The agri-food industry requires daily rigor and technical know-how. It is also a field where the use of digital tools remains discreet, whereas automation and intelligent data and information management would accelerate its transformation. Today we are interested in a project to fight against food waste, an important subject in society and for sustainable development.

The Spanish project Navarrese IAFood, coordinated by iAR and the research centres CNTA, UPNA and AIN and funded by the Government of Navarra, seeks to accelerate the digital transformation of the agri-food industry.

The primary objective, as mentioned by Ana Monreal, iAR’s director of operations, is to develop an AI-based Big Data platform to support decision-making. In addition to iAR, other technology partners include Helphone, Das-Nano and Acoustics Analysis. Three agri-food companies are also involved in IAFood: Urzante, General Mills and Florette. These companies are particularly interested in measuring specific parameters of their products such as physico-chemical characteristics (colour, humidity) or their shelf life.

The various groups involved in the project are already working on the development of monitoring sensors and data collection tools. In the future, the aim will be to develop AI models that will allow, for example, the analysis of these specific parameters in order to assist in decision-making.

The two-and-a-half year project will also see the researchers working on tests to verify the reliability of the various monitoring technologies developed by the groups. They will establish behavioural models using AI to support the food development process as well as product performance, quality and safety.

These AI use objectives are in line with the uses that agri-food actors make of AI on a daily basis. These uses are notably based on technologies related to near infrared, hyperspectral imaging, ultrasound or volatile sensors that already allowed to manage stocks and avoid waste. IAFood hopes to be the project that brings about a real digital transition in the food industry in other regions of Spain and also in other countries.

Translated from Un consortium coordonné par la société iAR utilise l’IA pour lutter contre le gaspillage alimentaire