ProducePay and Four Star Fruit team up to launch direct-to-retail grape program

Global produce marketplace and supply chain platform ProducePay and table grape grower-shipper Four Star Fruit have recently partnered to launch a direct-to-retail supply chain program.

Leveraging ProducePay’s platform and Four Star Fruit’s table grape expertise, this initiative seeks to help U.S. retailers solve two major challenges challenges: meeting year-round demand for high-quality fresh produce while also maintaining stable prices for consumers, according to a news release.  

ProducePay says the success of this novel table grapes program with Four Star Fruit will be the first of many commodities to adopt the new direct-to-retail procurement model.

By connecting table grape growers and retailers and investing in sustainable growing practices, traceability and product quality, the model has the potential to raise the bar in the fresh produce supply chain, according to the release. In addition to creating quality, supply and pricing assurance for retailers, this approach offers growers greater long-term financial sustainability by eliminating intermediaries in the fresh produce supply chain, thereby reducing economic and food waste, the release said.

“Meeting retailer demand for year-round high-quality table grapes consistently in an increasingly unpredictable world requires reimagining how we grow and source,” Four Star Fruit CEO Jack Campbell said in the release.

Launching its new model alongside Four Star Fruit in table grapes, ProducePay says it seeks to improve upon the traditional distribution model where produce has multiple touch points from the moment it leaves a farm to landing on store shelves. Multiple touch points and supply chain inefficiencies can often result in significant economic and food waste, according to the release. ProducePay estimates more than 60% of the fresh produce supply chain value is lost through supply chain fragmentation and speculation.

“Starting with grapes, our partnership with ProducePay ushers in a new era that will better serve retailers by creating a more stable and sustainable supply chain. We look forward to expanding this innovative model and partnership to other fresh produce commodities,” Campbell said.

By connecting the grower to retailer, the model has the potential to eliminate additional cold storage and transportation required to move product between the different intermediaries. This could reduce food waste that occurs along these steps and avoids carbon emissions associated with the transportation, energy use and fluorinated gasses used in cold storage, according to the release.

How it works

With operations in California and parts of Mexico, Four Star Fruit can meet demand during peak grape production in late spring, summer and early fall. Through this partnership, Four Star Fruit is leveraging ProducePay’s network of trusted Mexican and South American growers, thereby expanding its production capacity into the late fall and winter, according to the release.

ProducePay says it plans to also provide quality enforcement, order tracking and trade mediation to ensure prompt delivery from its network of growers, as well as give retailers price stability through multiyear fixed pricing contracts. The program will use ProducePay’s Quick-Pay solution to pay participating growers immediately following quality acceptance of their shipment. With known pricing, committed long-term contracts and cash in hand, growers have the capital needed to plant more and invest in operational improvements and sustainable best practices to ensure future reliability of high quality grapes in future harvests, according to the release.

“With today’s announcement, we’re improving on the antiquated way in which the fresh produce supply chain has been structured for decades,” ProducePay CEO Patrick McCullough said in the release. “By directly connecting retailers with growers, this transformational initiative is creating the stability required throughout the supply chain to reduce economic and food waste, while improving overall quality experience for consumers. Four Star Fruit is a leader in fresh produce, and we are excited to expand this program to other regions and commodities for even greater impact.”  

ProducePay says its innovative approach to supporting fresh produce buyers and growers has helped propel the company into a recognized leader in the agtech space. Fast Company recently named ProducePay one of the most innovative companies in the world after the company grew overall transactions on its marketplace by 279%, surpassing $4 billion in total produce transactions, according to the release.