Integrating smart technologies for food waste upcycling : enhancing transparency and value creation in the food industry

Abstract

This research takes a closer look at how smart technologies could be used to help tailor down the volume of food wasted in the food setting, including, but not limited to, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics. Food waste is a critical problem in the world as it is a source of enormous economic losses, environmental decay, and social issues. The study examines how smart technologies can be used to improve supply chain visibility, reduce food waste by real time tracking and reuse food waste to make value added products. Research also tackles the adoption barriers in case of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopting these technologies such as the initial high cost, low technical knowledge, and change resistance. The results of the research show that AI and IoT can facilitate food production, inventory movement, sustainability of food service processes. But SMEs are not always well equipped in terms of resources and technical knowhow to help them execute these technologies to their full extent. The second important lesson learned during the research is that the area of reducing food waste needs more attention to cover local farms or online platforms. This has the potential of creating new sources of revenue and achieving sustainability. The research provides feasible research concerning the motivation of SMEs to adopt smart technologies to efficiently decrease food waste upon these hurdles are postponed.