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ETAL fridge render with produce visible through the glass front

ETAL

#Industrial design

A redesign of the home fridge around fresh produce instead of generic storage. Research into household food waste showed fruits and vegetables are the most frequently discarded items, in part because standard fridges give them no dedicated place or visibility. ETAL responds with a round, glass-fronted form: a fruit bowl and open herb terrarium on top for what should be seen and used first, and a rotating glass-shelved column below split into produce, dry storage and general chambers — built in cork and wood-toned accents rather than the usual white plastic.

Research

Farm to fork

Food is lost at every stage on its way to the table. Once it reaches the home, it becomes food waste across four steps: purchase, storage, use and disposal. Mapping the causes at each step pointed to the two a fridge actually controls: products that aren’t stored properly and products that aren’t consumed in time.

  1. Growing
  2. Processing
  3. Storage
  4. Packaging
  5. Transport
  6. Distribution
  7. Consumption
  1. Purchase
    Over-purchasing
    • Lack of planning / poor planning
    • Aggressive marketing
    • Eyes bigger than stomach
  2. Storage
    Products expire before use
    • Products aren’t consumed in time
    • Products aren’t stored properly
  3. Use
    Preparing too much food
    • Cultural influence
    • Lack of planning / poor planning
  4. Disposal
    Additional reasons
    • Recall
    • Unappetizing leftovers
    • Misreading the dates on the product

Design

Fruits, vegetables and herbs

The storage needs of each product: temperature, humidity, ethylene and usage. Click a column to sort, or filter by usage.

-1 to 0°C
92.5%Eaten rawBulk14
-1 to 0°C
92.5%Eaten rawBulk816
-1 to 0°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound515
-0.5 to 0°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound48
-0.5 to 0.5°C
92.5%Eaten rawBulk13
0°C
92.5%––Eaten rawRound816
0°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound48
-1 to 1°C
97.5%Needs cookingLeafy14
0°C
97.5%Needs cookingLeafy14
0°C
99%––Raw or cookedLeafy11
0°C
97.5%Supporting ingredientLeafy1.57.5
0°C
97.5%Supporting ingredientLeafy1.56
0 to 0.5°C
92.5%Eaten rawBulk14
0 to 1°C
97.5%Supporting ingredientLeafy12
0 to 1°C
97.5%Supporting ingredientLeafy12
0 to 1°C
97.5%Supporting ingredientLeafy12
0 to 1°C
96.5%Needs cookingBulk14
0 to 1°C
92.5%Eaten rawBulk13
0 to 1°C
97.5%Supporting ingredientBulk13
0 to 1°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound48
0 to 1°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound618
0 to 1°C
97.5%Raw or cookedRound312
0 to 1°C
97.5%Needs cookingLeafy14
0 to 1°C
97.5%Raw or cookedLeafy14
0 to 2°C
92.5%Raw or cookedBulk13
0 to 2°C
65%Supporting ingredientBulk55
0 to 2°C
92.5%Supporting ingredientBulk26
0 to 2°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound510
0 to 2°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound515
0 to 2°C
95%––Raw or cookedRound39
0 to 2°C
92.5%Needs cookingLeafy13
0 to 2°C
92.5%Needs cookingLeafy14
0 to 2°C
92.5%Raw or cookedCylinder1030
0 to 2°C
92.5%Needs cookingLarge15
0 to 2°C
92.5%Raw or cookedLarge1.57.5
0 to 3°C
95%Needs cookingLeafy13
-1 to 4°C
92.5%Needs cookingCylinder618
0 to 4°C
92.5%Needs cookingRound416
0 to 4°C
95%––Raw or cookedRound39
1 to 5°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound510
2 to 6°C
92.5%––Eaten rawRound39
2 to 7°C
72.5%Raw or cookedRound1020
4 to 6°C
92.5%Needs cookingBulk14
5 to 6°C
92.5%Eaten rawBulk1212
5 to 7°C
92.5%Supporting ingredientBulk88
3 to 9°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound412
5 to 8°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound816
6 to 8°C
92.5%––Eaten rawBulk612
6 to 8°C
92.5%Raw or cookedRound412
7 to 10°C
97.5%Needs cookingBulk14
7 to 10°C
92.5%––Eaten rawBulk612
7 to 10°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound1030
6 to 12°C
92.5%Needs cookingRound1030
8 to 10°C
87.5%––Eaten rawRound39
5 to 13°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound412
8 to 12°C
92.5%––Eaten rawRound39
8 to 12°C
85%Eaten rawRound510
8 to 12°C
92.5%Needs cookingLarge0.52
8 to 12°C
87.5%Eaten rawLarge15
8 to 12°C
87.5%Eaten rawLarge15
8 to 12°C
87.5%Eaten rawLarge15
8 to 12°C
87.5%Eaten rawLarge28
8 to 12°C
85%Eaten rawLarge15
7 to 13°C
87.5%Eaten rawRound14
9 to 12.5°C
92.5%Eaten rawCylinder1020
10 to 12°C
87.5%Supporting ingredientRound918
10 to 12°C
92.5%Needs cookingLarge28
10 to 13°C
92.5%Eaten rawRound28
13 to 14°C
92.5%Eaten rawCylinder714
12.5 to 15°C
80%Needs cookingLarge416
13 to 15°C
92.5%Supporting ingredientBulk13

Temperature bar: −1 to 15°CEthylene: dots 0–3, none to highSize: dots 1–5Volume = units × sizeClick a product for its card

From a table to compartments

I set my own rules for which products can be stored together, worked them into a prompt with ChatGPT, and ran it on the products table in Julius AI, asking for several different versions. I combined parts of them and corrected the result myself. Each final group shares the same storage conditions, so each group became a compartment in the fridge. This sorting is where the configuration of ETAL comes from.

  1. Input

    The products

    Temperature, humidity, ethylene, usage, shape and size for each one.

  2. My rules

    1. 1Same temperature range
    2. 2Ethylene-sensitive items apart from high producers
    3. 3Leafy greens and herbs together
    4. 4Large items apart from small packaged ones
    5. 5Same usage type together
    6. 6Similar humidity together
    7. 7Strong smells apart from odour absorbers

    The last two rules were added on ChatGPT’s suggestion.

  3. AI

    Sorting

    Julius AI grouped the products by the rules, in several versions to compare.

  4. Me

    Combine and refine

    I combined the best parts of the versions and corrected the groups myself.

  5. Output

    Compartments

    Each group is one storage zone in the fridge.

All the products, before sorting. Hover a product for its name.
PineappleBroccoliBok choyCarrotSweet potatoSpinachApricotAppleGrapefruitLemonKiwiPotatoAvocadoCherrySproutsTomatoPearIceberg lettuceRed chiliCeleryLeekGreen onionBananaEggplantKohlrabiPlumAnnonaCauliflowerMelonRadishGreen beansStrawberryGingerOkraDragon fruitGuavaLettuceGarlicBlackberries & blueberriesMushroomsGreen peasParsleyArtichokePepperGrapesNectarineLycheeWatermelonCucumberPapayaPeachPassion fruitLoquatStarfruitTangerineBeetrootCornOnionKalePersimmonPrickly pearMangoAsparagusCorianderFennelCabbagePumpkinOrangeFigPomeloMint

From sketch to model

Inspiration, paper and digital sketches, and the first models. Hover to enlarge, click to open.

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