For all of the innovation in the logistics, marketing and automation of restaurant delivery, there’s no escaping the fact that most food taken off the premises pales in comparison to the quality of food eaten fresh off the line. Thanks to an invention from a rocket scientist who says he’s solved the problem of condensation buildup in packaging, we might be on the cusp of a revolution enabling more foods to travel better.
Called SAVRpak, the product is a small, 4-inch-by-4-inch patch of plant-based pulp that is cooled and then stuck inside a delivery container before leaving the store in the hands of a courier or consumer. Harnessing the power of thermodynamics—not chemistry as some initially expect—these food-safe packs soak up the moisture that takes the crunch out of foods such as fried chicken, pizza, fries, onion rings, and scores of other cuisines that degrade when trapped inside a stuffy box.
Bill Birgen, a rocket scientist who has done work for the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, DARPA and Virgin Galactic, invented the SAVRpak a decade ago after years of frustration that the sandwiches he’d make every Sunday night for a week of lunches would be a soggy mess by the end of the week. His career specialty was controlling hostile environments at very high altitudes, including moisture and condensation that can degrade electronics and lead to catastrophic equipment failures, so this problem was well within his wheelhouse.