GE Profile’s smart fridge builds your shopping list automatically

GE Profile says its newest smart fridge is not a regular kitchen appliance, but an active “intelligent hub” that can help automate grocery shopping and support meal planning.

Smart fridges are being actively released by tech giants like LG and Samsung with everything from AI features to built-in touchscreens. GE Profile says that its fridge can offer something new: a first-of-its-kind, built-in Scan-to-List barcode scanner.

The scanner, which is positioned in the exterior dispenser, allows users to scan any grocery or household item. It then recognizes its brand, flavor, and size and adds it to a digital, shareable, shoppable grocery list in the SmartHQ™ app. According to GE Profile, the fridge can recognize over four million products and delivers “precise, error-free tracking”.

Users can also add non-barcode items via voice or text on the refrigerator or in the SmartHQ™ app. They can then refer to the list during shopping or connect the list to Instacart for swift delivery.

The fridge also includes FridgeFocus, which is a camera integrated into a flush-mount LED bar. It “delivers real-time, on-demand snapshots of crisper drawers, focusing on the most costly and perishable items.”

Thanks to its AI-powered vision system, it allows shoppers to remotely check inventory while shopping, helping to reduce waste and avoid buying already existing items. Users can turn off the camera in the app or slide a physical shutter to restrict camera vision for additional security.

The new fridge has a number of features on top of that, such as an interactive 8" touchscreen, recipe integrations, fingerprint-resistant Stainless Steel design, and built-in Wi-Fi.

The fridge also offers two water-dispensing modes. With the Auto Fill feature, the fridge uses sensors to detect a container and automatically release the required amount of filtered water to fill it, meaning that you don’t have to watch as your water bottle fills up. The Precise Fill feature allows users to select the exact amount of water needed to fill a container with a touch.

“The GE Profile™ Smart Refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant™ builds on our legacy of kitchen breakthroughs by delivering solutions that adapt to real lives and solve universal stressors such as meal decision fatigue and grocery shopping," said Jason May, executive product director of French-door refrigeration at GE Appliances.

"We're creating intuitive experiences that feel natural and effortless, turning the refrigerator into a true kitchen companion that evolves with families over time."