AI-enabled system helps professional kitchens reduce food waste

The system uses cameras and advanced AI recognition to keep track of disposed food items

Spotted: Food tech company Winnow has developed an AI-enabled system that helps kitchens to track and reduce the amount of food waste produced. 

Earlier last year, Winnow introduced “Winnow Waste Monitor” a food waste monitoring system already being used across kitchens in over 40 countries. The system is comprised of a digital scale and a connected tablet that records the weight of the food item being thrown out. The disposer then selects the reason and identifies the item/dish using the tablet.

In real-time, staff are then shown the value of each item thrown away, which is meant to drive behavioural change. Daily reports are also provided that pinpoint key opportunities to cut waste and track performance. “What gets measured gets managed, and by using data intelligently kitchens can be made more efficient,” said Winnow.

Winnow’s latest tool, which is named “Winnow Vision”, uses computer vision to help chefs to pinpoint waste easily, saving them both time and money. Using cameras pointed at rubbish bins, the system takes photos of any food thrown out and trains itself to recognise what has been wasted. The idea is that, once fully trained, wasted items are automatically recorded, taking up zero staff time and completely eliminating human error.  It also ensures that kitchen staff spend more time cooking, rather than entering data. 

The company says that kitchens using Winnow tend to see between a 40 to 70 per cent reduction in food waste, within 6 to 12 months of using the system. This equates to driving food cost savings from between 2 to 8 per cent. 

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