Lufthansa Industry Solutions and SPRK.global work on trading platform for better food distribution

Berlin/Norderstedt, October 5, 2021 - Lufthansa Industry Solutions (LHIND) is supporting the Berlin-based impact start-up SPRK.global in building a global, digital trading platform for surplus food. In close cooperation with the actors in the supply chain, this collaboration is intended to enable a need-based and rapid redistribution or processing of surplus food that is perfectly edible. The aim is to eliminate global food overproduction and waste in the supply chain. This increases efficiency, saves resources and ultimately significantly reduces climate damage.

Efficient coordination in the supply chain thanks to artificial intelligence
To redistribute food surpluses, SPRK.global relies on unique technology using artificial intelligence. This AI-powered trade and distribution platform connects participants in the supply chain and ensures efficient coordination between food supply and surplus as well as demand. It systematically considers commercial traders, processing plants, as well as community-based organizations as buyers.

Neural filters enable information exchange
Experts from LHIND are providing pro bono support in the further development of the AI-based platform."This system is based on an architecture called neural collaborative filtering, where our experts merge semantic information about products with historical transactions.  The system can recommend potential customers based on products or vice versa. Further plans include recommending additional ingredients based on current inventory to create complete recipes," explains Susan Wegner, Vice President Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics at LHIND.

Alexander Piutti, Founder and CEO of SPRK.global adds, "Systems integration and artificial intelligence offer us the opportunity to make the supply chain more sustainable by better matching product supply and demand to reduce and avoid surpluses in the long run. Through the platform, we connect supply chain participants to create a system that can operate globally."

"As one of Germany's largest IT service companies, it is important to us to contribute to a sustainable future. We therefore particularly support projects that have set themselves the same goal," explains Jörn Messner, Managing Director of LHIND. "Artificial intelligence will become a central tool in the prudent and targeted use of resources in the future. With SPRK.global, we are jointly demonstrating how this can work in practice. The fact that we can contribute to the success of this project with our know-how makes me proud," Messner continues.