KITRO develops products and services based on artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to measure food waste and help its clients take sustainable and effective action to manage their foodstuffs.
Context
In the European Union alone, it is estimated that some 88 million tonnes of food are wasted every year, equivalent to more than 170 million tonnes of CO2. And Switzerland generates 2.8 million tonnes of food waste, including around 360,000 tonnes created abroad during the production of imported foodstuffs. This waste has a high environmental, economic and social cost, and the catering sector is responsible for 26% of it worldwide. Founded in 2017, KITRO decided to tackle the problem of this mounting waste by developing a world-first solution for automating food waste measurements based on AI technologies. It is aimed at catering establishments all over the globe.
Technology
KITRO’s solution consists of a device equipped with scales and a camera to automatically measure and analyse food waste. The waste is identified using something called computer vision, together with machine learning algorithms, and the data and analysis is shared with clients via an online dashboard. Clients can use this information to improve their work processes and reduce avoidable food waste by up to 60%. This represents a saving of between 2% and 8% on their annual cost of goods. Unlike other solutions on the market, KITRO’s clients benefit from fully automated plug-and-play technology that is easy to implement, offers significant savings and eliminates human error. A dedicated team also helps clients to implement personalised food waste reduction measures to ensure optimum results. The company estimates that the equivalent of more than 1 million meals, or more than 500 tonnes of edible food, have been saved since its solution was launched.
Maturity
The technology developed by KITRO is already present in over twenty countries in different regions around the world, and its clients include several hotel groups – among them Hyatt and Four Seasons – as well as hospital and staff canteens. The company intends to focus now on growth in Europe, the Middle East and North America. KITRO was ranked as one of Switzerland’s top start-ups in 2022 and has won several prestigious awards
« There is considerable potential for reducing food waste if the solution developed by KITRO is deployed on a global scale» – Anastasia Hofmann, co-CEO and co-founder of KITRO
**This profile is taken from the 2nd edition of the Cleantech Startup Overview, published in 2024. Read the full report here.