Cutting food waste with artificial intelligence
In this first episode of the Circularity Capital Podcast, host Jamie Butterworth spoke with Dr Liz Goodwin OBE, Senior Fellow and Director of Food Waste and Loss of the World Resource Institute. Liz is behind the Champion 12.3 Initiative which aims to half global food waste by 2030 and Chair of London Waste And Recycling Board which is tasked in supporting London’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Liz helps us understand the context of the global food waste challenge.
Circularity Capital Partner Ian Nolan sat down with Marc Zornes, CEO and cofounder of Winnow, an AI based solution which cuts commercial food waste in half through data analysis and object recognition. In this conversation, Marc shares how AI is being used by Winnow to reach their 5 year goal of $1billion of savings for the industry.
Highlights:
Food waste in terms of emissions, water and land use
Why it is important to solve the problem of food waste
Difference in food waste in emerging economy and advanced economy
The current context of data enabling within circular economy
How did we realise we were wasting up to one third of all the food that we produce
“We estimate that in the hospitality industry, the issue of food waste, just in the cost of food is 100-billion-dollar problem.” - Marc Zornes
How AI plays a part in Winnow’s solution
Why there is a market opportunity to solve food waste in large commercial kitchens
Time stamp:
[01:26] Liz on how big is the problem of food waste
[03:24] The flaws in the system that got us to this point
[05:00] The business case for solving food waste
[07:05] Liz on being a part of Champions 1.2.3, advocating the UN SDGs
[08:37] Ian Nolan on examples of the importance of data analytics in circular economy
[12:58] Food waste in developing countries
[17:22] How Winnow is resulting in more efficient kitchens
[19:30] How important is AI for Winnow?
[22:40] Marc’s vision of where he sees Winnow
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