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The Cambridge MAKEit FRUIT & VEG is a unique hybrid MAKEathon comprising a series of live online events and remote prototyping in Cambridge. The participants will work online in teams to create new business ideas that would help the fruit & veg supply chains to become more prepared for future disruptions such as pandemics and climate emergency. The ideas will be converted into physical prototypes with support from Makers and equipment at Makespace Cambridge. 

The Challenge

What can help the fruit & vegetable supply chains become more resilient to disruptions?

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the inflexibility of our food systems. The fresh fruit & vegetable supply chains are struggling to adapt to the changes caused by the lockdown around the world. As the bulk buyers such as restaurants and schools all shut down, farmers were forced to dump thousands of tonnes of lettuce, potatoes, and strawberries. Local charity kitchens could not absorb all the donated surplus produce from local farms. In the meantime, consumers faced empty shelves at supermarkets due to panic buying. Many consumers turned to online shopping, resulting in drastic increase in the fruit & veg box deliveries. But they had to turn down new customers due to the limited capapcity. 

How can we channel the surplus to those who are in need and minimise valuable fresh produce being wasted? Beyond the COVID-19, what could help the fruit & vegetable supply chain become more resilient and prepared for future disruptions such as weather extremes, Brexit, pandemics? How can we build solutions to diversify the routes to consumers? What could help the farmers to be more agile for different markets? What can assist ugly fruit & veg delivery start-ups cope with volatile supply and demand?

Images clockwise from top left: masked customers at farmer's market, farmers donate unsold produce to local charities, harvest difficulties due to COVID-19, vegetables dumped at farms, empty shelves during the panic buying, demand surged for fruit & veg box deliveries

How

A Makeathon works like a hackathon but with an additional opportunity to make a physical prototype of the ideas generated.

On Day 1 and Day 2 (21-22, July), the teams will work together virtually on idea generation, initial sketches and prototypes on Zoom, Slack and Miro and experiment with prototypes with Making Kit at home. In the following four days, Makespace Cambridge will take the ideas to prepare working prototypes remotely. Following Monday, 27th July, will be the official Day 3 for the pitching and award ceremony.  

This is a fantastic opportunity to share your ideas and expertise, help solve the food resilience problem AND try out your skills in a unique environment!

Agenda 

British Summer Time

The Cambridge MAKEit FRUIT & VEG team will provide:

• Virtual ideation platforms
• Informative webinars 
• Fruit & veg challenges and perspectives from various actors
• Sustainability and resilience of the food supply chain
• Creative thinking and prototyping
• Business model development
• Virtual mentoring and guidance 
• Physical Home Making Kit 
• Remote prototyping service with Cambridge Makespace

Prototyping

During Day 1 and 2, participants will actively experiment with the materials in the Making Kit* at home, and share the ideas, sketches and photos of the initial prototypes with the team members and Making mentors.

3D printing at Makespace Cambridge

At the end of Day 2, the teams will send the final prototyping plan and sketches to the Making mentors. In the following 4 days, Makers from Cambridge Makespace will make one working prototype per team using available tools and materials such as 

Please note that remote prototyping would imply certain limitations in communicating the ideas. The expected level of the prototypes is a working demonstration of the concept, NOT a complete or life-scale model. 

Before the 27th July, the prototypes will be developed by Makespace. Makespace will send a short video clip and photos to the participants for inclusion in their final presentation materials.

Making Kit*

The Making Kit of craft materials will be posted to the partcipants for home prototyping. Due to the logistics of posting, we regret that we will be able to send the Making Kit only to British and EU addresses. For the participants from other regions, we will provide a list of materials to source independently.  

Cambridge MAKEit FRUIT & VEG is part of a series of MAKEathons delivered by the MAKEit Project under the consortium of EIT Food, partially funded by EIT. MAKEit tackles problems in various food supply chains, including fruit & vegetable, sugar, cocoa, dairy, meat, bread & bakery, and seafood.

• Innovation & Integrity
  Is it addressing the MAKEathon challenge? Is it a creative and original solution for the challenge?
• Prototype
  Does the prototype demonstrate the concept effectively? Is the innovation concept technically feasible?
• Sustainability Impact
  When scaled up, will the solution create enough social, environmental value?
• Business potential
  Is the business model viable? Is it applicable to the real world market and consumers? Is the commercial opportunity scalable?
• Team & Pitch
  Is the team enthusiastic to continue the entrepreneurial journey? Is the pitch compelling?