the product's shelf life without the need to use any preservatives.

Production of the new packaging is to be launched on a mass scale within the coming months. Two trademarks have already been registered. According to the "START" program, the Fund of Small Business Scientific and Technical Support has allocated 25,000 USD as investments into the project's development. The total investments into the production side of the project are estimated at 0.5-1 million USD. Now the patent holder is carrying on talks with potential investors.

At present Russia has been facing a fast growth of fresh fish consumption. The Russians will often prefer really fresh fish practically without preservatives and artificial flavors, Gasparyan says. At the same time, the medal has the reverse side of product returns. Due to the short term of storage and the defects of packaging, the products remaining non-sold within a certain period are returned to the supplier. The losses therefore fluctuate from 20% to 50% depending on the product type, thus considerably complicating the life of producers and suppliers.

The new packaging is to help solve these problems because it can be used for fresh meat, fish, delicatessen, salads, vegetables and any other products. It is needed in the restaurants, cafes and any other foodservice and HORECA companies. The price for the new packaging will be practically the same as for the existing packaging, claimed Ara Gasparyan.

The packaging has already received the necessary certificates. According to the project, Laboratory of New Technologies will produce 5-10 million units per month.