Bloomberg reports on an acquisition made by Apeel Sciences - which has developed "a patented, plant-based coating that extends the freshness of produce like avocados, English cucumbers, mangoes and organic apples without refrigeration" - of a company called ImpactVision, "a developer of food security software using artificial intelligence and advanced imaging."
The Impactvision technology, according to the story, "can see what’s happening inside fruits and vegetables. The idea is to give everyone across the food-supply chain valuable and cost-saving information like 'When will this apple go bad?'"
The goal is to allow experts to see inside fresh produce so they can advise growers about potential problems with crops, as well as cull out inferior product before it gets onto store shelves.
"Apeel Sciences," the story notes, "began nine years ago with a $100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is now valued at more than $1 billion." It has been backed by investors like former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb and Oprah Winfrey.
"The United Nations estimates about a third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted," Bloomberg writes. "Eliminating food waste would reduce human-caused greenhouse-gas emissions as much as 8%, according to the World Wildlife Fund."
"The only way that we are going to build a food system that takes care of more people and our planet is by finding ways to align economic incentives of everyone in the supply chain,” says James Rogers, the company's founder-CEO.
- KC's View:
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The mind boggles at what is possible these days, and how technology can help us achieve some of the demands of the ESG (Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance) movement.
