Smart food storage system to enable consumer food waste reduction

In the US, an estimated one third of food is wasted at the household level resulting in significant environmental impact—total greenhouse gas emissions of US food waste are estimated to be 70 million MTCO2e. While food waste is generated at all stages of the food supply chain over 50% of all food waste is generated at the consumption stage, the majority of which occurs within households. Often, this waste occurs due to lack of consumer knowledge of available food, leading to stored food products ultimately spoiling in the fridge. Recognizing this issue, Wisely Food Storage is developing a smart food storage system that aims to reduce household food waste by allowing users to track the time and conditions under which their perishables have been stored. The proposed system consists of a food storage container equipped with a Wisely smart sensor that collects and displays food storage data. Data is displayed with an OLED screen to provide immediate feedback and metrics to users about food quality; through integrated Wi-Fi connectivity more detailed personalized insights and nudges are made available through the mobile Wisely companion app. The Wisely companion phone app is designed to help consumers with awareness, planning, and inventory management by providing new levels of food visibility—consumers can remotely track food stored in the smart Wisely storage containers as well as their conditions that they are stored in. In addition to visibility, our system will also provide app notifications that are triggered by certain conditions to make consumers aware of their food and risks of it spoiling, and to “nudge” them to take actions that will prevent food waste. The proposed technology goes beyond traditional food labeling by giving consumers detailed insights of their stored food from any location at any time. Proposed work in this project includes development of a companion mobile smartphone application and incorporation of additional sensor units to the Wisely prototype. Technical feasibility of Wisely’s approach will be established through a food waste consumer study. The study will aim to test two hypotheses: 1) Using the Wisely device and app increases consumer food waste awareness and 2) The Wisely device and app decreases leftover waste in consumer households. Successful completion of this work aims to establish the viability of Wisely’s approach and create a strong foundation to build off of for commercialization in Phase II.