WayCool Foods begins research for fruit ripeness detection

WayCool Foods, India's fastest growing Agri-commerce company, signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM) Kancheepuram. WayCool, with the help of IIITDM's photonic technology, will build devices that detect ripening and rottenness in fruits and vegetables. The MoU was signed and exchanged between Karthik Jayaraman, chief executive officer, WayCool Foods, and M D Selvaraj, Dean SRIC, Sponsored Research and Industrial consultancy, IIITDM.

This unique non-invasive and non-destructive technology is a combination of Ultraviolet and Infrared rays that decode the ripening factor in fruits and vegetables, thus helping in eliminating bad quality or infected produce.

Once ready, the technology will help farmers check on the optimal time to harvest their produce. The non-invasive, non-destructive nature of the test would help negate wastage and human contact and assist in a much faster turnaround on produce quality. Moving forward, this unique technology will be modeled into handheld devices for easy usage that will help to overall optimize the functioning at various junctions across India's food supply chain.

Sharing thoughts on the MoU, Subramanian Akkulan, executive vice president-Innovation, WayCool Foods, said, "At WayCool, we are constantly working on emerging technology that will help drive efficiency and reduce wastage in food supply chains. We have invested significant capital in industry-academia partnerships to develop a range of technologies such as coatings, modified atmosphere packaging solutions, and rot and damage detection technology. We are extremely happy to be collaborating with IIITDM, a center of excellence for technical education and research in the next generation of non-invasive testing technology for fresh produce."

Commenting on the MoU, Dr M D Selvaraj, dean SRIC, Sponsored research and Industrial consultancy, IIITDM said, IIITDM Kancheepuram is the design-centric engineering institution of the national importance of Education (MOE), working to build a product development-oriented ecosystem. Bio-inspired research and development (BiRD) Laboratory of IIITDM kancheepuram pursues the research and developmental activities to support the prime sectors of India such as defense, medical, food, and agriculture through state-of-the-art photonic technology bio-inspired technologies. BiRD lab at IIITDM Kancheepuram is committed to make this valuable collaboration with WayCool foods successful and put its sincere efforts into bringing out viable photonic technologies for fruit monitoring.

This is Waycool's fourth research and development partnership this year. WayCool, earlier this year, joined hands with IIT-Hyderabad, to work on food wastage reduction technologies and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) to develop sustainable and optimal technology for enhancing the shelf life of selected fruits and vegetables. The company has also partnered with National Design and Research Forum to bring a wide range of technology into cultivation and post-harvest management of agri-produce.

WayCool Foods is India's largest and fastest-growing agri-commerce company. Focusing on food development and distribution, the company leverages innovative technology to scale and operate a complex supply chain from soil to sale. Through its farmer engagement program - Outgrow, WayCool works with 70000+ farmers. WayCool operates a full-stack, broadline product range across multiple channels and categories such as fresh produce, staples, and dairy, serving over 50,000 clients in the general trade, modern trade, and food services space. Waycool's consumer brands basket consists of Madhuram, Dhanyaa, Shuddha, Kitchenji, L'exotique, and Freshy's, to name a few.