Honorable Mention

The DBZ methodology has been used for the development of this product. The following steps have been used: strategic search, exploration, ideation.

First, after carrying out a strategic search, the most significant data found were combined and focused on a single proposal, so that the opportunity was the design of “Energy-free food preservation methods for less developed countries”. For that reason, it is centred in African villages where hunger cases are common and increasing. To achieve this task, both context and user analysis have been made to specify people’s needs and habits.

Then different food preservation methods have been studied concluding on following the water evaporation method due to the climate of the area specified in the context helping the process.
After that, several product requirements were set such as the minimum storage time (2 to 3 days), general dimensions, use of natural and local resources without electricity or reduction of food waste from farmers. All these statements helped to define a Brief: “Design of an efficient food preservation system preventing food waste caused by agriculture and using natural resources for communities in less developed countries”.

Once these characteristics were specified, several sketches and drafts were made in order to create a visual reference about the product’s aesthetics.

Finally, the design was taken to a 3D programme where all the details were developed and the final result was obtained, which description would be the following one:

BI-HOTZ is a product aimed at communities in developing countries that keeps food fresh for 2-3 days. This is achieved thanks to the evaporative cooling preservation system without the use of electricity and carried out with natural resources. It is a simple process that could be easily carried out and comparable to an everyday activity such as watering plants, for example. In this way, it contributes to SDG 2 which is to reduce the food waste that farmers produce.

Furthermore, with its sustainable design, the environmental impact is reduced due to the foldability of the product and thus reducing the cost of distribution.