Alberts One is meant to make healthy food accessible and affordable through technology. The blending station has the complexity of a food processing robot but it is controlled with the simplicity of a vending machine. The solution allows workplaces to keep offering healthy, fresh food without food loss during this time of hybrid working. Thanks to the app consumers can order and pay contactless, personalise their recipe and trace the origins of their food.
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This case is one of the 15 smart product examples we have compiled for you in the Smart Product Inspirator |
Alberts is a food tech company that builds blending stations that prepare fresh smoothies, hot soups & plant-based shakes from pure, 100% natural ingredients. These blends are offered as a healthy snack by corporates, food service companies and retail companies.
Why this smart product
The world population in general is not eating healthily enough. Obesity is a global problem due to inaccessibility of healthy food. Alberts blending station is meant to make healthy food accessible and affordable through technology, so that the healthy choice can be the easiest option. In addition, the company is developing a health coaching app that nudges people towards personalised healthy nutrition choices. At the same time consumers are asking more about the origins of the food they buy and consume. Alberts is working on a clear, transparent full life cycle traceability system for its frozen fruits and vegetables.
Value for the customer
The Alberts One solution is available 24/7 and takes up just 1 m² of space. It requires limited maintenance and makes it possible to place an order & pay 100% contactless when using the mobile app. Thanks to the app consumers can personalise their recipe. The solution allows workplaces to keep offering healthy, fresh food without food loss during this time of hybrid working (which makes less people eat in the cafeteria). Companies that invest in a healthy food offering at work, experience reduced absenteeism and increased employee retention.
Technology behind smart product Alberts One
The blending station has the complexity of a food processing robot but it is controlled with the simplicity of a vending machine. To this end it has an off-the-shelf PLC controller, custom developed IO and a variety of sensors on board. The station is IoT connected and allows to share data for different purposes. Direct machine access allows Alberts to perform 70% of the field interventions from its central control hub. Thanks to collaboration with a telemetry provider data is being collected that gives insights in sales analytics and consumer behaviour. Robot sensory data provides insights in maintenance. The different building blocks are interconnected in a cloud platform.
Capturing revenue
Alberts One blending stations are leased to customers in Belgium and also serviced by Alberts. There is a profit sharing system with the client on every smoothie sold, ensuring that from 20-30 smoothies sold per day, the client makes break-even. Outside Belgium machines are sold to international partners that roll out the Alberts brand and products in their region. Thanks to product data Alberts is monitoring and improving client relationships and product innovations. For example, the company is optimising operational efficiency to minimise its footprint while enhancing customer experience.
Next steps
Alberts is going full force for international expansion and is therefore building a remote support platform to deliver technical assistance to international partners. The company will continue valorising IoT data to optimise its supply chain, ensure full end-to-end traceability and measure the ecological impact of the ingredients. In order to take faster improvement actions, such as enhancing recipes and blend quality, Alberts is setting up systems to efficiently collect user data. The company foresees to make use of AI for machine performance and maintenance.
Smart Product Scenarios
To enhance your chances of success and guide your smart product innovation, Sirris offers you practical tools and guidelines. Our Smart Product Inspirator provides you with a framework for identifying valuable smart product ideas based on the 5 most common scenarios and 15 smart product examples illustrating these scenarios. With these carefully analysed scenarios we help you uncover the potential for success . The key scenarios for Alberts One are: ‘Smart autonomy’ and ‘Digital user interface'.
