About 20% of % all food is wasted. The two founders of Kitro have decided to fight this. With Kitro, they want to strengthen the value of food and prevent waste. To this end, they have developed technologies that can measure the degree of food waste in the catering industry.
During their studies at the École hôtelière de Lausanne and through their work experiences in restaurants and hotels, the two founders, Naomi MacKenzie and Anastasia Hofmann, saw the enormous amount of edible food that is disposed of and wasted every day in the hospitality industry. They wanted to do something about it and thus developed a solution to measure food waste and founded the start-up Kitro in 2017.
With a fully automated measuring device connected to software, it is possible to measure exactly what is being thrown away. This way, cost drivers can be identified, and alternatives can be pointed out, leading step by step to a reduction in food waste. Tips and support from dedicated chefs help to optimise food recycling.
«At Kitro we offer a fully automated food waste management solution to empower the hospitality industry to take action. Using state-of-the-art technology we provide a hardware and software solution that effortlessly tracks the food waste in canteens, hotels, medical centres and restaurants. Using image processing and machine learning technology, we automate the entire data collection process.»
«We firmly believe that the first step to tackling food waste is to measure it. Once you know what items you are throwing away and the cost, you can start to take action and set goals. With access to a personalised dashboard, users gain an insight into their operational inefficiencies that are driving food waste. Having conducted measurements throughout Switzerland, Kitro has already supported companies such as Coop Restaurant, the EPFL campus or even the World Economic Forum WEF to cut costs and save valuable resources.»
«Having participated in the Swiss Innovation Challenge 2019, we were able to link up with BLKB.»
«We greatly appreciate the support. In 2019, BLKB granted Kitro a loan that gave us an enormous financial boost. It enabled us to further develop our product, capture a large share of the market and expand the team. We are pleased that BLKB is supporting more start-ups so that – as a result of their fast decision-making processes – innovation and new companies can flourish in Switzerland.»
