Case study KI-SusCheck – Sustainable AI shopping assistant
Consumers struggle to identify truly sustainable and healthy food products amidst overwhelming labels and fragmented information. In the KI-SusCheck project fortiss developed an AI-based web app and chatbot to deliver personalised, trustworthy product sustainability scores. This empowers consumers to make healthier, climate-friendly purchasing decisions with confidence.
Challenge
Consumers face confusion navigating sustainability claims, labels, and supply chain data when shopping for food. They lacked a trustworthy, user-friendly tool to evaluate product sustainability comprehensively. KI-SusCheck partnered with fortiss to develop an AI-powered digital assistant that integrates decentralised data for informed, transparent decisions.
Solution
fortiss contributed AI expertise to develop the KI-SusCheck cloud platform, which consolidates blockchain data from IBM Food Trust and other verified sources into an accessible web-based app. The team designed a novel sustainability score algorithm covering health, social, environmental, and animal welfare dimensions. A virtual assistant (chatbot) was integrated to guide users through barcode scanning, sustainability evaluation, and supply chain insights in simple, natural-language dialogs. User testing and iterative development ensured high usability, accuracy, and trustworthiness of the tool.
Result
- Developed a digital sustainable shopping assistant as a web app with integrated AI chatbot
- Created an individual sustainability scoring model across health, social, environmental, and animal welfare criteria
- Enabled barcode scanning for real-time product sustainability evaluations and supply chain transparency
- Integrated blockchain-based IBM Food Trust data for verifiable and trustworthy information
- Achieved high consumer interest, with 70%+ expressing intent to use such an assistant
- Enhanced transparency and public acceptance of sustainable, healthy diets through innovative AI and open data integration
Outcome
KI-SusCheck demonstrates that combining AI, blockchain, and user-centred design empowers consumers to make informed, sustainable food choices easily. fortiss’ AI-based cloud and conversational frameworks prove essential in delivering a scalable, trustworthy solution that bridges technical innovation and public health goals.
Project partner
