Of the 290'000 tons of food waste created by the Swiss hospitality industry annually, 200'000 tons are avoidable. Therefore an enormous part of the food wasted in hospitality is unnecessary and could easily be solved, if one brought more structure and organization into the commercial kitchen. KITRO is offering such support, with their system of analyzing the food thrown into the bin. Find out how KITRO is planning to fight for better food waste management with their product and service.
On the 10th of October co-founder Anastasia Hofmann joined the Brainfood for Startups Event hosted by Swiss Startup Factory, here at our Westhive Coworking Space. In a short presentation she explained KITRO's goals and mission and how their product and service work. Hofmann also enlightened the crowd as to why food waste is such a big problem and has to be brought under control in the near future.
After completing their bachelors at the Hospitality Management School in Lausanne, Naomi MacKenzie and Anastasia Hofmann decided to create their own startup in 2017. Within a short period they knew which problem they would attempt to solve: Food Waste Management.
Having spent a lot of time in kitchens as part of their education and work experience before founding their startup, the two founders had seen two major problems facing restaurants: The huge amounts of food that were being thrown away daily and the lack of overview and knowledge that the kitchens had of the food wasted. As no one actually took the time to observe and react to the amounts of food in the bin. This is where KITRO and their product step in.
KITRO understands how chaotic a working industrial kitchen can be. Therefore, they designed a product, which would track the food thrown away. With a camera installed at the top of the device, it tracks every item of food thrown into the bin below. Additionally, there is a scale underneath the bin measuring the weight of the bin and the amounts of each food thrown away. With all the data collected through the device, KITRO then analyzes the thrown-out food within the kitchen on a monthly basis.
The kitchen can then take the analysis in consideration and use it in the next month as a guideline of where they stand and in which areas they can implement changes to improve the situtation. How people react to the analysis can vary. Most kitchens already know which steps to take as soon as they see the analysis. Others need more time and additional suggestions to adjust. Therefore, return of Investment can vary for each customer. But results can be as positive as a 2000.- CHF cost reduction in just one month.
Find out more about KITRO and Swiss Startup Factory. If you are interested in learning more about Westhive and the events happening in our event space, stay up to date with our event calender.
Westhive AG,