Heat sensitive coffee lids are hot sellers

Toast Food Group, which operates cafés for Foxtel Australia, News Limited, The Royal National Park, and the Museum of Sydney, has forked out for heat sensitive coffee lids from Australian packaging firm, Smart Lid Systems.

Toast Food Group was the first company to stock the Smart Lid, though independent outlets are also embracing the concept, according to its maker.

The Smart Lid changes colour when it is placed onto a cup of hot coffee or tea. As the drink cools, the packaging returns to its dark colour.

The patented Australian invention, which is manufactured in Sydney, is designed with safety in mind, but it also grabs the coffee drinker's attention, creating rapport with café staff, according to Anthony Bayss, director of Smart Lid Systems.

“The Smart Lid was invented by café owners, for café owners and we have applied decades of combined café and barista service experience to develop a product that places coffee house owners and consumers at ease regarding the safety concerns of hot beverage spillages," Bayss said.