In 2019, Lumitics, a Singapore-based startup, launched Insight – a device that integrates with any standard waste bin to track food waste in commercial kitchens. Insight uses sensors, AI, a proprietary image recognition technology and data analytics to identify and weigh how much food waste a kitchen is generating. The solution allows constant tracking without any change to the current kitchen workflow. Lumitics claims the data generated helps hospitality and F&B businesses reduce food waste by 30%, save up to 8% in costs, and better understand customer preferences and seasonal trends. A few weeks ago, the startup secured S$750,000 for regional expansion.
We’ve covered plenty of food waste innovations, but this one spells two fresh insights:
You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Forward-looking businesses understand that today’s customer cares about sustainability and expects brands to reduce their impact. This expectation has renewed the urgency for better tracking, benchmarking and data-based solutions for businesses (and consumers). Salesforce created Sustainability Cloud, a carbon accounting product for businesses to drive climate action, while Mastercard partnered with Doconomy to launch DO Card, helping consumers measure and put a limit on their carbon footprint. How can you embed tracking and measuring technology into business processes and consumers’ lives to help them be more sustainable?BTW, we highly recommend this Vox article from Alden Wicker crying out for better environmental impact numbers in the fashion industry. We have quoted some of those dodgy figures in this very newsletter. From fashion to F&B, we’d add it’s a sector-wide problem.
Opportunities along the supply chain. Dyelicious in Hong Kong transforms food waste to colourful dyes, while Karma sells food surplus before it turns to waste using its smart fridges. Now, we have Lumitics preventing businesses from having food surplus in the first place. If you’re looking to be more sustainable, look both upstream and downstream in the supply chain to find opportunities that match your specific capabilities. Where there’s waste, there’s gold!
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