The modern fresh produce supply chain relies on a synchronized technology ecosystem from field to store to reduce waste and protect quality. The Packer sat down with different produce tech companies to understand how each element fits into a broader supply chain.
Helios AI Forecasts the Shelf Before Sourcing Begins
A challenge with traditional procurement is that the data is backward-looking, says Francisco Martin-Rayo, the co-founder and CEO of predictive artificial intelligence platform Helios AI.
“Buyers see a price move after the disruption has already worked through the system,” he explains.
However, Helios Horizon tracks climate, agronomic, logistics and macroeconomic signals and then translates abnormalities into price and availability forecasts.
“When our models flag a developing disruption in a sourcing region, a buyer can lock volume, pre-position contracts or shift to an alternative origin months ahead of the price spike rather than scrambling once shelves are already at risk,” he says.
Martin-Rayo says Helios’ platform has caught 90% of supply disruptions ahead of market consensus, which helps provide buyers more lead time to react.
“A weather report tells you it will rain; it doesn’t tell you what happens to lettuce prices six weeks later,” he says. “We’re not selling a better forecast of the sky; we’re selling a forecast of the shelf.”
Specialized artificial intelligence agents track these regions in real time to flag critical shifts.
“For a grocer, that means earlier visibility into which high-margin produce lines are about to tighten, so the category manager can secure supply or line up substitute origins before a gap hits the department, where out-of-stocks and markdowns do the most damage to margin,” Martin-Rayo says.
He notes that this information is accessible in plain language through Helios’ Cersi.
“A buyer can ask a question in conversational terms and get a sourced, decision-ready answer without writing a query or reading a model,” he says.
As an example, a buyer might ask what the avocado supply and pricing will look like next quarter or which regions are at risk for key produce lines or if a berry shortage could be expected this season.
“The aim is to compress the distance between a question and a confident procurement move,” Martin-Rayo says.
iTradeNetwork Maps the Transaction and Unifies Master Data
Cloud-based supply chain management and intelligence platform iTradeNetwork sits at the intersection of sourcing and transactions and connects retailers to suppliers. iTradeNetwork Chief Product Officer Nagi Prabhu calls the network a source of truth. Connecting and sharing data is essentially a major challenge in the fresh produce industry ahead of FSMA 204.
A major hurdle to traceability is mismatched master data. For example, Prabhu says a retailer’s purchase order for a “dozen strawberries” needs to map to a supplier’s inventory listed as “strawberry pack 12'” to effectively share compliance, allergen and nutrient information across the item’s life cycle.
Another pain point is entering data that might come from an email or on paper into a system. iTradeNetwork’s AI agents automatically enter that information and can also create a spot order for additional items if a shipping record shows a supplier is short.
iTradeNetwork plans to offer immediate synchronization of master data between the buyer and seller, which Prabhu says is a major pain point to modern traceability.
Another challenge is that different retailers have different requirements, which can be a challenge for a supplier to manage.
“We know the rules of all these buyers, and when a supplier tries to ship to all of them, we can tell you this shipment is not going to meet that requirement,” he says.
And if that shipment is not compliant, iTradeNetwork helps the shipper add the necessary data to ensure the shipment is compliant, even during transmission.
“It is not a post-delivery problem that you solve,” Prabhu says. “It’s the pre-delivery problem you solve at the source. So, you make sure that the supplier is compliant in providing that information to the buyer so that the buyer can remain compliant.”
Because compliance is a network problem, suppliers often waste time navigating dozens of different buyer portals to upload documentation. iTradeNetwork solves this friction by allowing them to “load it once, and then no matter which other company requires it, it’ll automatically be there,” Prabhu says.
iTradeNetwork also provides buyers tools to prevent shipments if a supplier is not in compliance. He says this could be as simple as an expired EPR certificate. iTradeNetwork will ensure the certificate is valid before the goods will ship.
Clarifresh Automates Quality Control in the Packinghouse
As fresh produce enters the packinghouse, technology plays a big role in the grading and sorting process. Elad Mardix, CEO and co-founder of AI-powered quality control platform Clarifresh, says that as the industry shifts from subjective and manual grading systems to AI-powered quality control, not only do produce businesses save time and perform more inspections, businesses also see a 28% to 35% year-over-year reduction in customer claims.
“Maintaining an accurate, consistent cold chain is important for maximizing shelf life,” Mardix says. “When inspection times are cut in half, produce spends less time transitioning from the reefer to the cooler; this will help with shelf life and quality.”
Mardix says Clarifresh’s computer-vision platform helps provide reliable metrics for size, shape, color, color coverage and stem color. The system also identifies external defects, which reduces human error and subjectivity to deliver a more consistent QC inspection.
He also says companies that link inbound, overtime and slot inspections with outbound inspections can spot trends and address issues more efficiently.
“Issues that surface in real time can be caught early,” Mardix says. “When a company identifies potential issues as quality attributes begin to slide, it can avoid larger issues. The best way to reduce exposure during a recall is to have the systems in place to avoid the recall.”
Clarifresh’s comparison report ensures the produce sent to retailers meets the retailer’s specific specs.
“Success depends on selling the right quality to the customer willing to pay for it,” he says. “Quality dashboarding helps order pickers and shippers ensure the right produce routes to the right buyer, reducing rejections and ensuring top quality ships to customers willing to pay a premium.”
Intralox Uses Plant Physics to Safeguard Shelf Life
Packing-line technology is a key step to ensuring fresh produce maintains its quality and integrity.
Manu Jasol, business analyst at global manufacturing company Intralox, says its focus is on gentler product handling to protect delicate produce during receiving, grading and sorting.
To protect shelf life, Jasol says Intralox uses advanced belts and transfer designs to “minimize drops, pinch points and impact during conveyance, reducing bruising and surface damage — a major cause of early spoilage.” For primary and secondary packaging, the company’s Activated Roller Belt platform allows controlled, nonimpact sorting and alignment, which Jasol says eliminates “the need for pushers or rails that can lead to hard impact and product bruising.”
Pathogen prevention is also a focus for Intralox as its ThermoDrive technology offers packers a “completely closed conveyance surface that is monolithic (same material all through the belt) and positively driven, helping to combine easy cleanability and low-maintenance benefits,” he says.
The company’s FoodSafe belts also offer easy-to-clean surfaces to help reduce the accumulation of bacteria or debris, adds Jasol.
“Intralox belts are engineered for easy cleaning and sanitation, including open designs or hinge-free geometries that simplify washdown and inspection,” he says. “FoodSafe solutions combine belt design, materials and expert support to identify and eliminate contamination risks across the line.”
Kwik Lok Connects the Digital Loop From Packing to Checkout
Kwik Lok’s role in the fresh produce supply chain is integral. It combines key data elements, such as GS1-US bar codes on bag clips to connect the digital journey of fresh produce to the retailer.
Karen Reed, global director of communications and marketing for the global packaging company, says closures offer many benefits to both the consumer and the retailer. While codes on bags might not present well at the register, it’s a different story with a closure.
“The nice thing about putting that code on a closure or a closure label is it’s a lot more consistent as far as its presentation at the scan,” she says. “Putting it on a closure label or a closure is something that allows for that efficiency.”
The codes can offer options for product information, gather data on consumer habits as well as digital cross-promotion with related products, Reed says.
Retailers can also use the bar codes to flag any recalled products at checkout stations as a recall happens in real time. Reed says this is a way to disseminate information much more quickly.
“If there is a recall immediately, there could be an alert with a ‘this can’t leave the store message,’” she says.
With color-coded closures, retailers can easily perform stock rotation, Reed says, adding that this helps speed up the process as stockers look for specific colors to pull. The color significations are up to the retailer or packer to designate.
“The simpler we can make training so that people can get in there and do their job well and then be successful and efficient — that just is a win for everybody,” she says.
One thing Reed wants the produce industry to understand is that the bag clip isn’t just a bag clip; while it sounds simple, Kwik Lok has engineered the products behind the scenes to be user-friendly.
“There’s a tremendous amount of engineering behind the scenes that goes into creating that simplicity and ease of use,” she says.
Copeland Guards the Crop Across the Open Highway
As the produce travels from packer to retailer, cold chain management is a crucial point to ensure produce arrives as expected. Alex Axelsson, senior product manager for Copeland, says the company’s GO Real-Time Trackers transform cold chain management from a reporting function into an operational control.
By shifting from reactive downloads to real-time tracking, companies can intervene en route. Shippers can mitigate risk mid-transit by rerouting loads, adjusting reefer settings or catching faulty equipment before quality is compromised, Axelsson says.
Copeland’s real-time alert thresholds act as an early warning signal for continuous quality assurance. This continual quality monitoring with Copeland’s GO Nano BLE also allows for pallet-level and zone-level tracking, which he says can move from all-or-nothing decisions to data-driven choices.
“Instead of rejecting pallets due to a single out-of-tolerance reading, they can isolate affected zones or pallets and reject only what is compromised,” he says.
This is critical for multistop routes, where assigning a GO Nano logger to individual delivery segments eliminates ambiguity about where and when an issue occurred.
Axelsson says Copeland’s real-time internet-connected data visibility provides an accurate view of shipment status to suppliers, carriers and retailers simultaneously.
“With Copeland’s real-time tracking and Oversight software, shipment data becomes a digital source that shows where and when a temperature issue is developing while the load is still in transit, not after it reaches the dock,” he says.
This real-time data allows retailers to manage labor to adjust workflows and dock labor schedules if the temperature deviates from a required range. Real-time visibility also lets retailers prepare specific inspection resources for the compromised load.
“Instead of discovering issues only when a truck arrives, teams can see if a shipment approaching a geofence has already experienced a temperature excursion and begin planning accordingly,” Axelsson says. “A potential temperature excursion becomes an opportunity for coordinated response, not conflict at delivery.”
