Centurion University brings Australia’s ‘Saveful’ to India, igniting a nationwide movement to cut food waste and household costs

PRIYABRAT BISWAL

BHUBANESWAR, JANUARY 28, 2026

In a significant step towards tackling food waste and strengthening household food security, Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM) has partnered with Australian food-tech pioneer Saveful to launch a national, behaviour-led food-saving movement in India. The collaboration marks Saveful’s official entry into the Indian market, with Centurion University emerging as the national hub for scaling technology-driven, community-centric solutions to reduce food waste and everyday living costs.

Adapted specifically for Indian kitchens, food habits and affordability concerns, the Saveful app brings artificial intelligence (AI) into daily decision-making around meals. Unlike conventional recipe platforms, Saveful works with ingredients users already have at home, helping turn leftovers into meaningful meals while preventing perfectly edible food from ending up in the bin. The platform has already demonstrated strong results in Australia, where more than 45,000 users have saved 63 per cent more food than the average household, and is now poised to deliver similar impact across Indian campuses and communities.

The partnership is deeply aligned with Centurion University’s “learning by doing” philosophy and its pioneering Zero Waste Campus model. With food waste contributing greenhouse gas emissions estimated to be nine times higher than those of the global aviation industry, and with an average Indian wasting nearly 55 kilograms of food annually, the initiative addresses a challenge that is both environmental and economic. By integrating Saveful into campus life, Centurion aims to nurture responsible food habits among students and faculty while extending the benefits to neighbouring households through community engagement programmes.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Supriya Pattanayak, Vice-Chancellor, Centurion University Odisha, said the collaboration reflects the university’s long-standing commitment to social responsibility and sustainable innovation. She noted that the partnership empowers people with a simple digital tool that makes sustainability part of everyday life, while reinforcing the principles of the circular economy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The rollout of Saveful at Centurion University will combine campus-wide adoption with community integration, enabling households to reduce grocery bills by making better use of existing food supplies. The app’s personalized dashboard allows users to track food saved, money conserved and environmental impact, generating transparent data that can support sustainability reporting and informed policy decisions.

Kim McDonnell, CEO and Co-Founder of Saveful, said Centurion University was chosen as the India launch partner because of its proven success in driving community-led change. She highlighted that nearly 70 per cent of food discarded globally is still edible and emphasized that Saveful addresses the everyday dilemma of “what’s for dinner” while delivering tangible economic and environmental benefits to families.

The Indian version of the Saveful app has been developed with technical and academic support from Centurion University, with Assistant Professor Sanjeev Kumar Das, Sandeep Kumar and their team playing a key role in its localisation and deployment. The collaboration also represents a major milestone in Saveful’s global expansion, anchored by the innovation ecosystem at CUTM in Odisha.

Following a soft launch in Bhubaneswar, Saveful 2.0 is scheduled for its official national launch in New Delhi on March 12, 2026.

Organised under the leadership of Professor Anita Patra, Registrar, along with Dr. Ajay Kumar Nayak, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Biswajit Mishra, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academics) of Centurion University, along with Mark Heald, Nursing Professional from Australia; Mike Chuter, Co-Founder and COO of Thankful Foundation, Australia; and Dr. Sangram Keshari Swain, Dean, Students’ Welfare, Centurion University, and other distinguished representatives from India and Australia, the initiative signals a growing international collaboration to address food waste through technology, education and collective action.

With this partnership, Centurion University and Saveful are not only introducing an app, but also sparking a movement that redefines how Indians think about food, sustainability and everyday savings — one kitchen at a time.