SUSTAINABILITY & EFFICIENCY
AI project set to transform the food sector
B
usinesses and food charities came together to pilot a first of its kind AI solution to visualise food waste, reduce it and redistribute unavoidable surplus to people – the equivalent of
499,863 meals. By applying AI-optimised algorithms, the platform tracked edible surplus from four Nestlé sites and redirected it for human consumption. This food supported an estimated 94,133 people across hundreds
of charities and organisations, with more food going to people rather than animals or waste. The project showcases how these solutions in partnership can be scaled at speed to build a more efficient food sector. In 2021, UK food manufacturers generated 1.4 million tonnes of food waste - seven times more than that produced by food retailers. While manufacturers seek greater visibility to pinpoint these losses, redistribution organisations increasingly view the sector as a vital source of high-quality food surplus. Over the last 16 months, a nine-partner consortium piloted Zest’s AI-led solutions that addressed this challenge. The collaboration convened by Sustainable Ventures involved piloting Zest’s solutions within Company Shop Group, FareShare and Nestlé’s real-time business environments to work through the technical and operational complexities for scaling. The scope, feasibility and benefits of these innovative solutions
were tested with Bristol Superlight, FuturePlus, Google Cloud and Howard Tenens to de-risk its full scale implementation. The AI-led food waste project” was funded through a £1.9 million match- funded BridgeAI grant from Innovate UK. There are many reasons for food waste and surplus generation in food manufacturing and the absence of detailed data on the
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quantity and timings for its generation make it extremely hard to address it. The pilot demonstrated the enabling power of AI in connecting siloed data points on a Nestlé manufacturing line to map where exactly food waste and surplus is generated in real-time and identifying actions to reduce and redistribute it. Early comparisons indicate strong potential for AI to improve
speed, accuracy, consistency and predictability of data analysis versus manual waste assessment. During the project, Zest trialled their solutions with a number of other food manufacturers. In one trial, the AI-led process halved the speed of the manual process and quadrupled the amount of food waste identified. Zest’s optimised solution addresses two critical pillars of surplus management: production-line visibility and intelligent redistribution. By applying AI-optimised algorithms, the platform seamlessly matched unavoidable edible surplus from four Nestlé sites with the real-time demand and capacity of Company Shop Group and FareShare. Logistics partner Howard Tenens tracked and fulfilled these surplus deliveries, providing the essential physical infrastructure to move food safely from Nestlé sites to FareShare’s network.
The top three impacts from the AI-led food waste project were: • 4.8 tonnes of edible food surplus was newly identified on a production line and sold for human consumption over animal feed, which saw a 15 times increase in revenue from surplus.
• 201.9 tonnes of food surplus was redistributed to people, which is equivalent to 480,529 meals. If these goods had not reached surplus status, their retail value would have been over £1 million.
• The food surplus provided supported an estimated 94,133 people across 787 charities and community groups. >>
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