- Three projects became the winners of the innovation competition#SinDesperdicioMéxico thanks to their idea to reduce losses and food waste.
- Among the entries, there were AI apps, online markets and applied technology to extend food’s shelf life.
- The proposals will contribute to confront the great challenge that Mexico has: every year around 20.4 million tons of food go to waste.
Mexico, June 8th, 2020.- The platform #SinDesperdicio made public the three winning initiatives of a group of 154 entrepreneurs, to support projects that help solve the loss of 20.4 million tons of food in Mexico.
With the participation of 12 finalists that presented their pitch, the contest #SinDesperdicioMéxico ended with an online event, to adapt to the voluntary quarantine that the country lives due to the COVID-19 health contingency. The platform is supported by the IDB, FEMSA Foundation, OXXO, Tecnologico de Monterrey, The Global Food Banking Network and other organizations.
Organizations from Argentina, Honduras, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Paraguay, El Salvador y Mexico, came together to propose solutions to a problem that causes the loss or waste of approximately 34% of all food produced in Mexico. Among the initiatives, there were those focused on artificial intelligence, online markets, applied technology to increase the shelf life of food and avoid organic residue, among others.
In this virtual encounter, entrepreneurs made a pitch sale before a jury of specialists integrated by Tomas Bermudez, IDB’s representative in Mexico; Lina Pohl Alfaro, FAO’s representative in Mexico; Maria Teresa Garcia Plata, General Director of Mexico’s Food Bank; Josue Delgado, General director of INC Mty; Lorena Guille-Laris, FEMSA Foundation Director; Jose Manuel Ramirez Rangel, VP at Bimbo Ventures; Inti Perez, Manager at Nestlé Mexico’s Creation of Shared Value, and Alejandra del Angel, Value Chain Manager of DOW Latin America.
The first place, with a prize of US $15,000.00, was given to Save Fruit, who offers technologies that can be used to extend the shelf life of fruits after being harvested. A single application of the product allows the participants in the fruit production line to benefit, including storage units, transport, distribution, commercialization and domestic consumption.
The second place, with a prize of US $10,000.00, was obtained by Mi Fruta, Mi Pueblo, an initiative that consists of generating commercial relations of tangerine, orange, mango, papaya, peanut and guavas produced in vulnerable communities of Oaxaca to reduce losses and food waste in the region, and take advantage of the resources they already have while enhancing the communities’ economic development
The Preemar startup also received a special recognition for its development of a system called Pro- viden, which monitors water quality in real time. This helps fish farmers to maintain an environment free of illnesses and prevent production losses. Additionally, the producer can access all the information at any moment and receive alerts to take action to protect fish.
Besides the prizes, the winning proposals and the special recognition will access an incubation and pre-acceleration program to continue supporting the development of their innovations. The information about these and other proposals is available in the website sindesperdicio.net
How much food is wasted in Latin America?
Each year, in Latin America and the Caribbean, around 220 million tons of food are lost yearly, almost 12% of the production, according to the report “World status of food and agriculture 2019” of the FAO.
The repercussions of the losses and food waste include economic, nutritional and environmental factors. The FAO estimates that the food losses generate the equivalent to 3,300 million tons of CO2 in greenhouse gases annually. Additionally, consider the soil exhaustion, the thousands of cubic meters of water that are wasted in food no one eats and the inadequate management of farm animals.
To reduce this problem, the platform #SinDesperdicio was created as a calling to diverse organizations committed to reducing food waste and loss in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In 2019 the contest #SinDesperdicioMéxico was announced, it was organized by the IDB in coordination with a group of associates of different areas of the food industry: IBM, Nestlé, The Coca Cola Company, Bimbo Group, FEMSA Foundation, OXXO, The Dow Chemical Company, the FAO, the Consumer Goods Forum, The Global FoodBanking Network and the World Resources Institute. The initiative also had the support of the Mexican Foodbank Network, ITESM and Socialab Mexico.
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About FEMSA
FEMSA is a leading company that generates economic and social value through enterprises and institutions and aims to be the best employer and neighbor of the communities where it is present. It participates in retail trade through FEMSA Comercio, which englobes the Proximity Division, a chain of small stores of which OXXO is a part; a Health Division which includes pharmacies and related activities; and a Fuel Division that operates the OXXO GAS chain of service stations. In the beverage industry it operates Coca-Cola FEMSA, a public bottler of Coca-Cola products; and in the brewer sector it is a stockholder of Heineken, a Company present in more than 70 countries. Additionally, through Strategic Businesses FEMSA, it offers logistics services, refrigeration at selling points and plastic solutions to FEMSA companies and external clients. Through its Business Units it employs approximately 300 thousand collaborators in 13 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance Index, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the Sustainable Prices and Quotation Index of the Mexican Stock Market, among other indexes that evaluate its performance in sustainability.
About FEMSA Foundation
Since eleven years ago, FEMSA Foundation generates positive impact in people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability. We seek to ensure water safety and the sustainable use of water in Latin America and we take action to help early childhood development. We have also incorporated the diffusion of Latin American art and culture through the Cultural Program FEMSA. For further information visit the website www.fundacionfemsa.org or follow us on Facebook (FundacionFEMSA) and Twitter (@FundacionFEMSA).
About the IBD
The InterAmerican Bank of Development is one of the main sources of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Besides loans, donations and credit guarantees, the IDB has cutting edge research projects to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to the most urgent problems of our region. Created in 1959 to help accelerate the progress of its developing country members, the IDB works daily to improve lives.
