FOOD WASTE
Award-winning US $ 20bn logistics firm Lineage Logistics is transforming the food supply chain by applying “ Silicon Valleystyle technology to the generations-old temperature-controlled logistics industry ” to help minimise supply chain waste , says founder Kevin Marchetti . Lineage , which controls 25 % of the US third-party cold food chain , uses AI , blockchain , IoT and machine learning to maintain freshness of food en route , including using IoT temperature and vibration sensors to ensure warehouses remain at the correct temperatures and refrigeration systems don ’ t fail .
Claiming to reduce in-store food waste by up to 50 %, Afresh harnesses AI to track demand making it “ easier for grocers to manage all aspects of their fresh departments , and , in doing so , dramatically expand their profitability by preventing millions and millions of pounds of food waste ,” says Matt Schwartz , CEO , Afresh .
Nearly a third less food waste was the result of a collaboration run between a Spanish retailer and Wasteless . The Israeli startup uses AI-powered dynamic pricing to help supermarkets / online grocers recapture the full value of their perishable products and reduce waste , incentivising customers by reducing prices the closer a product gets to its ‘ best before ’ date .
There are technologies too now helping to assess the freshness of food , so decisions can be made . At the storage stage , Strella Biotech leverages IoT networks and data analysis to interpret shelf life , by predicting the ripeness of fruit . It uses biosensors to monitor an increase in ethylene production in fruit , signalling when produce needs to get to consumers before spoiling .
And still in its testing stages , Singaporean scientists have created an electronic ‘ nose ’ that uses AI to sniff out meat freshness . It reacts to the gases produced during decay offering transparency to help cut food waste while also assuring consumers that a food product is still safe to eat despite the fact it may have expired beyond its ‘ best before ’ labelling .
Assessing freshness is being used extensively at retail level too as part of the packaging process .
Packaging sensors to extend shelf life IoT sensors and data analysis are being used alongside packaging to trace , monitor and detect freshness . So-called
businesschief . com 107