Student project

Longtrm

Project goal

Background

Solution

Project Goal

Decrease the amount of meat waste produced by Danish households by challenging problematic consumer behavior.

Background

In Denmark, 36% of food waste comes from private households, 16% of food waste is from meat, and we throw away 44 kg of food per year (https://altomkost.dk). Problematic consumer behaviors drive household food waste and include changing desires, lack of planning, not being aware of expiry dates, and forgetting what food has already been purchased.

Project Prototype

Longtrm aims to reduce the amount of meat waste produced by private households in Denmark and was developed and evaluated by its ability to impact behavior. Longtrm is comprised of a two-part solution: An app that can be used both passively and actively to encourage reducing food waste, as well as a meat packaging label that provides an easy to understand and dynamic view of the meat's expiration.

The solution is designed to be integrated into Coop, the largest retailer of consumer goods in Denmark, as this is an already well-established system with a prominent presence in the Danish food industry. The app is an extension of the Coop app, with the addition of a range of features to reduce food waste. It offers:

- An overview of the items in their fridge, based on what has been purchased using their coop app / membership card

- It sends reminders when food is about to expire

- Provides recipes based on food already owned

- Contains a meal planning tool

- Keeps track of food waste to nudge users to reduce it

The label goes on meat packaging, and is an easy to understand, eye-catching and exciting way to see if the meat is about to expire. The label will change color after a set amount of time, to indicate the state of the meat. These stages are “very fresh”, “fresh” “freeze or eat me today” and lastly “expired”.

Prototypes of the app features.

Prototype of the meat package label with phase change technology.