Method for tracking and characterizing perishable goods in a store

A method for tracking fresh produce in a store comprising:

• accessing a first hyper-spectral image, of a first produce bin, recorded at a first time by an imaging system located within the store;
• detecting a first set of produce units of a first varietal in a first region of the first hyper-spectral image;
• extracting a first spectral profile from the first region depicting the first set of produce units;
• characterizing a quality of the first set of produce units in the first produce bin based on the first spectral profile;
• and
• in response to the quality of the first set of produce units deviating from a target quality range, generating a prompt to audit the first set of produce units in the first produce bin.

A method for tracking fresh produce in a store includes:

• accessing a first hyper-spectral image, of a first produce display in a store, recorded at a first time;
• detecting a first produce unit of a first varietal in a first region of the first hyper-spectral image;
• extracting a first spectral profile from the first region of the first hyper-spectral image;
• characterizing a quality of the first produce unit in the first produce display based on the first spectral profile;
• in response to the quality of the first produce unit deviating from a target quality range, calculating a time duration until the first produce unit is predicted to reach the target quality range based on the first hyper-spectral image;
• and
• scheduling a future audit of the first produce display.