CoolVeg develops and deploys affordable evaporative cooling solutions, including clay pot coolers and cooling chambers, to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. These technologies reduce postharvest food loss and improve nutrition for households and businesses in hot, dry regions. The systems provide practical, low-cost storage improvements without relying on grid electricity.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Post-harvest food loss is significantly increased by a lack of access to affordable and effective storage solutions for fruits and vegetables, especially in off-grid communities in arid regions. This leads to reduced access to nutritious foods, financial losses for farmers, and wasted resources.
Solution
CoolVeg provides accessible evaporative cooling technologies that extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, reducing post-harvest food loss with minimal or no electricity requirements. They offer both household-scale clay pot coolers and larger forced-air evaporative cooling chambers, each designed for hot and dry climates. CoolVeg collaborates with businesses, research institutions, NGOs, and government agencies to increase the adoption of these technologies through training programs and open-source designs. Their solutions help preserve produce, increase access to nutritious foods, and save communities time and money.
Target Audience
CoolVeg primarily serves households, vendors, and farmers in arid regions, as well as organizations working in international development, agriculture, and food security.
Features
- Clay pot coolers constructed from locally available materials, costing between $2 and $15
- Forced-air evaporative cooling chambers that provide rapid pre-cooling and improved storage
- Open-source designs for shipping container-based cooling chambers with a storage capacity of 168 crates
- Portable modular forced-air cooling chambers with a storage capacity of 15 to 30 crates, easily constructed and transported
- Mobile forced-air cooling chambers designed for pre-cooling during transportation from farm to market, with a storage capacity of 32 to 64 crates
- Training programs for constructing and selling clay pot coolers, targeting agricultural extension networks, cooperatives, and schools
- Online resources including construction guides, training materials, research reports, and decision-making tools