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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

ImpactVision

Apeel Acquires ImpactVision to Fight Food Waste With Hyperspectral Imaging

Apeel officially announced today is has acquired machine learning company ImpactVision for an undisclosed amount. The plan is to integrate ImpactVision’s hyperspectral imaging technology into Apeel’s applications systems at produce packing houses and distribution centers in North America, South America, and Europe. This is Apeel’s first major acquisition, according to a press release sent to The Spoon. To date, ImpactVision has raised $2.8 million.

Apeel’s existing application systems involve coating different types of produce with what the company calls its “shelf-life extension technology” — an edible, plant-based coating that gets applied to produce after harvest. The coatings extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by keeping moisture trapped inside the produce and oxygen out. In doing so, the rate of decay significantly slows. 

With the ImpactVision acquisition, Apeel will be able to add further analysis of the produce to its operations. ImpactVision’s tech collects and processes hyperspectral images of each individual piece of produce. Through machine learning models, the system can identify cues in the produce around its freshness, degree of maturity, and phytonutrient content.

Based on those elements, suppliers and distributors can then decide where each piece of produce should go. Those  with a shorter ripening window can ship to retailers geographically closer to the supplier, for instance, to avoid excess food spoilage. By way of example, today’s news announcement gave the following scenario: “If a produce supplier sees that one avocado will ripen tomorrow while another will ripen in 4 days, they know that one has more time to travel and should be sent to the retailer that is further away.”

Writing in a blog post today, Apeel CEO James Rogers noted that through the acquisition, “Apeel will now be able to integrate hyperspectral imaging technology into our supply chains, enabling us to provide new insights to our customers, both upstream and downstream, ranging from ripeness prediction to nutritional characteristics, even information on how the produce was grown; the very aspects that make every individual piece of fruit unique.”  

Rogers added that Apeel has already started the process of upgrading its application systems to include hyperspectral camera capabilities. The company says it has 30 supplier integrations on three continents with plans to double that number by the end of 2021.

P&P Optica Receives $1M Investment for its Hyperspectral Food Inspection

P&P Optica, a startup that uses hyperspectral imaging to assess food quality and safety, announced yesterday that it has received a $1 million investment from Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s Export Credit Agency (h/t to RestoBiz).

Installed on a food production line, P&P Optica’s imaging technology uses light to examine fruits, vegetables and meat to assess their qualities like protein, water, pH balance, and also detects any foreign matter that might be present. Understanding these factors allows food producers to better grade the food they are shipping while reducing food waste by not discarding food that is still good.

The Ontario, Canada-based P&P says it will use the funding to continue development of its Smart Imaging System, and expand its footprint across North America.

P&P will have some competition in the form of ImpactVision, which also uses hyperspectral imaging to assess food quality and uncover foreign objects in food production. ImpactVision has raised $2.7 million (counting shipping giant Maersk as an investor) and is among the first cohort of Chipotle’s Aluminaries accelerator program.

ImpactVision also recently revealed that its technology is being used by Beta San Miguel, Mexico’s largest sugar producer, for detection of non-magnetic foreign objects. ImpactVision’s cameras scan for contaminants in the sugar, and when a foreign object is found, the production line automatically rejects that affected area. This, in turn keeps foreign objects out of the bags of sugar in the first place, so they don’t have to be recalled after reaching the market.

Foreign matter in our food has been in the news lately as Tyson had to recall more than 36,000 pounds of chicken nuggets because they may have contained rubber.

Using hyperspectral imaging like P&P Optica’s and ImpactVision’s has the potential to mitigate those types of issues before food leaves the production line to save food producers headaches, money while reducing food waste.

ImpactVision Raises $1.3M Led by Maersk

ImpactVision, a startup that uses hyperspectral imaging to assess food quality, has raised $1.3 million, according to VentureBeat. The round was led by logistics and transportation company Maersk, and brings the total amount raised by ImpactVision to $2.9 million.

As we wrote last year about ImpactVision:

Using a combination of digital imaging, spectroscopy and machine learning, Impact Vision’s technology allows food companies to take a picture of food, analyze the unique spectral reflections of the light, and determine nutritional content, fat and protein content and freshness level.

With this automated and non-invasive technique, ImpactVision hopes to help make the food chain more transparent, improve the quality and freshness of food available, and reduce food waste.

But what’s just as interesting as the fundraise itself is who led the round. Maersk, which is mostly known for shipping, has made a number of investments in supply chain-related startups throughout the year:

Given that Maersk moves good and services around the world, investing in startups that can make those movements more efficient makes a lot of sense.

ImpactVision is among a number of companies leveraging computer vision and light to improve the quality of food that reaches our plate and reduce waste. Others include AgShift, which uses computer vision platform assesses food quality as it moves from buyer to seller, and SomaDetect, which uses light scattering to determine milk quality on dairy farms.

ImpactVision says that the company will use the new funds for product development and to hire up sales and engineering staff.

Six Suggestions for Alphabet X’s Agriculture Ambitions

Alphabet X (part of Google family of companies), said that it is exploring ways to use AI to improve food production. During the MIT EmTech Digital event in San Francisco yesterday, Astro Teller, the head of X didn’t provide many details other than they may be looking at combining machine learning with drones and robotics for farming.

X is Alphabet’s ambitious “Moonshot Factory,” whose mission is to take on projects that they “hope could someday make the world a radically better place.” As the MIT Technology Review writes:

To be worthy of X’s attention, a project must fulfill three criteria: it has to potentially solve a problem that affects millions or billions of people; it has to involve an audacious, sci-fi-sounding technology; and there has to be at least a glimmer of hope it’s achievable within five to 10 years.

I understand that there are a lot of smart people working at Alphabet, and X’s mission is to invent and launch these world saving technologies. But we cover the intersection of AI and Ag here at The Spoon, and we’d love to put a few early stage startups on X’s radar.

First, let’s assume X is already looking in its own backyard. Sister Alphabet company, Google Ventures, has put money into companies like Abundant Robotics, Skycatch, and Farmers Business Network. And I’m sure Alphabet isn’t above synergizing across platforms to effectuate paradigm improvements throughout their stack.

But after that bit of corporate introspection, X can look outward, and we’re here to help. These are some startups we’ve covered that are intelligently using artificial intelligence or robots to improve food production and reduce food waste, and could make a radical impact at scale:

AgShift uses computer vision and machine learning to create objective food quality assessments throughout the supply chain. Using just a mobile phone app, inspectors can make nationwide food distribution more efficient and effective.

SomaDetect combines old light scattering detection tech with modern AI to determine the quality of milk and early spotting of Mastitis, a serious udder infection that is common–and deadly–among cows.

Farmstead is a grocery delivery startup, but it’s AI facilitates optimized inventory stocking in stores to decrease over-ordering (and subsequent spoilage and waste) as well as increased purchases from local sources.

ImpactVision applies its machine learning to hyperspectral images of food to assess quality and freshness to generate more transparency in the food chain.

Augean Robotics built the Burro, an autonomous worker robot that can carry food or tools and follow farm workers around with no beacon, remote or GPS required. Burro also maps routes to become a mobile conveyor belt for more efficient harvesting.

Huxley creates “plant vision” for farmers and growers. Through a combination of AI and augmented reality glasses, information about the types of plants and their various stages of growth can be quickly surfaced in a heads up display.

Of course, if X wants a deeper look into the future of food, we’re hosting our Smart Kitchen Summit Europe in June. Advances in AgTech are sure to be on the agenda.

ImpactVision Raises $1.3M to Combat Food Waste with Hyperspectral Imaging

ImpactVision, which uses hyperspectral imaging to determine food quality, raised $1.3 million to further develop its technology. Agfunder News reports that the seed round was led by Acre Venture Partners (which is backed by Campbell’s Soup).

Using a combination of digital imaging, spectroscopy and machine learning, Impact Vision’s technology allows food companies to take a picture of food, analyze the unique spectral reflections of the light, and determine nutritional content, fat and protein content and freshness level.

With this automated and non-invasive technique, ImpactVision hopes to help make the food chain more transparent, improve the quality and freshness of food available, and reduce food waste.

According to its site, ImpactVision currently offers software packages that can work with beef, white fish, bananas and avocados. These packages include a camera for acquiring the hyperspectral data, and the software platform to provide analysis and results.

Digital imaging and AI analysis is getting its moment in the sun when it comes to food production. At our recent Smart Kitchen Summit, Consumer Physics showed off its handheld SCiO spectrometer food sensor, which, in conjunction with machine learning in the cloud, identifies various components of food like salmon. The SCiO has been used up the food chain to better identify the quality of feed given to milk cows.

ImpactVision is currently in paid pilot programs with a handful of food companies. It says the money raised will go towards developing its technology, and expand its platform to work with a range of hyperspectral sensors.