Yoav Levy, the co-founder and CEO of Evigence, is on a mission to transform the way the food service industry assesses and tracks product freshness. Levy envisions a future where the "death of the date code" becomes a reality, thanks to Evigence's cutting-edge technology that provides real-time insights into the freshness of perishable goods.
Empowering Businesses and Consumers with Precise Freshness Data
Addressing the Limitations of Date Codes
Levy argues that date codes are inaccurate indicators of food freshness and quality, leading to significant inefficiencies throughout the food supply chain. "Date codes are terribly inaccurate indicators of food freshness and product quality, leading to tremendous inefficiency throughout the food industry supply chain, from distributors all the way to consumers' homes," he said. Levy's concern is that the disconnect between freshness expectations and reality results in the waste of perfectly good food and the consumption of unsafe products.
Evigence's innovative solution involves the use of small, real-time food freshness sensors that are incorporated into stickers and placed on the packaging of perishable goods. These sensors monitor temperature and time passage, collecting data to determine both current and projected freshness. The sensor data is then uploaded to the Evigence Cloud for analysis, providing businesses with in-depth dashboards and weekly data trends to help identify patterns across regions and more.
Empowering Consumers with Real-Time Insights
On the consumer end, the labels can be scanned via QR code to provide real-time insights into the product's freshness. The labels change color from green to red to indicate the product's shelf life as it ages or experiences temperature fluctuations during the delivery process. This color change is driven by a chemical reaction on the label that mimics the product's degradation process, giving consumers a clear visual cue of the product's freshness.
Addressing the Challenges of Last-Mile Delivery
Levy also highlighted the importance of Evigence's technology in addressing the safety concerns surrounding last-mile delivered food, such as meal kits or online groceries. He explained that many suppliers of last-mile deliveries do not use proper refrigeration, relying on cooling gel packs instead. When these products are transported in trucks, the temperatures can fluctuate significantly, potentially compromising the freshness and safety of the food. Evigence's real-time tracking capabilities can help mitigate these risks, providing both businesses and consumers with peace of mind.
Transforming Operations and Building Trust
Meal kit provider Marley Spoon has already reaped the benefits of Evigence's technology. "Evigence has given us unprecedented visibility into the freshness of our ingredients upon arrival, transforming our operations and strengthening customer trust," said Natasha Tahilramani, head of quality, safety, and sustainability at Marley Spoon.
Evigence's Rigorous Standards and Industry Adoption
Evigence's technology was initially developed to monitor the temperature of vaccine shipments, meeting the rigorous standards set by the World Health Organization. With a shift to the food service industry, Levy hopes that Evigence's technology will become the new standard, helping to reduce the "ridiculous amount of waste" that currently plagues the industry. "Our goal is for everybody to use [food] products the way they should and not by the date code, to help this ridiculous amount of waste that is just mind-boggling. It hurts the pockets of consumers, it hurts the environment. It's just not sustainable," he said.
