Tazza Box - Fresh in. Fresh out.

India wastes almost 20% of its annual production of fruits and vegetables. The Indian retail sector comprising of 10 million+ street vendors, contributes largely to this waste. Unlike high-volume storage facilities available at different levels of the supply chain, there is a lack of storage solution that can cater to the needs of the retail sector.

Tazza Box is a stand-alone storage solution that increases the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables without using high power-consumption processes like cooling or drying. This feature makes Tazza Box a highly cost-effective and portable product that suits the need of the retail market.

In developing countries like India, the majority of street vendors in Fruits & Vegetables retail market are still unorganized with low incomes. Tazza Box has the potential to deliver value to its users by reducing losses and increasing their income levels.

India is one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables(F&Vs) in the world. Every year, fresh produce worth Rs 13,300 Cr is thrown away due to lack of adequate storage facility across the supply chain. Supply chain storage consists of three key components; Post-harvest storage, transportation storage and retail-level storage.

The retail sector in India, unlike other developed countries, comprises of 10 million+ street vendors and small shop owners with low-income levels. These vendors periodically procure fresh produce in bulk from a central market that gives them a runway for a few days of demand. Given that demand is inherently unpredictable, a storage solution becomes vital for the vendors to keep the F&Vs fresh longer. In India, the adoption of any new form of technology takes place when the cost structure goes down significantly. Therefore, it is imperative to have an affordable, low-cost solution, unlike other traditional cold storage solutions that are expensive and prove useful only for post-harvest and transportation storage.

Lack of retail-level storage is one of the highest contributors to the total wastage. Making storage solution available and affordable to this segment will perhaps create a significant impact towards reducing the food losses.

Tazza Box is a portable storage solution that increases the shelf life of fruits and vegetables without using either cooling or drying. Tazza Box achieves prolonged freshness by performing two core functions. First, to create a controlled saturated humidity environment inside the box. Almost all the fresh crops require high humidity to keep the internal cell structure in good health. In its absence, the cells start to decompose. Second, to maintain a constant temperature within the box. An optimum temperature plays a crucial role in delaying the ripening process for fruits and vegetables.

The humidification process is easily manageable using a small fan blowing over a foam soaked in water. Since Tazza Box is airtight once closed, relative humidity up to 95% is achieved just under a few minutes. The temperature inside the box is regulated using phase change material(PCM) that play a crucial role in absorbing excess heat and storing in the form of latent energy, thereby effectively regulating the temperature. The entire box can be powered just by using a small 3 W solar panel, making Tazza Box a highly cost-efficient product.

On an average day, a street vendor has to throw away almost 20% of its inventory of fruits and vegetables due to lack of storage. It is a common problem faced by most street vendors in the country. With an increase in the shelf life of up to four times(experimental), Tazza Box could be a game-changing solution that will enable these vendors to cut losses significantly. The street vendors in India usually come from a very low-income background and live hand to mouth. A simple intervention of an affordable storage solution not only helps in increasing their earnings but also is key to reducing food losses in the country.

Conducting interviews with two primary stakeholders: individual street vendors and street vendor associations was instrumental in understanding their specific needs. Based on the valuable feedback from the vendors and multiple quick experiments, we were able to develop a storage solution that was in lines with their expectations.

There is a certain disparity between our food production and food delivery systems today, wherein 30% of the total food produced gets lost or wasted without feeding anyone. We aim to address this disparity in a way where the most impact can be delivered. Providing a low-cost storage solution for the retail market in India and the developing world will not only make our food systems much more sustainable but also impact the lives of millions of vendors by increasing their daily earnings.

Humidity is a crucial environmental factor that influences the rate of water loss from fruits and vegetables (F&V). Unlike other traditional cold storage solutions that focus on cooling to increase the shelf life, Tazza Box uses only humidity to achieve the results.

Cooling helps to prolong the shelf life by reducing the respiration rate of F&V. But a drawback of a cooling process like refrigeration is that many F&Vs( Banana, tomato etc.) are susceptible to chilling injury that leads to loss of freshness, color and texture. Tazza Box, on the other hand, creates a saturated humidity condition inside the storage environment that helps to slow the rate of water loss and other metabolic activities. It further lead in reduction of both respiration rate and microbial activity that helps in increasing the shelf life.

Advanced cold storage solutions do use a tightly controlled temperature and humidity environments to store F&Vs. But considering the target segment where factors like costs, volume & electricity access play a very critical role in the adoption, such expensive cold storage or refrigeration solutions are not practically feasible.

At its core, Tazza box leverages the principle of evaporative cooling combined with temperature control using Phase Change Material. Evaporative cooling as a concept is applied a bit differently inside the Tazza Box. Here, the use of evaporative cooling is to create an extremely high relative humidity condition inside the box. A saturated humidity environment lowers the rate of water loss from F&V significantly, hence helping in preserving the freshness longer. The humidification system consists of 24 CFM fan and a sponge soaked in water(Refillable). The entire system is powered using a 3 W solar panel. Phase change material plays a crucial role in regulating the internal temperature of the box.

References:

https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Evaporative-Cooling-A-Postharvest-Technology-for-Fruits-and-Vegetables-Preservation.pdf

https://whatforme.com/how-to-increase-humidity-in-a-grow-box

https://coldchainmanagement.org/2015/04/06/white-paper-sustainable-industrial-refrigeration-using-phase-change-materials/

As a team, our emphasis has always been to follow the right underlying structure while solving a problem. For us, this structure involves four key components; Customer, value proposition, constraints and business model.

A lot of things don't get past through that first customer, or tenth customer or the hundredth customer, solely because the solution fails to address their specific needs or it is not compelling enough for them to spend money. Conducting user interviews with various street vendors and observing their daily routine, we were able to map out the specific needs and pain points of these street vendors. A need for a storage solution was something that came out as a common observation among all.

Along with an understanding of the need, a rough idea of how to address the need is equally important. Constraints played a critical role for us in figuring out the "how". These include - portability, costs and access to electricity.  Tazza Box provides a clear value proposition to the users by increasing the shelf life of F&Vs, that would otherwise go to waste and eat-up their profits. Direct sales, short term rentals as well as long term lease models will be potential revenue streams for Tazza Box.

Empowering 10 million+ street vendors and small shop owners with Tazza Boxes will not only reduce food losses but make the retail sector much more efficient, thereby increasing the earnings of the vendors.

We are in the early innings of our product development phase. But the last part that completes our theory of change and makes us confident of the impact is our constant iterative process of designing, testing and iterating the product by closely engaging with the customers.

With a proof-of-concept established and having a working prototype in place, our immediate goal for the next 6-12 months is to test, iterate and refine the product as much as possible. We wish to start our pilot small, with a minimum of 10-15 vendors on board initially. The pilot will run tentatively for three months. This pilot will give us some valuable inputs from the vendors and help make the transition from a prototype to our first product - Tazza Box V.1. At the end of a year, our goal is to scale the first version of the product across Nashik, Maharashtra.

Not limiting the product to a particular city or state, in less than five years it is our strong desire to empower million-plus street vendors throughout the country with Tazza Boxes. In five years, we would like to see the company come up with new and innovative storage solutions like Tazza Box for each level of the Supply Chain, be it post-harvest, transport or retail.

Financial: The product development cycle for a hardware product is always capital intensive. Financial costs involved in prototyping, tooling, dyes etc. is an immediate barrier for us. 

Technical: Although the technology and the concept are proven to work, different types of produce/crops sometimes have a different response when exposed to a saturated humidity condition and a particular temperature band of phase change material. Tweaking and testing the product for almost all types of fruits and vegetables might be a challenge.

To tackle the financial barrier, currently, we are exploring raising pre-seed capital through grants and angel investors. As far as the technical challenge is concerned, collaborating with experts and institutions like the National Agriculture and Food Analysis and Research Institute (NAFARI) would be our first step. A partnership with them will help us test our product extensively with different types of fruits and vegetables.

Full Time: 3

Advisor: 1

Rachit Parikh is an engineer turned entrepreneur, passionate about building products that will accelerate humanity's drive towards a more green and sustainable future. He has an experience of over two years in the field of product development, engineering design and manufacturing.

Mitul Jhaveri has previously worked in the field of social impact strategy. In the past, he has engaged with non-profits in strategy and fundraising and also worked in giving policy recommendation.

Jay Chakalasiya was lead Data Scientist in an Assistive technology startup. He likes to develop intelligent solutions that have the potential to create a positive impact in the world.

Bhanu Prasad (Mentor/Advisor) is a leader at one of India's first Open Social Innovation Centers at Digital Impact Square. He coaches young innovators to create sustainable social startups.

Tazza Box has a huge business opportunity in the retail sector of fruits & vegetables that consists of 10 million+ street vendors & small shop retailers. The key stakeholders involved being the street vendor who is the user & street vendor associations, acting as the promoter. The value propositions delivered by Tazza Box is as follows:

1. Increase in shelf-life of fruits and vegetables, helping them to cut down the losses and increase their profits.
2. Lower transportation costs for vendors as they can reduce the frequency of buying F&Vs from the Mandi(Central Market) due to the availability of storage facility.

Three potential revenue streams include direct sales, short-term rental model and long term lease model of Tazza Boxes. Partnering with micro-finance institutions to facilitate the purchase of Tazza Box is also something that will aid in making the solution more accessible. A key stakeholder involved in the business model is the street vendor associations. These associations provide a great platform to promote and market the product to the vendors. It will significantly help other vendors purchase the product through word of mouth and trickle-down effects.

Given our present stage, Solve's assistance will be crucial in overcoming our financial and technical barriers. Partnering with one of the finest institutions of the world to leverage its network, expertise and community, will not only accelerate the journey towards our goals but also help us in delivering a significant impact. As a young team, we are looking for mentors who can guide us in our journey. Solve might be an incredibly valuable platform in connecting us with the right mentors who can provide mentorship and strategic advice to the team.