New Tech Company Wants to Change How Swedish Consumers Shop
Mats Wiktorsson, CEO of Awaresome, is surprised by how much information is available about the food in his shopping basket.
Photo: Tobias Matteusson
How can consumers gain better insight into what they actually buy? And how can tomorrow’s loyalty programs contribute to better health, lower costs, and more sustainable food habits? These are the questions that West Sweden-based tech company Awaresome wants to explore. They’ve just launched The Great Food Experiment – a digital initiative aimed at revealing what we really put in our grocery bags, using data already available through supermarket loyalty programs.
“Today, many consumers are frustrated by rising food prices, while also wanting to shop healthier and more sustainably. We often feel that the retail industry fails to address this, leaving us powerless, disappointed, and with eroding trust,” says Mats Wiktorsson, CEO of Awaresome.
He continues:
“That’s why we at Awaresome are building a more transparent system for healthy and sustainable food choices – one that involves consumers, producers, and the retail sector alike. Ultimately, this will give consumers more influence, benefiting everyone along the food supply chain.”
Awaresome is inviting thousands of consumers to participate in the experiment, which will run for just over three months. The aim is to explore how existing data on food purchases can be used to provide consumers with greater transparency – and in the long run, more control over what they buy and eat.
How The Great Food Experiment Works
The experiment is open to households who are members of one or more supermarket loyalty programs. By voluntarily sharing their purchase history with Awaresome, the data can be cross-referenced with scientific research, public health guidelines, and other relevant sources. This enables households to gain insights into their food habits – and in the future, set personal goals for how healthy and sustainable they want their grocery shopping to be, as well as receive personalized tips and offers.
Awaresome, with Mats Wiktorsson at the helm, represents the everyday consumer – like the 40% of Swedes who say they want to eat more healthily and the 50% who say they want to shop more sustainably. Now, they’re ready to take the next step.
“Many people describe it as difficult and time-consuming to interpret ingredient lists, food labels, prices, country of origin and recommendations. That’s why we’ve developed a system that does the work for us – and it will be completely free for consumers,” says Wiktorsson.
Once the experiment is completed, all participants will receive illustrative examples of the types of insights the system can generate, and how it can help consumers make better decisions at an overall level.
Backed by Innovation
The Great Food Experiment is run by Awaresome AB and builds on a Vinnova-funded project about future food system prototypes, carried out in collaboration with the research institute RISE and the design studio Boid. The goal is to explore how increased transparency can strengthen the role of the consumer within the food value chain.