Culinae is a behaviorally-driven food tech platform that reduces household food waste by improving the alignment between consumer intent and behavior. While existing solutions focus on planning and storage, Culinae addresses the behavioral gap that causes over 50% of EU food waste to occur in homes. By leveraging real-time data and adaptive routines, it enables more accurate consumer intent modeling, driving better decisions at the household level and upstream improvements in grocery retail operations and supply chain efficiency.
Private households generate over 50% of all food waste in Europe—more than agriculture, manufacturing, retail, or foodservice combined. In Germany, avoidable food waste costs €6 billion per year — roughly €150 per household.
The solution is not new - more planned and needs-based shopping, proper storage and processing at home. Moreover, there are thousands of apps that do exactly that and generate market size of US$ 2.21 Billion in 2024 and projected to reach US$ 5.53 Billion by 2033. So why, despite countless solutions, do households still waste so much food? [Business Research Insights]
The core issue isn’t planning or storage—it’s behavior. Specifically, the persistent gap between what people intend to do and what they actually do.
As David Ogilvy put it:
“People don’t think what they feel, don’t say what they think, and don’t do what they say.”
And Schopenhauer went even further:
“A man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills.”
This disconnect is why even simple solutions—like meal planning or food tracking—fail to gain traction. In fact, nearly 50% of people admit they don’t stick to their planned diets. [phys.org]
The underlying mechanics are neurological. 80–90% of perceived flavor is driven by smell, processed through retronasal olfaction—a sensory pathway that bypasses conscious control. Food decisions are shaped by emotion, mood, and subconscious cues, not executive intention.
This makes self-reported food data highly unreliable:
In short: traditional consumer data—loyalty programs, purchase history, and food logs—fail to reflect real behavior. And that behavioral blind spot drives inefficiencies across the food system.
| Retail Pain Point | Cause (Behavioral/Structural) | Estimated Financial Impact (€/year) | Source (Reports & Data) |
|---|---|---|---|
| False Loyalty | Misinterpreted CRM & loyalty data | Up to 50% of loyalty marketing efforts target misclassified customers | |
| 68% of consumers shop from 3+ brands/month | Capgemini (2017): 54% multi-program use 🔗 Nielsen (2016): Only 8% loyal to 1 brand 🔗 GfK Panel (2021, cited): | ||
| Inventory Misalignment | Distorted perception of intent (biases, aspiration shopping) | €5–10M/year in avoidable perishable write-offs per chain | WWF Germany - Retail Waste Report (2021) PDF BCG (2018) 🔗 UNEP (2021) 🔗 |
| Revenue Loss | Promo fatigue & irrelevant personalization | 5–15% lost personalization ROI (missed uplift) | McKinsey (2021) 🔗 BCG (2019) 🔗 Twilio Segment (2022) 🔗 |
We don’t need anything super fancy in the beginning. People’s subconscious may be complex, but their food behavior isn’t. Decision fatigue, time pressure, and emotional overload keep them stuck in routine, even when they crave variety. Most households rely on just 5–7 core recipes.