AI to fight food waste

Food waste is one hot topic that’s not going away anytime soon. One estimate says that one third of the food brought to market worldwide is wasted—amounting to a loss of $1 trillion.

Environmental and social costs add another $1.6 trillion, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Sustainability Pathways: Food loss and waste (fao.org)

Fresh produce accounts for 40 percent of this loss.

The Dutch company OneThird (taking its name from this percentage) is introducing technology to fight food waste—much of which is due to shelf life issues. The company claims that its product makes it possible to estimate the shelf life of produce easily, accurately, and objectively.

This video shows how it works:

OneThird claims that this technology can reduce wastage due to shelf life by 25 percent. Dropbox – Press Release – Simplify your life

The OneThird system “combines AI in the form of proprietary algorithms with a near-infrared-based scanner—which makes it non-destructive and fast—to determine the shelf life of produce,” says a company press release.

At present, OneThird’s technology predicts the shelf life of avocados, strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes. By the end of 2023, it will also extend to grapes, bananas, mangos, and raspberries, for a total of ten produce items.

The OneThird system will help shippers in these respects, says the company:

“• Dynamic Routing: How to route the produce based on its shelf life and customer specifications

“• Where to Sell: Repurpose to food banks or processing (sauces, freeze drying) instead of having the produce rejected by customers due to short shelf life

“• Expiration or Best Before Dates: Have best before dates based on actual shelf life instead of conservative default values;

“• Dynamic Pricing: Grocers can apply a discount in-store if produce is near expiration.”

Unfortunately, I’m not attending Fruit Logistica, which is being held in Berlin on February 8-10, but if you are, you can check out the OneThird technology there (Hall 3.1, Booth #C44).

Image sources are either licensed or customer-provided.