Within the global food crisis, a sector that should garner more attention is the post-harvest stage. The population in Southeast Asia, for example, is expected to increase by 12% by 2035, and food demand is expected to increase by 40% by 2050 (Goyal et al, 2023). However, of the total food waste in this region, more than 40% of the waste occurs at the post-harvest level (Goyal et al, 2023) - the stage between food harvest and consumer consumption.
While there do exist storage solutions that extend the longevity of food, very few of these storage solutions are applicable to post-harvest, and those that are applicable are usually rudimentary, unaffordable, or non-portable.
As such, our innovation is an affordable, portable storage solution for post-harvest food loss, specifically for small producers in hot/humid regions. For our specific technology that utilizes evaporative cooling, we will be focusing on the Southeast Asia market.
Dimensions: 57 x 45 x 11.6 cm,
with capacity of 60L capacity for fruits, vegetables, crops
3D file:
Our initial goal/vision from the beginning was to provide a storage solution for crops/agriculture for small producers in developing countries. To arrive at our current innovation stage, there were some steps involved: