Solari
Thermosolar dehydrated snacks of local fruits to commercialize in schools in Mexico that now prohibits junk food.
Schools in Mexico have banned junk food from their cafeterias trying to solve the obesity problem, but kids need to have snacks and can not eradicate them from their lives one day to another. Solari offers a healthier option for kids to snack on, giving kids the snack and energy they need, contributing to local producers and taking advantage of ground conditions for production.
Dehydrated healthy snacksn for kids, made with fruits that were going to be wasted due to quality issues (size) created by thermosolar dehydration plants in the state of Zacatecas.
Mexico has the biggest rate of obesity in kids in the world, which affect the life of 1 of every 3 kids in the country. Also Zacatecas has one of the biggest UV radiation in the world which could help to have efficient dehydration plants.
This solution is focused mainly in the kids, giving them a healthier option of snacks which are consciously produced. Benefiting also local producers by taking advantage of the harvests which didn´t pass quality standards due to their harvest appearance or size.
Jorge once experienced the waste of an entire tomato harvest due to quality standards.
Marijose has personally fought against obesity, she has worked in different food products. Currently working in a project to substitute colorants with natural options which have proved to reduce obesity.
Valeria is getting a degree in biomedical engineering, and believes on changing the food market and the way it’s consumed.
Fernanda; a social speaker that wants to advocate for Betito and other kids with obesity.
We have reached out to two mentors, one focused on food engineering and business, who worked with us in the optimization of design and the process of dehydration. Also two key alliances with the most important schools in our state, which are willing to introduce our products in their cafeterias. We conducted an interview with kids in middle school about healthy snacks and results were good.
Marijose has worked with projects related to healthy food because she is a biotechnologist.
Valeria and Fernanda had worked on medical projects related to cardiovascular health and diabetes.
Jorge has founded a social project for free education for kids in middle school.
- Improving healthcare access and health outcomes; and reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities (Health)
- Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model
In the actual market there are no dried fruits and vegetables made for kids which could be an alternative to unhealthy snacks. Mexico has a difficult situation with obesity in children because 1 of every 3 kids has an obesity problem which produce problems like diabetes. This problems are related to a fast food culture and eating a lot of unhealthy snacks.
Also the projects want to use fruits and vegetables that were originally going to be wasted by quality issues like size, so that agriculture people could get an extra income for their products.
We would like to expand to all the middle schools in Zacatecas, then expand to primary schools.
The solution use renewable energy in a solar dehydration plant created by us, to take advantage of the natural conditions of the state which is a semidesert, has a high height and low contamination levels. With the mentoring of the food engineer who is our mentor, we could improve the snack to have more nutrients. Finally, circular economy is important with the use of food that was good but was small or no tasty enough.
- Biotechnology / Bioengineering
- Mexico
With the key partners are 600.
Next year that amount could increase to 1000.
Small budget to work and the need of a mentor focused on dehydrated products.
Schools in Zacatecas, Centro Escolar Lancaster and SecuTec.