Avocado tester seeks to reduce global food waste

Avocados can be tricky to produce. Their ripeness window is so narrow. Entrepreneur Marco Snikkers just released his company's latest product checker at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, which tells an avocado's ripeness after scanning it.

But it goes beyond aiming to reduce frustration in the kitchen. The Dutch start-up One Third already predicts the shelf life of tomatoes, strawberries and blueberries, and says it will further expand its ability to determine ripeness for more produce later this year, aiming to help reduce the amount of food that is wasted around the world.

Marco Snikkers, CEO and founder of OneThird      said "Our scanner helps our consumers in the store get the right decisions so they pick the right avocado, which is good for guacamole today or good for guacamole in a couple of days. So you're not disappointed when you get home and open that avocado." According to the United Nations, about one-third of food is wasted globally, making the related carbon emissions to grow, ship and distribute that food all for naught.