Electrolux and Karma Introduce a Smart Fridge to Reduce Food Waste

Electrolux, together with the startup Karma, introduces a smart refrigerator for grocery stores. The refrigerator, beta launched today, will be integrated with Karma’s app and will contribute to the reduction of food waste by making it easier for supermarkets to sell food not bought before the end of the working day to consumers.

In August 2018, Electrolux announced that it is investing in the Sweden-born startup Karma. At the same time, the two companies initiated a strategic partnership, exploring innovative solutions for the future of food and jointly helping consumers and the food industry take bigger responsibility in reducing food waste. The partnership combines Electrolux’s expertise on food preservation with Karma’s technology and knowledge of food waste.

“Finding innovative solutions that promote better living and a more sustainable way of consuming food is part of our company purpose. For Electrolux, the partnership with a startup like Karma is a new and powerful way of driving positive change. By combining ours and Karma’s unique qualifications, we have been able to create an innovative solution that makes it easier for consumers and food suppliers to save food from ending up in landfill”, said Tove Chevalley, Head of Digital Innovation at Electrolux.

“The partnership with Electrolux has allowed our initial idea of reducing food waste to gather speed and our company to grow, while also adding the knowledge and experience of an established business, which we as a startup are still in the process of acquiring. The fridge is the first step in our common effort to rescue more food from landfill and to protect the environment”, said Hjalmar Ståhlberg Nordegren, CEO and co-founder of Karma.

The refrigerator efficiently creates storage and a pickup point for unsold food that otherwise would likely be thrown away, as well as enabling grocery stores that don’t have a natural pickup location to use Karma. As of today, the refrigerator is introduced as a beta version, and is available at the grocery store ICA Kvantum Liljeholmen in Stockholm, Sweden until December 31, 2018.

How it works:

– A Karma user that makes a purchase at the ICA Kvantum Liljeholmen store in Stockholm through the Karma app can collect the ordered product directly from the connected refrigerator.

– The user unlocks the connected refrigerator, which is equipped with a smart lock, by displaying a QR code.

– The purchased product needs to then be shown by the user at the checkout in the grocery store.

Zoltán is a self-taught publisher and events organizer who has developed several brands and services that have increased the notoriety of his company within multi-billion dollar industries. In 2018, he has become a TEDx speaker and talked about reputation management in the digital era. As Co-Founder of HIPTHER Agency, Zoltan has helped develop highly respected online news portals, virtual and in-person conferences that cater to multiple industries on 5 continents. Among the developed brands and services you can find online news portals that cover several tech industries, gaming, blockchain, fintech, artificial intelligence, and more. In parallel, the company has built a portfolio of annually organized boutique-style conferences in Europe and North America. All the events organized by his company focus on bringing a wealth of information about the latest innovation in several industries such as Entertainment, Technology, Gaming and Gambling, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Quantum Technology, Legal Cannabis, Health and Lifestyle, VR/AR, eSports and many more. Zoltan enjoys writing articles on all portals owned by the HIPTHER Agency, talking at conferences, hosting the weekly HIPTHER Talks Podcast, and loves spending time with his family. Zoltan is a duathlete who enjoys training for different international competitions which include running and cycling.