Smart sustainability solutions

Sustainability technology company Infine is leading the Food Data Finland development project, in which it is working with business partners to create an effective way of measuring the product-level responsibility criteria of purchasing organisations and to build a tool for acquiring and harmonising the product data required for this. The aim is to ensure smooth purchasing and sales operations in the food chain, taking into account increased sustainability information requirements.

Sustainability product information is no longer needed only for reporting or risk minimisation by the sustainability team. The sustainability criteria of food industry buyers are becoming comprehensive for all products, and checking the criteria is becoming part of the purchasing process and selection decisions.

Retail purchasing and sales functions need smart solutions for checking criteria in their business processes. The level and availability of product information needed to analyse criteria has become a bottleneck. The Smart sustainability solutions development project is developing processes and automation for checking purchasing criteria, as well as an AI solution for data collection and harmonisation that also utilises the GS1 Synkka product database. The solutions created in the project will contribute to the development of the entire data ecosystem.

The tool developed in the project will also provide solutions to the sustainability requirements set by EU legislation, which focus on value chain sustainability and the verification and documentation of reporting data chains in a way that traditional generative artificial intelligence is generally unable to do. In addition, the project will also explore linking conclusions drawn from sustainability data to the GS1 Digital Link standard, which allows different actors to link their desired digital services – such as consumer information or supply chain data – without the need for multiple separate codes.

 

Project goals

  1. Bringing AI to assist knowledge work. Currently, product and sustainability information is scattered in different places and must be communicated to several different parties, each in a different way. The project is developing automated ways to collect and harmonise information and share it as needed.
  2. Building a smooth way to automatically check purchasing criteria. In terms of sustainability, many buyers have started to set and monitor product-level purchasing criteria. This may also lead to changes in product selection. The project will develop a solution where buyers buy and sellers sell, and criteria checks are seamlessly integrated into the process.
  3. Refining the dimensions of sustainability. Infine's previous Food Data Finland development project created criteria for the environment and climate. Now the discussion is being expanded to include social responsibility and nutritional information, particularly how these are taken into account in purchasing criteria and sustainability analyses.

 

Project organisation

Infine, HKFoods, Fazer, Olvi, Snellman, Atria, Heino Group, Lunden Jalostaja, Evoke, R-kioski and Leijona Catering

 

Project schedule

February 12, 2025 – May 31, 2026

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