In Brief

  • Challenge: Food Challenge
  • Challenge Type: SFI Challenge
  • Status: Complete

The Challenge

Premature spoilage due to supply chain inefficiencies is a major cause of commercial food waste and accounts for between 20% and 50% of all fruit and vegetables being lost/wasted. Addressing supply chain inefficiencies is key to addressing food loss/waste and will require a revolutionary transformation of the current commercial supply management systems.

The Solution

 Working with stakeholders to enhance global supply chain efficiency by developing a disruptive cyber-physical platform that combines optical sensing and artificial intelligence (deep learning) technologies to accurately predict food spoilage and remaining shelf-life.  

UN SDG Alignment

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

The Team

  • Team Lead: Dr Ultan McCarthy, Waterford Institute of Technology
  • Team Co-Lead: Dr Anastasia Ktenioudaki, University College Dublin

Societal Impact Champion

  • Prof. Jean Pierre Emond, The Illuminate Group