WorkerBee
Have a look at our project
WorkerBee
Weber Packaging, who is the sponsor of team WorkerBee and is searching for a answer to the questions: “How might we reduce food waste? How might we create a platform for users to exchange food? How might we enable food upgrading?”
Creation and innovation are often lengthy processes with only small successes after many failures. That’s why we need the inspiration of those who came before us. Those who have mastered their craft, who have achieved a level of perfection that we can only dream of. Our inspiration is the honeybees. These masters have perfected the craft of nutrition. In every way, they surpass us humans. The honeycomb is the perfect form for scalable storage. Their food has an unlimited shelf life. Therefore, nothing is ever wasted. Unfortunately, we humans cannot create such ideal ecosystems. Human supply chains and distributed systems are long, complicated and messy. Therefore, it is not surprising that many products end up in the trash before they reach the end consumer. While there are many industries where this happens, in none is waste more prevalent than in the food industry.
A part of the solution is a platform that consists of a App and a hardware solution. The basic idea behind our app platform is to connect the retail and catering services easily and effectively. However, being inspired by the honeybees that don’t even have a bit of food waste, we came up with the second part of the solution. One of our first idea revolved around a smart refrigerator. This later evolved into the innovation called Food Lockers. The idea behind the food cabinets is simple. Since many store owners feel they don’t have as much food waste, it would be beneficial for them to use these lockers. Instead of throwing this food away, how about taking a picture, uploading it to the website, and having it delivered to the conveniently located food pantry in town. Then the consumer, always in a hurry and looking for a bargain, sees the products, clicks them into his virtual shopping basket and pays for them (at a considerably low price). In return, he receives a code for the grocery closet and can pick up the products on his way home from work, perhaps at a time when the store is already closed.
