Overview
After understanding the current situation of diseases caused by bacteria in refrigerators, we have determined that we will strive to solve this problem in our project. In order to develop our project, we first conducted a survey questionnaire to better understand the public's views on bacteria detector in refrigerator. 95.74% of people expressed willingness to use bacteria detector in refrigerator household. After the preliminary success of experiment, we further designed and printed a hardware for the detector to implement our project. In addition, we also contacted business professionals to seamlessly integrate the bacteria detector with the refrigerator and display the detecting result clearly on the refrigerator door. After negotiating with the company and receiving financial support, we applied for a patent, evaluated product prices, conducted market research to understand the market demand for the product, and developed marketing plans and strategies. By collaborating with enterprises, our products could reach the market faster.
1. The current situation of diseases caused by bacteria in refrigerators
Multiple incidents have raised concerns about diseases caused by food stored in refrigerators. According to interviews with doctors, about 20-30% of gastrointestinal disease patients who come to the hospital for treatment every spring and summer are due to eating food contaminated with bacteria in the refrigerator. There are various pathogenic bacteria in the refrigerator, among which Listeria is one of the deadliest foodborne pathogens, and its growth and reproduction rate in the refrigerator may even be faster than at room temperature. It can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and has a mortality rate of 20% to 50%. Salmonella can cause acute gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and even sepsis, endangering life. Escherichia coli causes discomfort symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting in patients. Shigella can cause dysentery and lead to colonic inflammation.
The harm caused by pathogenic bacteria in refrigerators to people cannot be ignored anymore. It's time to solve this problem!
Fig.1 Multiple incidents have raised our concern about diseases caused by food stored in refrigerators, and we interviewed with doctors of Qianfoshan hospital.
Fig.2 There are various pathogenic bacteria in the refrigerator.
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2. Demand for the bacteria detector from the public
From the survey results, we found that people's attention to food safety and health is increasing, especially their concern about bacterial contamination in refrigerators. The survey results showed that over 95% of respondents expect to have a bacteria detector in refrigerator (Fig.3), which can monitor the bacteria contamination inside the refrigerator in real time and remind people to clean and disinfect the refrigerator in a timely manner.
According to the survey, over 78% of respondents can accept a refrigerator with bacteria detector within 10% increase of the refrigerator price (Fig.4). Additionally, 14.89% of people are willing to accept 20% increase price. At present, refrigerator is a necessity in people's daily lives, with 1-2 refrigerators household. As of early 2024, the total number of households in China is approximately 494 million, indicating a huge market demand for bacterial detectors!
Fig.3 Responses to the question “Do you need a device in your fridge to detect bacteria and tell you it’s time to clean the fridge?”
(a) Yes; (b) No.
Fig.4 The survey result of question “How much price increase can you accept a refrigerator with a bacterial detector?”.
(a) less than 10% price increase; (b) less than 20% price increase; (c) less than 30% price increase; (d) less than 40% price increase.
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3. The advantages of our product
Although our product is still in the prototype stage, through SWOT analysis, it has significant advantages compared to traditional bacteria testing methods. Traditional methods for detecting bacteria in refrigerators, such as plate colony counting and turbidimetry (Fig.5), usually require multiple steps including sampling, cultivation, and observation, which are time-consuming and complex to operate, making them difficult to apply to households.
In comparison, our detector uses aptamer as a bacterial recognition element, and toehold structure as a trigger switch, combined with cell free hydrogel (Fig.6). It can monitor the bacteria contamination in the refrigerator in real time without sampling, and display the signal of bacteria detection on the refrigerator door in time.
Fig.5 Traditional method for detecting bacteria in refrigerators, such as plate colony counting.
Fig.6 Our detector can detect bacteria on the hydrogel, making the LED light up on the refrigerator door.
As a detection medium, hydrogel not only has excellent biocompatibility and stability, but also can realize in situ visual detection, greatly reducing the difficulty of detection. In addition, our refrigerator bacteria detector has the following advantages:
(1) High specificity: Aptamers have high specificity in identifying pathogenic bacteria and can accurately bind to target pathogenic bacteria, thereby reducing the possibility of false positives and false negatives.
(2) High sensitivity: The detector uses an enzyme as reporter gene to catalyze the generation of colored products. The reaction process has an amplification effect, which helps to detect low concentration pathogenic bacteria to improve the sensitivity of detection.
(3) Portability: The detector has a small size and is expected to be designed as a portable device, making it easy to quickly and accurately detect pathogenic bacteria in different environments.
(4) Low cost: By preparing the detector model, the estimated cost is between 7-10 US dollars. Hydrogel can be replaced to achieve continuous low-cost testing.
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4. Application places of detectors
Our bacteria detector can be widely used in various places that require sterility, such as households, canteens or restaurants, food production workshops, biological product production workshops, etc. In household, it can monitor the bacteria contamination inside the refrigerator in real-time, ensuring the food safety for family members. In canteens or restaurants, it can monitor the bacteria contamination in the refrigerator and food processing environment, avoid group food poisoning incidents, and ensure food hygiene and safety. In food or bioproduct workshops, it can detect bacteria in the environment and monitor bacteria contamination in refrigerators storing food or bioproducts in real-time, ensuring the safety of food or bioproducts.
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5. Support from refrigerator manufacturing enterprise
In order to consult on technology and obtain financial support, we visited Haier Biomedical Company (Fig.7). After communication, we found that refrigerator manufacturing company showed strong interest and support for our bacterial detector. They believed that as consumers' demands for food safety and health increase, refrigerators with bacteria detection capabilities will become popular products in the future market.
Therefore, Haier Biomedical Company is willing to provide funding and technical support to jointly promote the widespread application of bacterial detectors in the refrigerator field.
Fig.7 Visiting Qingdao Haier Biomedical Co., Ltd for collaboration and financial support.
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6. Patent application
Through market research, we have found that our refrigerator bacteria detector is the only and highly innovative product in the market. Therefore, to protect our intellectual property, we are applying for a patent. Based on the advice of professionals, we can obtain a temporary patent number by submitting a simplified version of the patent application document.
Then, within the next 12 months, we can further refine the technical solution and submit a formal patent application. This can not only seize the application date, but also provide strong legal protection for subsequent technology development and market promotion.
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7. Market demand analysis
We did some market research and found that there are various brands of refrigerators in the market, mainly including Haier, Rongsheng, Midea, TCL, Konka, Hisense, etc. However, all brands of refrigerators are not yet equipped with bacteria detectors. Despite being an internationally renowned brand with a high reputation in both domestic and international markets, Haier refrigerators are still not equipped with bacterial detectors.
From the market research, we also found that the global household refrigerator market size is 79.13 billion dollars in 2023. According to the Global Household Refrigerator Market Development Survey Report, it is expected that the global household refrigerator market will grow at an average growth rate of 6.20% and reach 114.01 billion dollars by 2029.
Fig.8 Global refrigerator market value
The sales volume of China's refrigerator market was 31.15 million in 2023, with a year-on-year increase of 6.3%, which exceeds the growth rate of 2021 and 2022. Chinese market has enormous potential, and a slight increase in prices does not affect people's purchasing power.
According to publicly available data, the annual global sales of refrigerators reach hundreds of millions. If every 10 refrigerators need to be equipped with a bacteria detector, the global market demand for bacteria detectors will reach tens of millions annually.
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8. Cost and profit analysis
In the construction of the hardware model, we estimated the cost of the detector, which is less than $10 (7-10 USD). Adding this cost to the price of the refrigerator only increases it by about 5%, which is in line with people's price expectations (whin 10%) from the survey.
Based on cost considerations, the sales price can be set at $20 (with a gross profit margin of 100%) as the price should be controlled within a certain range to ensure market competitiveness. Based on one tenth of the annual sales of refrigerators, a sales scale of tens of millions of detectors will bring considerable profits, approximately several hundreds of million dollars. Of course, actual cost and price may vary due to factors such as materials, processes, and production scale, but overall, the bacteria detector market has significant profit prospects. More importantly, it enhances the functionality and user experience of the refrigerator, promoting the refrigerator’s sales.
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9. Business marketing model
We will adopt two business marketing models. One approach is to collaborate with refrigerator manufacturers to promote the widespread application of bacteria detectors in the refrigerator industry, achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
On the other hand, since the bacteria detector can also be applied to other places that require sterility, we can make the detector into a portable product and sell it alone. For this part of the product, our marketing strategy mainly utilizes self media for promotion. Taking product characteristics as the core, combined with target audience, high-quality content, social media platforms, interactive activities, data monitoring and optimization, hot events, product value and image, etc., comprehensive promotions are carried out as follows:
(1) Emphasize product features: highlight the unique performance and practicality of the bacteria detector, emphasize its ability to monitor bacteria in the surrounding environment in real time to ensure the safety. Show the working principle and detection results of the bacteria detector, and visually present its effectiveness using data or charts.
(2) Position target audience: Clearly identify the target audience, such as family users who value quality of life and healthy eating, the catering industry with strict requirements for food safety, and the pharmaceutical industry that produces biological products. Customize targeted promotional content and style based on the needs and preferences of the target audience.
(3) Create high-quality content: Create videos or graphics about using bacteria detectors, comparing effectiveness, user evaluations, etc., to enhance the attractiveness and dissemination of the content. Invite well-known bloggers or industry experts to experience the product and share their usage experience.
(4) Use social media platforms: publish promotional content on social media platforms such as Weibo, WeChat official account, Tiktok, and Bilibili, and use the platform's traffic and user stickiness to promote our detector.
(5) Organize interactive activities: hold online lucky draws, Q&A sessions, and share flyers to encourage users to participate and share their user experience. Establish user feedback channels, collect and process user opinions in a timely manner, and optimize products and services.
(6) Monitor and optimize data: Use data analysis tools to monitor the effectiveness of publicity, such as key indicators including exposure, clicks, conversion rates, etc. Based on data analysis results, adjust promotional strategies and content in a timely manner to optimize user experience and conversion rates.
(7) Combine hot events: Pay attention to food safety related hot events or festivals, such as Food Safety Awareness Week, World Health Day, etc., and promote product in conjunction with these hot topics. Utilize hot events to increase product exposure and attention, and enhance users' awareness and trust in the product.
(8) Emphasize product value and image: Emphasize the value and image of the product in promotion, and shape a product image that focuses on technological innovation, user health, and provides high-quality services. Enhance users' sense of identification and loyalty to the product-by-product stories, corporate culture, and so on.
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10. Summary
our bacteria detector has broad market prospects and profit potential. By continuously optimizing product performance, reducing costs, and improving service quality, we are expected to become the leader in the bacteria detector market in the coming years.
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