OUTER PLANET 46 PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 04/22 www.petpla.net OUTER PLANET Think what you drink It is nothing new to state that scents, aromas and smells influence our perception of taste. What is new is to market these olfactory stimuli in the beverage sector. A young start-up company, Air up, has come up with the idea of scent pods. Cleverly combined with water, the scent pods, working with the human brain, detect the flavour. But how exactly does Air up work? It sounds a little like turning water into wine but the principle is very simple: the Tritan bottle is filled with 650ml of still or sparkling water, then one of 24 scent pods with a natural aroma is selected and placed in the top section. Sucking on the silicone mouthpiece draws up a mouthful of not only water but also air from outside through the scent pod. This brings retronasal olfaction into play. In the pharynx, the scented air rises from the water and is perceived as flavour by the olfactory centre. So the magic happens under your very nose. The scented air function can also be activated and deactivated easily via a slide mechanism. We asked Lena how they came to choose Tritan as a material. “Our aim is to make a healthy and sustainable lifestyle the most attractive choice. Accordingly, we use highquality materials in our products. For the bottle we use BPA-free Tritan to ensure our product has a long lifespan and is food safe.” Justifying the decision, she continues, “Also, Tritan is a lightweight material suitable for taking with you on the move and because of its transparency, you can keep an eye on your water consumption.” Almost two years of development time have gone into the bottle, which is manufactured at production sites in China. “Having said that, we are working continuously to bring the product closer to the customer and making transport routes shorter. One building block here is the development of new production sites. Already at the end of last year – and only a little over two years after our foundation – we opened a pod production site in Turkey, and another is being planned in Central Europe,” explains Lena. “Our production partners are selected on the basis of numerous criteria – including quality standards as regards the sustainability of processes.” www.air-up.com Currently, Air up customers can choose from a total of 24 pods to flavour their water. The foundation for Air up was laid by Lena Jüngst and Tim Jäger in 2016 when they were both studying Product Design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung [University of Design] in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. In their Bachelor thesis on “Neuroscience meets Design” they analysed unhealthy diets as one of the greatest social problems of our time and also drafted a possible solution: based on neuroscientific findings, the pair developed a technique that aims to counteract the uptake of unhealthy drinks with the help of retronasal olfaction. They brought this technique into effect in the first prototype of the Air up bottle. A brief description: the brain differentiates between the smells it perceives orthonasally (via the nose) and retronasally (via the pharynx). While smells perceived orthonasally are also interpreted as such by the brain, retronasally perceived smells are perceived as flavours and are attributed to food or drink in the mouth. This interconnection in the brain enabled Lena and Tim to give water a variety of flavours simply using scented air. After completing their Bachelor degree, the two inventors received a great deal of positive feedback, had the idea patented and found themselves support from food technologists, business economists and industry experts. With their passion for the idea and the help of supporters, including EU financing from Climate KIC for particularly sustainable start-ups and the Exist business start-up grant from TU München [Technical University of Munich], the now five young entrepreneurs were able in 2018 to inspire three noteworthy investors to back their start-up. Through their financial support, volume production of the Air up starter set got underway in 2019. “Air up is now represented in a total of nine countries and this year, we are planning expansion to the USA,” says Lena Jüngst, explaining the latest company developments.
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