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Unique properties
| - | Selective reheating |
| - | Cook/chill |
| - | Logistical advantages |
| - | Positive influencing "Best Before Date" |
| - | Completely automatic meal preparation (future) |
| - | Consumer meal choice (retail future) |
The ability to selectively reheat meal components has four large advantages:
1. The quality of the meals, processed with microwave energy, will be lifted to a higher level
(image improvement).
2. Because more meal components will be accessible for microwave processing the number
and therefore the variety of meal assortments will be significantly enlarged.
3. The nutrients inside the different meal components will be better safeguarded because
overheating of the components is under control. A good example is vitamin C, its
concentration decreases significantly with increasing temperature (oxidation process).
4. By avoiding overheating of food unnecessary breakdown of cell structure and
loss of taste are safeguarded.
For conventional microwave meals the meal component that needs the highest energy will determine the preparation time. This results in a big disadvantage where the rest of the meal components will face a too large energy dose, degrading the quality of the meal.
Due to the fact that within this concept separate compartments are used it isn't necessary to prepare and assemble a meal on one day. From a logistical point of view, this generates huge advantages. For instance: for institutions often working with diet meals, the ability to handle separate compartments is a big relief.
A meal producer has the choice to purchase a number of meal components anywhere, filling the CuliDish compartments with these components by anyone, while the producer itself only needs to assemble the final meals. All steps to be taken aren't dependent anymore to one location. Because chilled meals prepared in this way have a long storage time (excellent Best Before Date feature) combined with an exceptional large quality perception, the food distributor can succeed with less deliveries, therefore lowering transportation costs. For example, for each delivery the total order can be equivalent to a week's worth of deliveries. Besides environmental friendly advantages this approach is also cheaper.
When conventional filled meal trays, for instance in a 3-compartment tray, are stored the meal component with the shortest "Best Before Date" will determine the total "Best Before Date" for the complete meal; in other words, when the storage time is expired, the complete meal will have to be destroyed! In the specific case of the CuliDish concept, in a similar situation, only the critical, time expired component has to be destroyed.
In the near future the complete preparation of a meal will be handled solely by technology. The optimum in convenience thinking will be used: the packaging will contain a code that can be read by the intelligent microwave. Once the code has been read the microwave will be set fully autonomously, i.e. power as well as preparation time will be configured.
In the retail segment one will have the choice in the future to assemble ones own meal, directly done by the consumer. The consumer utilizes the modular component system in order to assemble a balanced meal.