NEXTCART

Involved units

• University of Bologna (UNIBO)
  • Department of Industrial Engineering (DIN)
  • Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL)
  • Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC)
• University of Brescia (UNIBS)
  • Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics (DICATAM)
  • Department of Information Engineering (DII)

Education and Awareness: the Consumer as a Driver of Change at the Supermarket Shelf

Many of the choices we make at the supermarket are still unconscious, shaped more by marketing strategies than by their actual impact on health or the environment. NEXTCART was created to fill this gap, providing tools that turn shopping into both an educational act and a lever for collective change. Monitoring the user’s nutritional status, together with a smart cart that displays the environmental footprint of purchases, reveals in real time the consequences of our decisions. This is not only about receiving data, but about experiencing it interactively and immediately: what was once invisible, such as nutritional balance, emissions, and waste, becomes clear and understandable.

In this way, the consumer is no longer a passive actor but an active protagonist in the transformation of the agri-food supply chain. Each sustainable choice sends a signal to the market, and every avoided waste generates benefits for the environment and public health. NEXTCART shows that sustainability is not solely the responsibility of institutions or companies: it starts with the everyday actions of each of us. Education and individual responsibility intertwine, turning shopping into a tangible driver of innovation and change toward a fairer and healthier food system.

The Ecological Footprint of the Shopping Cart

Every food product carries an invisible story made of water, energy, transportation, and packaging. These environmental costs often remain hidden, leaving consumers without tools to evaluate them at the point of purchase. NEXTCART seeks to change this by making environmental impacts transparent through an innovative tool: the Digital Twin of the food supply chain.

The Digital Twin virtually replicates the journey of food along the entire chain, from cultivation to transport, storage, and retail. The system calculates water and energy consumption, labor hours, packaging materials, and even quality degradation due to transport and refrigeration. When direct data are not available, the Digital Twin integrates external sources such as geographical coordinates, vehicle speed, or hourly weather conditions.

The outcome is a synthetic indicator, accessible through a mobile app or smart cart, which translates the complexity of the supply chain into simple information. Consumers can finally see the ecological footprint of what they put in their cart and make more informed choices.

Health and Nutrition

Preventive nutrition is one of NEXTCART’s pillars. Numerous studies show that a balanced diet reduces mortality and healthcare costs associated with chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular conditions. NEXTCART leverages official databases to tailor dietary recommendations based on age, gender, health status, and level of physical activity. This approach also makes the app useful for managing allergies, intolerances, or special conditions (pregnancy, breastfeeding, competitive sports, advanced age, diabetes, hypertension, etc.).