- The award-winning project brings together professionals in the food business with the common goal of establishing a safer, more sustainable, and transparent American food system through the use of ambient IoT technology, which is the most scalable and efficient.
- Wiliot received recognition in the field of Ethical Sourcing / Supply Chain Transparency; previous winners of this category include Giant Food, Whole Foods, and Kroger.
The Ambient IoT Food Safety Initiative has been named a winner in the 2024 Progressive Grocer Impact Awards in the Ethical Sourcing / Supply Chain Transparency category, according to Wiliot, the Internet of Things pioneer whose Ambient Intelligence platform is giving trillions of “things” intelligence. Giants in the food industry including Kroger, Whole Foods, and Giant Food have won in the past.
The achievements of food retailers, suppliers, and solution providers who are tackling problems like food waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and ethical sourcing throughout the food chain are honored by the Progressive Grocer Impact Awards.
The honor highlights Wiliot’s dedication to bringing about change in the food industry by utilizing a novel technology paradigm, the ambient Internet of Things, to cut down on food waste and give companies the real-time, item-level data they require to boost sales, enhance safety, comply with regulations, and lower their carbon footprint.
“The ambient IoT is the most scalable, efficient, and low-labor approach to achieving safer, more sustainable, and transparent food chains,” stated Steve Statler, CMO at Wiliot, describing the first-of-its-kind initiative that brings together technology companies, standards organizations, and food brands. We formed a coalition of like-minded professionals dedicated to implementing and expanding the ambient IoT in our food system because we believe that no single firm can spearhead the transformation we need to see throughout the food industry. We are thrilled that Progressive Grocer’s Impact Awards have acknowledged our work and the ambient IoT in general.
Wiliot collaborated with iFoodDS and Trustwell, two prominent players in the food sector, as part of its Ambient IoT Food Safety Initiative to integrate its ambient IoT data into their respective food safety and compliance systems. These platforms may now track food products utilizing Wiliot’s ambient IoT data in addition to the more conventional techniques of using QR codes, advance shipment notifications, and electronic documentation.
The program is also intended to assist the nation’s biggest food companies in utilizing ambient IoT to adhere to Rule 204 of the Food Safety & Modernization Act, which seeks to improve supply chain visibility in order to improve responses to contamination, foodborne illness, and other public health and safety concerns. The deadline for the industry to adhere to Rule 204 is January 2026.
Frank Yiannas, a former Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and one of the architects of FSMA Rule 204, who is also Williot’s Strategic Advisor, stated that improving consumer protection would be impossible without increasing transparency and traceability across the whole food production and distribution system. “A group of industry leaders has formed the Ambient IoT Food Safety Initiative to assist food companies in adopting a new technology that has the potential to expedite and improve the efficiency of achieving transparency and traceability.”
Bluetooth, 5G Advanced, 6G, and Wi-Fi are among the wireless protocols that are including ambient IoT, a battery-free technology. At a fraction of the price of legacy technology, it enables food products to be connected to the internet and harness the potential of artificial intelligence.
Wiliot’s ambient light without batteries Any food product or container can have ambient intelligence included by attaching IoT pixels. Food stores and businesses can obtain real-time, item-level data from items that are connected to IoT Pixels. These devices send item-level data, such as location, temperature, carbon footprint, and more, to the cloud-based Ambient Intelligence Platform.
In addition to its acclaimed Ambient Food Safety Initiative, Wiliot is dedicated to developing innovative technology and solutions that make food systems safer, smarter, and more transparent.
Any food product may now speak in natural language thanks to Wiliot’s WiliBot GenAI chatbot, which was introduced in August 2024 and blends ambient intelligence and generative AI. WiliBot enables food firms to ask natural language inquiries about their products by simply scanning a food product attached with an IoT pixel. This gives them real-time insights into manufacturing specifics, shipping circumstances, carbon footprints, and other topics.
Many of the most prominent organizations in the world have honored Wiliot with accolades, such as the Gartner Cool Vendor accolades, the MWC GLOMO Awards, the Fast Company Next Big Thing in Tech Awards, TIME’s Best Invention Awards, and now Progressive Grocer’s Impact Awards.
