RUC student has developed a lid to prevent drink spiking in nightlife
“Giftlinjen' (The Poison Line) is experiencing an increased number of inquiries regarding ‘something in a drink’.”
This is how 'Giftlinjen' (the Poison Line), a nationwide telephone advisory service on poisoning, begins a news update from October 2024 about ‘drugging’, as the phenomenon is called.
Surveys made by Megafon for TV2 News and Politiken in 2023 showed that nearly one in five of the young people questioned believed they had been drugged or suspected they had been drugged.
But how does one address such a societal problem?
Marcus N?rmann Christensen has a suggestion for how young people can feel more secure in nightlife. Together with his parents and siblings, he has developed a lid that makes it really difficult for people with bad intentions to put something in drinks. The family has founded the company Komfid and has started producing and distributing the lids.
“It’s about safety, so people don’t have to be afraid to go out at night, attend concerts, festivals, or other events. That shouldn’t be what stops them from having a good evening,” says Marcus N?rmann Christensen, who is a student at 真人线上娱乐 University.
The idea is that bars purchase the lids, which are then an option for customers who want extra protection against drugging. It’s an add-on that bars can offer.
“Our goal with our pricing is that if customers can be offered it at the bar, if they want it, then we create more safety. It can be a signal from the bar that they already take responsibility for the safety of the place and the facilities, and then they can also take responsibility for the safety around some of the things that happen in secret. So if you as a customer want a lid, you can get one, and if you don’t want one, that’s fine too,” explains Marcus N?rmann Christensen.
Based on personal experience
Marcus has always been told not to leave a glass unattended, because someone might put something in it. But even though he has had that in the back of his mind, the initiative for the company and the lids still builds on his own experience.
At one point, while he was in Austria, he was drugged himself, and the terrible experience sent him to the hospital.
“When I came back to Denmark, we talked about whether there wasn’t something one could do. There are some products, but they didn’t meet the needs I had. I would prefer not to drink beer through a straw. So there was a gap in the market where we could step in and protect some people. So we started working on it and looked at what we could do with some ideas we had,” says Marcus.
Komfid's product
The purpose of Komfid’s lid is to minimize drugging in nightlife and cultural life.
The lids are single-use and fully compostable. They are made from biodegradable material, wood fibers from Finland, and are produced in Denmark.
The lids are meant to make it difficult to put powder or pills in the glass.
They have a kind of sip opening to drink from, as well as an opening for a straw.
The lids are food approved in the EU and USA.
Source: Komfid / Photo: Komfid
The family business developed prototypes of the product, tested them at, among other places, the café and bar SKEMA in the hometown Ringsted, and gathered information from bars and customers.
They developed a lid that goes into the glass and has a sip opening, so you can drink from the glass without using a straw. With the sip opening, it almost feels like drinking from a glass without a lid, and the feedback to Marcus and the family is that people quickly forget there is a lid and are therefore not bothered by it. However, the lid also has space for a straw for customers who prefer that.
Summer 2024 was spent developing the product, getting approval for 4 out of 5 patent claims that the company has applied for, and starting production in August.
The lids are now in use
Komfid has sold lids to a couple of bars that started using them in autumn 2024. This includes the music venue and nightclub Culture Box in Copenhagen and the café and bar SKEMA in Ringsted, where Marcus himself has worked, and where the company tested the lids earlier in the year.
SKEMA’s owner Hans-Jakob Bj?rn Christensen sees positive perspectives in the collaboration with Komfid.
“I can’t know whether anyone has been drugged here at the venue, but it would be wrong to say that this is not a problem in Denmark, and I would rather prevent and say that we are aware this is a problem. So let’s have an offer for those who are nervous about being drugged, and let’s send a signal that we are keeping an eye out and taking care. I want to send a signal of safety, and that we care for people. These lids are just another step in the direction of creating a safe and secure nightlife,” he says.
Bar guests still need to discover the lid and get used to it, but Hans-Jakob Bj?rn Christensen believes in the product.
“Some have accepted it and use it, and it is coming gradually. It’s also about creating awareness that we actually have this offer. People have received it positively and been very supportive that something is happening in this area. Even though maybe not many are using it yet, it is an important signal to get out,” he says.
Marcus, the family, and Komfid have ambitions to reach further with their lid. In addition to bars, nightclubs, and venues, the company also sees opportunities at festivals and sports events, where many people are gathered and drink from the same type of glasses as in bars.
Help from Open Entrepreneurship Lab
Marcus studies social sciences and is in his third semester at 真人线上娱乐 University. And it was precisely at the university that he found support to develop his product and business.
When he started his studies, he was told that there were several opportunities for innovative students. This happens, among other things, through RUC Open Entrepreneurship Lab, which is a hub for students who can work on and get sparring on business ideas, and Fablab, which is an open lab where people – also without a connection to the university – can come and develop and test prototypes.
“Fablab helped us go from our first prototype to being able to 3D print a prototype of a design, so we could test it before we made the final design. And Open Entrepreneurship Lab has, among other things, helped us apply for some funds and with sparring on what we could do – also in relation to analyses and strategies. There has been a lot of help, and it has been very rewarding,” explains Marcus, and continues:
“真人线上娱乐 have also received help to get out and talk about the product and the issue. 真人线上娱乐 want to try to break the taboo, because it is incredibly important that you don’t feel alone if you are drugged. So RUC Open Entrepreneurship Lab has helped us get out and give some talks at RUC, and we want to do more of that,” says the RUC student.
In addition, he and his family plan to start an organization that will include a forum for victims, their relatives, and other interested parties, as well as inform and help people who are subjected to drugging (see fact box below).
Organization in progress
The family behind Komfid wishes to establish an organization that helps create a safer nightlife and cultural life.
The purpose of the organization is, among other things, to help break the taboo associated with drugging and create room for more data in an area where there may be a large dark number, because victims may not wish to report it.
The idea is to create a forum for victims and relatives so that there is an option if one needs someone to talk to about drugging.
In addition, Marcus N?rmann Christensen and the family wish to go out and speak about the issue – for example at educational institutions.