</ Luke Saunders /> farmer’s fridge founder > Measuring <and Anticipating> Demand---< chicago >

Luke Saunders didn’t set out to eliminate food waste— it’s just the welcome byproduct of his company’s foray into artificial intelligence.

After founding fresh-food vending machine company Farmer’s Fridge in a shared kitchen space in Chicago’s West Town in 2013, the now 38-year-old entrepreneur learned quickly that food waste was fixing to be a big problem. By the time he had a small collection of five to 10 machines, which he calls fridges, Saunders was selling only about half his inventory, and donating or composting as much of the rest as he could. In those early days, he says keeping his fridges stocked with leafy greens without tossing out heads of rotten lettuce was “completely impossible.”

Things improved when Saunders hired a data science intern to build an AI model, using Uber’s publicly available algorithm for determining surge pricing, that could gauge the demand for certain meals at specific locations. While Uber uses the algorithm to boost prices at busy times, Farmer’s Fridge uses it to track which meals are most popular at specific machines, and then stocks those locations with the meals most likely to sell through.

With this predictive model, Farmer’s Fridge is able to place orders with its ingredients suppliers months in advance, which Saunders says helps lower prices—and the knowledge of what’s going to pop also helps curb food waste. By early 2024, the company’s fleet of more than 100 logistics vehicles were restocking nearly 1,200 smart fridges upward of 20 times a week.

Saunders has recently also started using AI to adjust item pricing in real time. If the Turkey Cobb isn’t selling at a particular location, for example, the Farmer’s Fridge will automatically discount it—and notify nearby customers with the company’s mobile app about the deal. The overall effect, according to Saunders, is that food waste is down to less than 4 percent.