Our Innovation Plan

Building the context

As we embark on this journey of reducing food waste, one of the most important pieces we want
the team to develop a common understanding of how the food supply chain works from farms to
table or trash cans, where there are inefficiencies causing food waste, and what solutions are
employed, but falling short of sufficiently minimizing food waste..

1. Understand the Food Waste Chain -

a. How does food flow from the farms to stores to business/houses?
b. How much of it is utilized or wasted?
c. What are the primary reasons of wastage? (e.g - Spoiling, food standards,
improper methods of storage, poor demand estimation etc.)
d. At what points if most of the food wastage occurring?
e. What does food waste mean? Is it food that is not sold, or trashed?
f. What is currently in place to claim food unfit for sale but perhaps still usable?
g. Who has food waste reduction programs in place? What do those look like and
who drives them? Who are the beneficiaries?
 2. What are the current challenges to reducing food waste?
a. What are the current methods employed by stakeholders in the chain to reduce
food waste?
b. What are the challenges with employing these methods? What has worked not
worked in the past?
c. What are some practical barriers to reducing food waste?
d. Are there any efforts by government/local administration to support food waste
reduction?
3. Who are the major stakeholders?
a. What challenges do they encounter and how do they currently address food
waste?
b. What is their scope of influence?
c. What incentives exist to minimize food waste?

Sources of developing this understanding -

1. https://Refed.com
2. https://fullharvest.com/
3. https://environment.google/projects/rews/
4. http://www.feedingamerica.org/
5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism
6. Stakeholder interviews in week 1 and week 2
7. https://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/join.htm
8. https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-frc
 9. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ210/pdf/PLAW-104publ210.pdf -
(Corporate donors are protected from liability under the Bill Emerson Good
Samaritan Food Donation Act (PDF). Under this Act, as long as the donor has not
acted with negligence or intentional misconduct, the company is not liable for
damage incurred as the result of illness. )
10.

Primary Research Targets and Reframing our HMW

Week Primary objective of Who will we Pivot Points (Pts in

interviews interview? the journey where we
may choose to go
down a different path)

Week 1 1. Immersion : Develop a Restaurants EO week 2 - Review

common Grocery Stores and refine HMW
understanding of the Households statement
different stakeholders Office administrators
(decision makers and
Week 2 implementers),
solutions that have
already been
implemented,
challenges to
implementing
solutions
2. Narrow down the
target segment of our
HMW to 1-2
stakeholders

Week 3 1. Uncover emotional, To be decided -> We EO week 3 - Ensure

physical, and resource have cast a wide net in HMW statement holds
driven drivers and week 1 by reaching out true and check if further
Week 4
barriers to reduction of to several individuals in refinement is needed
food waste. each of the groups
2. Determine our target above. We will hone in Brainstorm ideas /
segment and specific on specific targets as potential solutions
problem within this we get clearer insights
segment wed like to from week 1 and week
solve 2 interviews
3. Brainstorm solutions
as a group

Week 5 1. Continue to uncover To be decided -> We Develop light

Week 6 drivers and barriers of have cast a wide net in prototypes.
reducing food waste week 1 by reaching out
2. Start testing potential to several individuals in Test, Update, Refine,
solutions for each of each of the groups Test
the stakeholders above. We will hone in
on specific targets as
we get clearer insights
from week 1 and week
2 interviews

Week 7 1. Testing of specific To be decided -> We

solutions with different have cast a wide net in
stakeholders week 1 by reaching out
to several individuals in
each of the groups
above. We will hone in
on specific targets as
we get clearer insights
from week 1 and week
2 interviews