There isn’t an industry on earth that hasn’t been affected by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The food industry has arguably been hit harder than most, with a great many businesses facing permanent shutdown. Finding your way out of a crisis this severe is unlikely to be something you can do alone, and as a result we’re seeing many interesting partnerships between players in the food industry and those beyond. A small selection of partnerships in government and technology.
Interesting partnerships in food to fight the COVID-19 crisis
STRONGER TOGETHER
Jelle Steenbergen Wouter Noordijk
COOL CONCEPT
Philippines: Online marketplace with food delivery
Back in May, the Philippines Department of griculture partnered with Grab e-commerce and food delivery platform to facilitate delivery of produce and products in support of local farmers and small businesses. The department developed its own virtual marketplace named eKadiwa for the same purpose as well as to provide fresh agricultural and fishery products at low prices.
Direct to consumer offerings have surged during the pandemic as supply chain disruptions and mandatory lockdowns threatened livelihoods worldwide, not to mention the increased risks of food waste on an unprecedented scale. With a rising demandfor resilience across the entire food chain, initiatives and partnerships like this one are on their way to becoming the new normal even in a post COVID future.
3 min
United States of America: Self-driving delivery
Back in June, Washington D.C. saw an interesting partnership between real estate company Brooksfield Properties, autonomous technology company Optimus Ride, the Neighborhood Restaurant Group and the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The result was the delivery of meals and groceries to families in need via self-driving cars. Local initiatives led by businesses with strong community ties have been a point of hope and light in dark days. They could also be part of the blueprint for a better and more resilient future of food.
United States of America: Automated dishwashing
San Francisco based Dishcraft is finding a niche in reopening restaurants by offering to take dirty dishes off their hands and replace them with clean ones. In many commercial kitchens, space is often tight with dishwasher stations taking up a significant portion of available space. Dishcraft allows restaurants to free up that space by picking up dirty dishes after service and delivering clean dishes the next day. Behind the scenes, a veritable army of automated dishwashing robots takes care of the dirty work that is cleaning ten thousand pieces of tableware a day. In an interview with TechCrunch, Dishcraft founder and CEO Linda Pouliot makes the comparison to a similar rising force in foodservice: “We saw that cloud kitchens took off… we’re the same. We’re cloud dishwashing.”
United Kingdom: Engineering outdoor seating
British engineering firm Arup partnered with the Liverpool city council and local restaurants to develop modular parklets that can slot together in different configurations to provide COVID-proof outdoor seating for restaurants. The seats are made from hardwood with dividers in the form of perspex or plants. Ease of use is central in the design allowing them to be swiftly cleaned and moved. They’re built to last for up to five years of use. The pandemic has seen an interesting set of design challenges especially in architecture and urban planning with many creative solutions around the world.
Europe: EIT Crisis Response Initiativey
The European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, pumped 60 million euros (70 million dollar) into a crisis response initiative. The initiative supports innovations tackling the COVID-19 pandemic across different sectors including food. Swedish precision agriculture enabler VULTUS bagged 500.000 euros (590.000 dollar) for their satellite-based prescriptions for farmers reducing nitrogen fungicide and water usage by up to 30 percent. Other initiatives receiving funding include a project developing rapid rests for detecting coronavirus or other viral or bacterial contaminations on commercial kitchen surfaces, a healthcare robot designed for elderly care, and an alternative protein sourced from rapeseed oil waste streams.
United Kingdom: Eat Out To Help Out
One of the more ambitious initiatives in dealing with the pandemic’s impact on the food industry comes from the United Kingdom. In August, the UK government launched the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, diners enjoying a sit down meal at one of over 85.000 participating restaurants, were offered a 50 percent discount (up to 10 GBP per person). The program was a resounding success with over a hundred million subsidized meals and a price tag north of 650 million dollar. Many restaurants were sufficiently bolstered by the program’s popularity they chose to extend the scheme out of their own pocket.
There isn’t an industry on earth that hasn’t been affected by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The food industry has arguably been hit harder than most, with a great many businesses facing permanent shutdown. Finding your way out of a crisis this severe is unlikely to be something you can do alone, and as a result we’re seeing many interesting partnerships between players in the food industry and those beyond. A small selection of partnerships in government and technology.
Interesting
partnerships
in food to fight the
COVID-19 crisis
Philippines: Online marketplace with food delivery
Back in May, the Philippines Department of griculture partnered with Grab e-commerce and food delivery platform to facilitate delivery of produce and products in support of local farmers and small businesses. The department developed its own virtual marketplace named eKadiwa for the same purpose as well as to provide fresh agricultural and fishery products at low prices.
Direct to consumer offerings have surged during the pandemic as supply chain disruptions and mandatory lockdowns threatened livelihoods worldwide, not to mention the increased risks of food waste on an unprecedented scale. With a rising demandfor resilience across the entire food chain, initiatives and partnerships like this one are on their way to becoming the new normal even in a post COVID future.
United Kingdom: Eat Out To Help Out
One of the more ambitious initiatives in dealing with the pandemic’s impact on the food industry comes from the United Kingdom. In August, the UK government launched the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, diners enjoying a sit down meal at one of over 85.000 participating restaurants, were offered a 50 percent discount (up to 10 GBP per person). The program was a resounding success with over a hundred million subsidized meals and a price tag north of 650 million dollar. Many restaurants were sufficiently bolstered by the program’s popularity they chose to extend the scheme out of their own pocket.
Europe: EIT Crisis Response Initiativey
The European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, pumped 60 million euros (70 million dollar) into a crisis response initiative. The initiative supports innovations tackling the COVID-19 pandemic across different sectors including food. Swedish precision agriculture enabler VULTUS bagged 500.000 euros (590.000 dollar) for their satellite-based prescriptions for farmers reducing nitrogen fungicide and water usage by up to 30 percent. Other initiatives receiving funding include a project developing rapid rests for detecting coronavirus or other viral or bacterial contaminations on commercial kitchen surfaces, a healthcare robot designed for elderly care, and an alternative protein sourced from rapeseed oil waste streams.
United States of America: Automated dishwashing
San Francisco based Dishcraft is finding a niche in reopening restaurants by offering to take dirty dishes off their hands and replace them with clean ones. In many commercial kitchens, space is often tight with dishwasher stations taking up a significant portion of available space. Dishcraft allows restaurants to free up that space by picking up dirty dishes after service and delivering clean dishes the next day. Behind the scenes, a veritable army of automated dishwashing robots takes care of the dirty work that is cleaning ten thousand pieces of tableware a day. In an interview with TechCrunch, Dishcraft founder and CEO Linda Pouliot makes the comparison to a similar rising force in foodservice: “We saw that cloud kitchens took off… we’re the same. We’re cloud dishwashing.”
United Kingdom: Engineering outdoor seating
British engineering firm Arup partnered with the Liverpool city council and local restaurants to develop modular parklets that can slot together in different configurations to provide COVID-proof outdoor seating for restaurants. The seats are made from hardwood with dividers in the form of perspex or plants. Ease of use is central in the design allowing them to be swiftly cleaned and moved. They’re built to last for up to five years of use. The pandemic has seen an interesting set of design challenges especially in architecture and urban planning with many creative solutions around the world.
United States of America: Self-driving delivery
Back in June, Washington D.C. saw an interesting partnership between real estate company Brooksfield Properties, autonomous technology company Optimus Ride, the Neighborhood Restaurant Group and the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The result was the delivery of meals and groceries to families in need via self-driving cars. Local initiatives led by businesses with strong community ties have been a point of hope and light in dark days. They could also be part of the blueprint for a better and more resilient future of food.
4 min