If you've ever thrown away an overripe banana, you need this app created by Alabama entrepreneurs
See Produce is an AI-powered food tech startup reducing food waste by helping consumers and businesses track produce freshness. Born in Silicon Valley and thriving in Alabama, the app is transforming how we eat and shop.
Priyanka Kumari and Pandian Rajaram have been meaning to get back to Silicon Valley for the last sevens month to gather the furniture they put in storage just before flying to Huntsville, Alabama to join the three-month long HudsonAlpha AgTech Accelerator program that started last October.
But Kumari and Rajaram’s schedules have been so packed with investor and customer meetings in Alabama that they simply haven’t had time to fly back and get the rest of their personal items.
Simply put: “Alabama has kept us busy,” Rajaram explained to Hypepotamus, as consumers and enterprise businesses have realized the value in their startup, See Produce.
The Core Of See Produce
At its core, See Produce is a startup designed to reduce food waste. As the name suggests, the app uses AI to check a piece of produce’s quality to ripeness. Individuals can use See Produce’s app Kitchen SensAI can snap a picture of a produce item during their trip to the grocery store and can immediately find an expiry date of an individual fruit or vegetable. The app also tracks produce inventory, shares consumption habits, gives reminders about when to eat different produce, and provides recipe suggestions based on stage of ripeness.
Kitchen SensAI is available on the Google Play Store and the App Store - TestFlight.
But there is also an important B2B angle inside See Produce. The startup can also help grocery stores and produce warehouses forecast shelf life and manage large inventory levels to lower food waste numbers and bring produce to consumers when they are at peak freshness.
In its early stages, the startup is also exploring opportunities to work with governmental organizations like USDA and specific agricultural sectors, like the peanut and apple industries, across the United States, Rajaram told Hypepotamus.
Building Food-Focused Startups In The Southeast
The See Produce team originally relocated to Huntsville, Alabama to take advantage of Hudson Alpha AgTech, a gener8tor program run by managing director Christopher Udall. However, Kumari and Rajaram are choosing to remain in Alabama post-graduation, drawn by the state's thriving agricultural sector and its cost-effective business environment. Eventually, the rest of their furniture will get out of their California storage unit and into their new home in Alabama.
Right now, See Produce helps users identify the expiration date for avocados, bananas, limes, chilis, and tomatoes. More produce items are coming online shortly, based on store manager feedback on what grocery store items spoil the most, Kumari told Hypepotamus. The startup will soon allow users to check on the status of their cherries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and onions.
Alabama, and the Southeast region has a whole, serves as fertile ground (pun intended) for startups tackling food waste. Other startups building in the sector include Goodr, Retaaza, and Raccoon Eyes.
Photos provided by See Produce
