Can you beat that? It’s hot!
2009/04/30
Halal Journal Awards 2009 named the hot can innovation the “best
innovation in the halal industry”, and Kolb will receive the award on
May 4.
The hot can is basically a double-chambered aluminium can that holds
the beverage in the outer chamber and water and quick lime (calcium
oxide) in the inner chamber.
When you press the bottom of the can, it breaks the seal of the
container holding the quick lime, which mixes with the water to start
an exothermic reaction that heats the contents.
The beverage is heated up in less than three minutes, and you have a piping hot drink that stays that way for 45 minutes.
Kolb has been toying with the idea for a number of years.
He left his job in cancer research with a Nobel laureate and
invested in a British company trying to develop hot can technology.
They were unable to make it viable, but, said Kolb: “I saw the
shortcomings and resolved them through three years of research and
development until 2003.
“Then came the process of patenting the hot can and expanding the manufacturing side.”
Since last year, he has been supplying the hot cans to foreign markets.
The plant in Balakong can produce 27 million cans yearly, and
since production started in November it has been making two million
cans a month.
Kolb said that although the hot can was fully manufactured here, Malaysia was not originally on the list of its primary markets.
“But we are looking at the halal market potential, where we estimate a market for one billion cans per year.”
Hot can drinks are expected to be priced at RM3.50 to RM4.50, and the
range of hot chocolate, cafe latte, mocca and white tea is being tested
for consumer reaction.
Kolb explained that the cost of a hot can is about 400 per cent higher than a regular can.
Kolb also hopes to use similar technology to produce baby formula in hot cans.