TECHNOLOGY

Broadband is Transforming How an Arizona County Uses Ag Tech

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:03:26 GMT

Imagine a future where autonomous tractors navigate the roads and fields as farmers give commands from miles away. This future also allows farmers to optimize water usage. Precision and efficiency take on entirely new meanings. A county in Arizona is working to make that future a reality.

The dry, hot, sand-colored landscape of Yuma County, Ariz., sprinkled with fields of bright green lettuce, is getting a boost from high-speed internet.

Today, farming is a matter of precision. With better internet comes better precision. According to the Association of Equipment Management , precision agriculture adoption leads to a 5% increase in crop farming productivity, a 5% reduction in water use and a 7% reduction in fuel consumption.

Turning the “Winter Lettuce Capital” into a Global High-Tech Testing Hub

Known as the “ Winter Lettuce Capital of the World ,” the Middle Mile Fiber Network and broadband system will bring better internet. This will ultimately help farmers implement the latest technology. Like roots from a plant, underground fibers now stretch throughout the county connected to 32 broadband towers that reach to the sky.

“It is exciting; there’s been a lot of products and things [such as water sensors] that I’ve wanted to do out on the farm, but without the ability to have permanent or productive internet services, I’ve been reluctant,” says Mike Pasquinelli, a local farmer and president of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association .

Yuma produces about 90% of the leafy greens for the U.S. in the winter. They’re hoping with the broadband system more companies will be attracted to test technology in Yuma.

“In our intense agricultural system we have the ability to farm year-round, so there’s a lot of advantages for companies to come in, test new products and develop new products,” Pasquinelli says.

Broadband Network is Fueling Yuma’s High-Tech Agricultural Future

From autonomous drones and tractors to water monitoring, the broadband system will allow agriculture to connect.

“Farming is not the farming of yesterday. This is not your mom and pops farm,” says Jonathan Lines , a Yuma County supervisor who helped get the project up and running. “This is a high-tech business for food production here in the United States.”

When it comes to herbicide and pesticide applications, the broadband system will allow for farmers to apply a much smaller droplet using a drone rather than an airplane or helicopter. Tractor and tech updates can be made in the field instead of having to be taken out of production and connected to a computer.

“It is a large game changer for our community as well as our county. If we want more sensors and more automation, we need the bandwidth to do it,” Pasquinelli says.

Gov. Hobbs Backs Broadband Network to Modernize Arizona Agriculture

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is in full support of the broadband network. In November 2025, Gov. Hobbs visited Yuma for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and to sign two bills. SB1320 and SB1661 are both meant to help support the project in some capacity:

SB 1320 updated the legal definition of “implements of husbandry,” otherwise known as farm equipment, to include autonomous equipment. This allows for the autonomous farm equipment like tractors to drive short distances on public roads.
SB 1661 created a legal structure for the broadband service district authority. This authority would be in charge of things such as facilitating the expansion and maintenance of broadband infrastructure.

Pasquinelli says these bills, along with the broadband project, will be helpful for Yuma farmers as they continue to navigate this technological boom. When the broadband network and autonomous technology are in full force, they can help Yuma farmers address labor challenges.

“The farm workforce is aging, and it’s more and more difficult to get labor out of Mexico, so automation is going to be really key as the workforce diminishes,” says Paul Brierly , director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture .

$6 Million Broadband Project Hopes to Attract Younger Workforce

The broadband network might also be able to solve the aging workforce by attracting more university students. Brierly believes with the research and investment tied to the network, along with Yuma’s landscape, it can be a hot spot for young scholastic minds.

“With climate change, more of the world is having to produce food in arid climates, so what we solve in Yuma County, and in Arizona, will apply and be useful all around the world,” he explains.

The project is set to cost around $6 million and the broadband network is expected to be up and running by the end of summer in August.

“Not only does that allow Yuma County farmers to use the latest technology but also this is going to be the most connected production area in the world,” Brierly says.

Exp Group Scales Banana, Plantain Ripening With Catalytic Generators

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:03:13 GMT

To meet the growing demand for consistent, ready-to-sell bananas and plantains, North Bergen, N.J.-based Exp Group has continued to grow its ripening capacity and now manages more than 175,000 boxes of fruit per week, representing millions of boxes annually.

To facilitate this growth, Exp Group has grown from seven rooms in 2013 to 35 chambers today, operating across two facilities and serving 15 to 20 customers with different ripening requirements.

Exp Group says the expansion relies on its long-standing partnership with Catalytic Generators to support reliable, high-volume ripening across its expanding national network.

From left, Catalytic Generators’ Steve Page, José Manuel Villacis and Anthony Serafino of Exp Group and Greg Akins of Catalytic Generators are shown at Fruit Logistica 2026.

(Photo courtesy of Catalytic Generators)

For over three decades, Catalytic Generators has worked alongside Exp Group, supporting its evolution from a family-founded distributor into a large-scale ripening and distribution operation. Today, Greg Akins of Catalytic Generators and Anthony Serafino of Exp Group continue that legacy, leading their respective family businesses with a shared commitment to quality and long-term trust, they say.

Exp Group operates ripening and distribution facilities in New Jersey and Texas, handling close to 1 million boxes of fresh produce a month across its supply chain.

“Ripening is an art,” Serafino says. “Anyone can turn fruit yellow, but delivering the right color, shelf life and consistency for each customer requires discipline and precision.”

Precision at Scale

Catalytic Generators says its systems enable controlled and consistent ripening across high-volume operations. Easy-Ripe generators and Ethy-Gen II allow Exp Group to manage ripening cycles precisely and minimize variability.

“Ethylene should not be complicated. Our clients don’t want surprises. If they ask for a certain color, they expect exactly that,” Serafino says.

Simplicity in the ripening process is key, says the Norfolk, Va.-based Catalytic Generators, a company dedicated exclusively to ethylene application systems. It operates across the globe, supplying fresh produce companies, grocery distribution centers and growers with the tools to ripen avocados, bananas, tomatoes and more.

“Our goal is to make ethylene the easiest part of the ripening process, so operators can focus on serving customers and scaling their operations with confidence,” Akins says.

Scaling With Flexibility

Today, Exp Group manages 15 to 20 customers, each with different ripening requirements.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all model,” Serafino explains. “Some need slower cycles, others faster turnover. The system allows us to adapt without losing consistency. When you’re moving close to a million boxes a week, consistency isn’t optional; it’s essential.”

Supporting Last-Mile Quality

As Exp Group expands its distribution model, ripening remains critical to delivering consistent quality.

“Last-mile delivery is where quality meets the consumer,” Serafino says. “Catalytic Generators allows us to ripen efficiently and reliably, so the fruit arrives at the right condition every time.”

The company says it plans to continue expanding its ripening capacity as part of its long-term growth strategy.

Catalytic Generators Shares 2026 Global Expansion Strategy, Smart Ripening Innovation at Fruit Logistica 2026

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 20:42:03 GMT

BERLIN — At the recent Fruit Logistica 2026, Catalytic Generators, a family-owned company providing ethylene application systems for fruit ripening, shared its worldwide expansion strategy and offered an advance look at its soon-to-be-released digital control and remote monitoring for fruit ripening operations worldwide.

While the Norfolk, Va.-based company operates across the globe, supplying fresh produce companies, grocery distribution centers and growers with the tools to ripen bananas, avocados, tomatoes and more, banana ripening is a core part of Catalytic Generators’ business — something that’s critical to get right, says president and CEO Greg Akins.

“When fruit is ripened properly, evenly and to the right color, there’s less shrink and consumers return with their tastebuds,” Akins says.

Inside a ripening room in Europe.

(Photo courtesy of Catalytic Generators)

Helping to get the ripening process right is Catalytic Generators’ different conversion settings that allow users to set the parts per meter of ethylene.

“It’s set-it and forget-it technology, which is valuable because there’s no measuring required,” he says.

Safety is Key

Safety is another key tenet of Catalytic Generators’ business, Akins says.

“Our generators are very good at creating ethylene efficiently and safely, which is the hallmark of our business,” he says.

The company’s generators are certified by TÜV SÜD, a global, accredited technical services provider. Through rigorous testing of its generators and frequent inspections of its production facility, TÜV SÜD has certified Catalytic Generators’ compliance with international safety standards.

“TÜV is akin to UL [Underwriters Laboratories],” Akins says. “It shows our products have met the highest safety standards.”

Catalytic Generators manufactures both ethylene generators and ethylene concentrate.

The company says it’s working with an EU task force to ensure ethylene is reregistered as a legal and safe plant protection product while pursuing the necessary product approvals.

A Solution for Every Operation

The company offers a variety of sizes to suit the needs of different operations. At Fruit Logistica, the company showcased one of its Easy-Ripe models that is compact and narrow to help prevent it being hit by a forklift — something Akins says is a common issue. It’s also wall mountable.

For larger ripening centers, Catalytic Generators offers a centralized system that pumps ethylene liquid to every room through a tube that feeds the generators, so there’s no need to walk around and fill them, Akins says.

Smarter Ripening

Catalytic Generators says its core value proposition is to create a system designed to make ethylene application the easiest, safest and most predictable part of the ripening process.

“Once customers see how simple and dependable our system is in day-to-day use, the conversation quickly moves from ‘Why change?’ to ‘How fast can we implement?’” Akins says.

And it’s about to get even easier, he says.

At Fruit Logistica, Akins teased the company’s newest innovation that’s expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026: a digital platform that wirelessly connects its ethylene generators to a secure, cloud-based interface.

Through a dedicated web portal, customers will be able to view generator status in real time, confirm when ethylene application starts and ends or is interrupted, monitor Ethy-Gen II levels and receive alerts if performance is affected.

This gives operators confidence that ethylene application is correctly occurring during the critical 24-hour application period, Akins says. Generators can also be adjusted remotely and integrated with room control systems for optimized ethylene levels.

“This innovation gives ripeners peace of mind when it matters most,” Akins said in a news release. “Ethylene already works quietly in the background. Digital visibility will take it one step further by removing uncertainty and reinforcing our promise that ethylene should be the easiest part of ripening.”

What You Need to Know About Protecting Your Reputation in the Age of AI

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:14:31 GMT

BERLIN — As generative artificial intelligence continues to reshape how information is created, distributed and consumed, protecting your personal and business brand reputation has never been more important.

At the International Fresh Produce Association Executive Leadership Summit Europe on Feb. 3, the day prior to the start of Fruit Logistica 2026, Pete Wilson, partner and head of digital reputation for EMEA FleishmanHillard, addressed a room of produce industry leaders on the topic of “Trust, Intelligence and Influence: Protecting Brand Reputation in an AI-Driven World.”

“I’m a reputation management guy,” Wilson said. “And I’ve been asked to talk to you about managing your reputation through marketing and communications.”

Just three years ago, business communications were human to human. Sure, we had spell check and Google finishing our sentences, says Wilson, but it was all driven by humans.

“Three-and-a-half years after ChatGPT came on the market, we’re only at this point now where humans and machines are working together,” he says. “And initially it was just a chatbot, which was quite a lot of fun.”

Next came AI-generated images, which were easily identifiable as fake. Then last year OpenAI Sora came onto the market, and that meant we could create videos that weren’t real.

“The market is moving extraordinarily fast,” Wilson says. “That’s the first thing we have bear in mind ... We don’t know what’s coming, but we can guess already it’ll be machine plus human, as opposed to human plus machine.”

6 Key Things to Know About Communications and AI

Wilson highlighted the following in this new world of marketing and communications.

1. AI Shapes Reputation

While it may seem obvious, Wilson says, the key is it’s not passive any longer.

“AI is actively shaping your reputation,” he says. “This should matter to you, because AI is shaping your reputation, not just you personally, but also your business and your sector. And it’s being done all the time.”

Consider that there are 2.5 billion prompts in ChatGPT every day that come from virtually nothing, he says. Three years ago, Google got 15 billion searches a day.

ChatGPT is catching up to Google, and quickly. While it isn’t the only large language model out there, it is the dominant player, Wilson says. Another fact to consider, he says, is that 20% of all content on YouTube is fake, and creating fake content on Facebook is also easy to do.

2. Trust Is Being Outsourced to AI

Do a Google search and you now get an AI summary overview — a condensed response of everything on the internet.

“When you used to ask a question, you’d say, ‘Provide me with everything about BMW 3 Series,’ and you’d get a series of links. They’re called blue bits,” Wilson says. “Now, if you said to Google, provide me [with everything I need to know] they’re going to know about a BMW 3 Series, it’d say, ‘That’s quite a car, right?’

“Why is it doing that? It’s providing a value judgment,” he says. “It’s algorithmically programmed to summarize and provide a value judgment. Now imagine that’s your business that I’m asking a question of.”

People can ask if they think your business is trustworthy, and you might not like ChatGPT’s answer.

Google and ChatGPT aren’t just going to provide a bunch of links. They’re programmed to keep you interacting, Wilson says.

“All of this means Google wants to keep you in its program,” he says. “That’s not surprising. Facebook does. Meta does. They all want to keep you in their program. They don’t want you walking away. They want you to interact with the results so you stay exactly where you are.

“That’s worrying for e-commerce businesses,” he adds.

3. AI Collapses Time in a Crisis

“What does that mean? In the old days, when you’ve had a crisis, a reputational crisis, you had time on your side,” Wilson says. “I expect you had a media consultant or a crisis consultant who would say to you, sit put, sit tight, do nothing. And you’d wait, and you’d wait.”

Then you’d consult your social and legal playbooks and finally decide how to move forward.

“Nowadays, that time is gone,” he says. “You can’t sit around and have a meeting, because by that time, something else has already happened.”

And misinformation and disinformation can spread like wildfire in the age of AI.

4. AI Lowers the Cost and the Practical Consequences of Disinformation

Wilson shared the story of someone who created a fake company with fake products and a fake website to see if he could trick ChatGPT and other large language models. He then wrote reviews about his products in three well-known blogs. He put reviews up there, saying what great products they were.

He then created an FAQ section on the same fake website that specifically said the company was fake, the reviews not true, etc.

But because ChatGPT is geared up to look for earned answers, it continued to generate answers to questions about the fake company that were based on the initial lies.

“That means ... that these large language models continue to get it wrong,” Wilson says.

Why? Because earned “content” has more weight than what you say about your own business, he says.

“Five to 10 years ago, disinformation could only be done at government level or very, very high level, because it cost a lot of money,” he says. “Nowadays, I could do it at home. You could do it at home. You could take down a business, almost on your own at home, because disinformation is that easy to do.

“Disinformation is a real problem, and it’s not just on a government-, foreign-acting level now,” Wilson continues. “It’s really at an individual level.”

Disinformation isn’t just done casually in a vacuum; it’s done where there’s an emotional appeal attached to it.

5. Disinformation That Pulls at the Heartstrings

When there’s an emotional appeal, Wilson says, that makes the disinformation stick.

6. AI Doesn’t Care; It Just Pretends to

“AI is an algorithm. It’s a predictive algorithm. It’s a series of words in a known order,” Wilson says. “Actually, it doesn’t care. It just tells you what it thinks you want to hear. Because every time it learns from what you ask it, and it thinks, ‘Oh, that person is easy. They liked it. That means I’m doing the right thing.’ It doesn’t care; it’s just built to succeed.”

5 Things We Can Do About it Now

Wilson recommends taking the following actions today.

1. Stress Test Your Reputation

Find out what large language models think about you. Put your brand or business into any of those large language models, and it will have an opinion of you. Either you as an individual or your business or both.

Find out what large language models say about you, because you may have a problem without realizing it.

2. Decide What You Want to Do About That

You will have a reputation, and now you need to decide how much data you want to put in the system. We want to have a balance of negative and positive in the system. To give these systems a bit of credit, they will always look for balance. They will look for the bad and the good — the contrary views.

3. Put Yourself Out There

Speak in public more often. Stand on a stage and speak in public. Get on your LinkedIn channels. Do videos. Be active. Be proactive.

“You as individuals, and your C-suite, your leadership, are very difficult to impersonate,” Wilson says. “If you don’t speak often, then any one of you can be personated.”

4. Have a Crisis Plan

Use AI to build an automated playbook that you can operate within an instant of the crisis going on, Wilson says. You could use AI to create 50 responses to possible crises. You also can use AI to monitor your brand, the media message of your brand and the social message of your brand or business. You should be doing that already. The more you listen to now, the more prepared you are.

5. Have an AI Governance Policy

Prepare an AI governance policy for every employee in your operation who uses AI.

North Bay Produce Rebrands to Focus on Farmers, Global Cooperative

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 22:47:23 GMT

Traverse City, Mich.-based North Bay Produce , a cooperative of 30 grower-owners around the world that produces fresh fruits and vegetables year-round from apples to asparagus and berries to snow peas, has rebranded to underscore the importance of its farmers.

In what the company calls “transformative move” to help better tell their story, North Bay has integrated an innovative augmented reality (AR) experience into the new packaging, which it will reveal at Fruit Logistica in Berlin, Feb. 4-6.

The rebrand also includes a new farmer-focused logo created in partnership with Veritiv’s internal specialized branding and design agency.

At the core of the rebrand is the farmer, a symbol North Bay says represents its commitment to connection, cooperation and global reach. The farmers are not just the foundation of North Bay’s business; they are the business, the company says.

North Bay says the farmer in its new logo is a timeless, universal figure, representing its diverse men and women farmers from every era and corner of the globe. This icon stands for the values the company holds dear: being relatable, local, timeless, trustworthy, sustainable and committed to farm-to-table excellence, it says.

As a global cooperative, owned by the farmers who cultivate its produce, North Bay says it aims to create meaningful connections between consumers and the people who feed their families and the world.

“Our farmers’ dedication and work ethic are the driving forces behind North Bay’s sustained success since 1984,” says Brian Klumpp, director of marketing at North Bay Produce. “By focusing on varietal development and expanding our global farmer-owner portfolio, we continue to elevate our performance and share the compelling stories of our farmer-owners.”

Augmented Reality Experience

North Bay says its new branding takes storytelling to the next level with AR labels designed to bring the North Bay farmer to life, guiding viewers through a 3D farm diorama and sharing the stories behind the farms. This innovative approach highlights North Bay’s global cooperative network, emphasizing how collaboration maximizes technology and resources for consumer benefit, the company says.

“This AR technology gives us an avenue to tell a story and connect the consumer to where their fruits and vegetables are being grown, how they’re being grown and new and exciting varieties being grown,” says Nick Osmulski, president of North Bay Produce. “This is something that retailers have been asking for, and we’re excited to bring this new storytelling opportunity to our customers’ produce departments for the consumers.”

Osmulski says the rebrand also gives North Baby an opportunity to focus on its own story and that of its people.

“The essence of North Bay is its people,” he says. “Between the great group of farmers that make up North Bay and the team of employees around the world, it’s truly an amazing group of people working together every day that drives the success of the company.”

It’s a story worth telling, Klumpp says.

“North Bay is thriving, and this moment gives us the opportunity to emphasize what’s behind that success — our people,” he adds. “While we’ve long been a quiet and humble company, we now embrace the chance to modestly yet clearly share why our story is worth knowing.”

For more information on North Bay Produce and the rebrand, visit Hall A, stand A09 at Fruit Logistica or visit the company website .

Technology to the Rescue in 2025

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:33:21 GMT

Not all the big headlines in 2025 were doom and gloom. The Packer’s technology coverage often highlighted the hopeful and helpful ways the produce industry is growing and adapting the changing conditions.

By it’s very nature, most ag tech is helping arm the growers of today for the realities of tomorrow.

For example, in mid-March, The Packer’s Jennifer Strailey talked with FarmWise CEO Tjarko Leifer about how the business’ restructuring was helping it prepare for the next chapter in ag robotics with its precision weeding technology. That new chapter involved being acquired by Taylor Farms , which had previously implemented FarmWise’s Vulcan technology and saw a reduction in its weeding costs of nearly $550,000 as a result.

“We believe in the FarmWise technology and think we have an important role to play with industry adoption in the specialty crop space,” said the president of Taylor Farms agricultural operations. “This acquisition is another step forward in our mission to drive the future of agriculture with thoughtful and impactful innovation.”

Reducing Food Waste With an Apps

In late August, The Packer’s Jill Dutton looked into how various apps are changing the way retailers deal with unsold food items approaching their sell-by dates, thereby preventing food waste. The three food waste-reducing apps in focus in the story are Too Good To Go and Flashfood, both geared towards connecting retailers with individual consumers in need of lower-cost options, and Careit, which connects retailers to nonprofits and community organizations in their areas for food donations.

Apps like these have a big potential to not only reduce food and especially produce waste, Dutton’s sources said, but also benefit retailers financially as well.

“The ability to sell more product, even at a discounted price, suggests greater food access could be achieved while recouping previously lost revenue,” one source said. “Additionally, applications that enable more accurate forecasting, facilitate coordination of logistics and optimize inventory management could prevent food from going to waste all along the supply chain.”

A Visceral Type of Technology

For a long time, consumers have shunned GMO foods. But in early September, Strailey sat down with Nathan Pumplin , CEO of Norfolk Healthy Produce, the company behind the Empress Purple Tomato, which is bioengineered to have more antioxidants. He said that consumers are hungry for change and starting to see through GMOs’ past bad publicity.

“When the first GMOs were launched, they were really marketed to farmers, and the innovative farmers said, ‘OK, there’s these new GMO crops, do I want to use them?’ And they very quickly saw, ‘Wow, this solves a lot of problems for me. Yes, I want to adopt them,’” said Pumplin.

“What was forgotten was that it was food being produced and sold to consumers, and consumers never had an opportunity to engage with GMOs in the food system,” he added.

But that has changed. Pumplin reported that 80% of consumers the company surveyed about the purple GMO tomato said they were interested to extremely interested in trying it.

Technology in Defense of Tech

In late October, The Packer’s Christina Herrick did a deep dive on a device to deter copper theft called Cop-R-Lock. The brainchild of a former law enforcement official and customizable farming automation company Farmblox, the Cop-R-Lock device aims to reduce or even eliminate the costly issue of copper thefts on farms.

“Every pump site, depending on its location, has upwards of a 40% chance of being hit every year by a thief,” said the Farmblox CEO. “Every time it happens, it’s between like $8,000 and $100,000 just for fixing the equipment, not minding the cost to the crop for the lack of irrigation for weeks on end, sometimes months.”

Working much like a home security system for your farm equipment, the system involves a wire wrapped around and inside the irrigation system’s conduit. When cut by a potential copper theif, an alarm goes off. The system will text the grower and also alert local law enforcement in the area, in an effort to help prevent and respond to copper thefts while they are happening.

These were some of the top tech stories The Packer covered in 2025, and there will be plenty more coverage in 2026, which you can find here .

GrubMarket CEO Reveals AI-Powered Benefits of Procurant Acquistion

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 18:29:09 GMT

Enterprise AI solutions provider GrubMarket has completed its acquisition of Los Gatos, Calif.-based Procurant, an SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform that streamlines fresh procurement, order management and regulatory compliance for the fresh food supply chain.

GrubMarket CEO Mike Xu says the move marks a strategic extension of the San Francisco-based company’s technology portfolio, allowing it to serve more needs of more customers in the food supply chain industry.

Procurant was also an attractive acquisition, as its products complement GrubMarket’s existing software suite, offering growth opportunities through either cross-selling to its existing, growing software customer base, or offering its software products to the newly acquired customers, Xu says.

“Procurant’s successful trading platform complements GrubMarket’s eCommerce technology, making purchasing even more efficient for GrubMarket’s internal companies,” Xu tells The Packer. “[It] allows us to integrate, build and offer AI-powered end-to-end procurement solutions to existing and new external customers.

“Procurant’s point solutions for compliance, food safety and collaboration can easily integrate with GrubMarket’s comprehensive, AI-Powered ERP, WholesaleWare, offering revenue growth opportunities,” Xu adds.

Founded in 2018 by CEO Eric Peters, Procurant was created as a modern, cloud-native alternative to legacy procurement systems in the fresh food industry. The platform supports real-time collaboration, operational efficiency and end-to-end visibility across the perishable goods supply chain.

Procurant offers a comprehensive suite of innovative tools, including Procurant One for procurement, Procurant Open Link for connecting suppliers with retailers and foodservice operators, Procurant Inspect for quality control, Procurant Trace for FSMA 204 traceability compliance, and Procurant SureCheck for food safety management, which processes over 1 million temperature checks daily and logs over 40 million food safety and checklist observations per month, according to a news release.

In total, Procurant connects more than 850 customers across 14 countries, facilitating $5.5 billion in gross merchandise volume annually. Its broad network includes major national retailers such as Costco, Walmart, Target and Albertsons Companies, along with growers, shippers and distributors throughout the U.S., as well as internationally, the release says.

Together, Procurant’s customers are responsible for more than 90% of all food sold in the U.S. The company’s experienced leadership team will continue to lead the company following the acquisition.

What Retailers Can Expect

Xu says the greatest benefit the Procurant acquisition provides to GrubMarket’s retail partners is “more comprehensive, AI-powered solutions powered by both Procurant’s proven trading capabilities and deep insight into retailers’ needs and wants, combined with GrubMarket’s unparalleled AI technology leadership.”

He adds that retail partners can also expect new integrations, innovative AI products built specifically for fresh food retailers, and configurable, end-to-end solutions.

“The addition of Procurant’s comprehensive solutions will not only benefit our growing base of GrubMarket software customers but also create powerful synergies across our own GrubMarket network,” Xu says in the release. “By integrating Procurant’s platform with our existing technology stack and AI development capabilities, we will deepen the impact of e-commerce internally and offer new AI-powered procurement solutions to the broader fresh food industry. We are uniquely positioned to accelerate digital transformation across the fresh food supply chain as a team, together.”

Synergies Across GrubMarket

GrubMarket says the acquisition creates synergies across multiple dimensions of its business. Procurant’s customers, which include major retailers and suppliers throughout the fresh food supply chain, will benefit from integration opportunities with GrubMarket’s comprehensive software and AI suite, including WholesaleWare , GrubAssist AI , Orders IO , and GrubPay, the company’s digital payments platform specifically designed for the needs of the food supply chain industry.

This acquisition will also offer GrubMarket’s existing software customers the opportunity to explore access to Procurant’s advanced trading network and procurement capabilities, creating a more comprehensive technology ecosystem, the release says. GrubMarket’s own network of subsidiary companies will be able to leverage Procurant’s platform to achieve greater procurement efficiency through cost savings, stronger supplier collaboration and new digital trading capabilities.

What’s Next

Grubmarket has steadily made strategic acquisitions in recent years, such as its June 2025 acquisition of San Diego-based Coast Citrus Distributors , a national distributor specializing in tropical fruits.

What are GrubMarket’s plans for continued expansion?

“GrubMarket will continue to maintain its leadership position as the enterprise AI solutions provider for the American food supply chain,” Xu says. “The go-forward strategy will continue to be multifaceted, including continued R&D and advanced AI tech development in-house, strategic external partnerships as well as acquisitions when and where the right opportunities arise.”

Bitcoin Set to Revolutionize US Agriculture?

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 15:25:42 GMT

Pebble to landslide, Bitcoin is approaching agriculture and its impact will be seismic, echoing the benchmarks of farming history, including cotton gin, steel plow, mechanization, and biotech crops. Or will it?

Only 10 years back, on the turnrow or at the seed house, the mention of Bitcoin elicited mockery. Five years back, laughter. Now? The derision is replaced by inquiry.

Cryptocurrency, as a store of value to a medium of exchange, is on an economic collision course with agriculture, set to change American farms forever, contends a growing chorus of voices within the ag chain.

“Bitcoin is an absolute agriculture necessity going forward,” says producer Zack Smith. “People just don’t realize it yet. Soon, they will.”

First Bird to Fly
Bitcoin was created in 2009. In the eyes of critics, it was a lie agreed upon, or a pyramid built to topple. However, 16 years beyond Bitcoin’s birth, the online currency, thriving beyond the fat fingers of government, is among the fastest adopted technologies in world history.

In extreme northcentral Iowa’s Winnebago County, a stone’s throw below the Minnesota line, Smith works 1,200 acres of row crops and raises a small amount of livestock. He doesn’t flinch at the “first bird to fly takes all the arrows” maxim, whether innovating via wide-row corn, strip intercropping, stock cropping , or Bitcoin.

“Bitcoin is the currency of the future, and that includes agriculture,” says Iowa grower Zach Smith.

(Photo by Stock Cropper)

“It’s just a matter of time for Bitcoin in agriculture, and I don’t mean far off. In 10 or 15 years, Bitcoin could be a normal part of a farm transaction. It’s a question of when critical inertia hits, but Bitcoin will be utilized by folks in agriculture in the near future.”

“The people at the top of agriculture in power, the CEOs, big-time commodity traders, and agribusiness, are looking at Bitcoin as a hedge against dollar debasement,” he continues. “Again, it’s coming fast.”

Out of the chute, Smith sees Bitcoin as a store of value. “Look what’s happened to land. So many outside investors have entered the market, producing inflated land values that make no financial sense with the value of what is being produced.”

“That’s where I see Bitcoin making its first impact. As investors discover there’s something better than land and just as finite, something you don’t pay property taxes on, something you don’t have to maintain, something that is portable, I think land prices will drop closer to utility value, allowing young farmers better opportunities to compete in the market.”

At present, income surpluses are akin to snowflakes in hell, but Smith urges producers to prepare for change. “For those who put their fiat money into Bitcoin, and are patient, I believe they’ll be able to buy two to three times the land in the near future they would have otherwise.”

“The money printer isn’t stopping,” he adds. “Bitcoin is the offramp to the debasement problem.”

Jumping the Treadmill
A lone voice a decade-plus in the past, Vance Crowe has long been a proponent of Bitcoin in agriculture. Host of Ag Tribes and founder of Legacy Interviews , Crowe is adamant: Bitcoin is transformative for farming.

“Just a few years ago, people reacted negatively when I talked about Bitcoin. That’s been replaced with genuine questions and consideration. Bitcoin is going to become deeply embedded in how the business of agriculture functions, and people who’ve been trying to preserve the value of their dollars are going to move those dollars out of land and into Bitcoin. Guys who’ve gotten a 6-7% return on land are looking over at Bitcoin and seeing a 65 percent return every year for the last 15 years. The wake-up is happening in real time.”

“Five, 10, or 15 years, it’s going to completely change agriculture’s game,” says Vance Crowe, regarding Bitcoin.

(Photo by Legacy Interviews)

In March 2025, President Trump signed an order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve . Three months later, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop plans toward the use of cryptocurrency as a mortgage loan asset .

“It’s only a matter of time before ag lending starts realizing it’s a lot better to collateralize loans with Bitcoin, than to do so with cattle or maybe even land,” Crowe projects. “If you collateralize a loan with cattle or land, if that person doesn’t meet their obligations, the lender must assess, load, or sell. Only then does a lender get the money. Bitcoin bundles all of that into a 10-minute fix. Ag lending will become heavily enmeshed in Bitcoin.”

Government maintains the exorbitant privilege of seigniorage, i.e., printing reams of bills with no backing. Need more, print more. Conversely, Bitcoin is limited to a 21-million cap. Finite.

No central issuer; no board of directors; no CEO; and no marketing department. Just a vehicle, according to Crowe, carrying unprecedented opportunity for agriculture. “Farmers have been put in a position where they spend as much of the money they have coming in as possible, both for tax reasons, but also because the value of their dollars always goes down.”

(For a basic primer, see What is Bitcoin? The Explanation That Clicks )

“Bitcoin provides an unprecedented option where a farmer can say, ‘I’ve made this money and I don’t want to risk its value. I’m putting it in Bitcoin.’ That provides a way to jump off the treadmill of constantly buying new tractors, building more sheds, or constantly growing.”

Fundamental change is knocking, Crowe contends: “Five, 10, or 15 years, it’s going to completely change agriculture’s game.”

Proverbial Lightbulb
Raised in hardscrabble 1980s row cropping in southcentral Nebraska’s Adams County, Kevin Kimle watched his father barter. Side of beef for a farm repair; load of pigs for a used semi.

“It’s in our agriculture muscle memory: a means to trade in a different currency,” says Kimle, now an Iowa-based entrepreneur and agriculture economist, and founder of BitCorn . He serves as Rastetter Chair of Agricultural Entrepreneurship and director of agricultural entrepreneurship programs at Iowa State University.

“I view Bitcoin as one of the most important inventions in human history,” says Kevin Kimle.

(Photo by BitCorn)

“We’re at the beginning of a transition to a Bitcoin standard not only in the U.S., but globally, and I think agriculture is a natural first mover on the leading edge of that transition.”

Practically, what does that mean to a farmer? A seventh saved, according to Kimle . As in, annually turning a seventh of a crop to Bitcoin, generating at least two crops worth of Bitcoin by the end of seven years.

He still owns farmland in Nebraska and began researching Bitcoin in 2021. “I’m about four years into this. But my own simulation, if I had sold 10% of my grain for Bitcoin instead of dollars, I’d have four years of crop in Bitcoin today.”

In summer 2025, Kimle set up a business bridge between Bitcoin and traditional agriculture— BitCorn —intent on giving farmers tools, basics, and the means to make transactions.

“The proverbial light bulb went off. At BitCorn, we’re providing a place where a farmer can learn Bitcoin. Agriculture is packed with incredibly innovative entrepreneurs, and their ideas are going to take us down the Bitcoin road.”

Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. “I view Bitcoin as one of the most important inventions in human history,” Kimle explains, “in the ballpark with the wheel, plow, printing press, electricity, and anything else.”

Our Children’s Money
Dennis Campbell is at the helm of Crystal Creek Enterprises, in east Iowa’s Clinton County, working with corn, soybeans and some wheat acres. Crystal Creek manages a portfolio of 10,000+ acres of owned, rented and custom farmed land.

“There’s a way to wake up and say, ‘I can buy $500 worth of something that’ll hold value as good as or better than land,’” asserts Dennis Campbell.

(Crystal Creek Enterprises)

Starting in 1854, Campbell’s forefathers scratched dirt outside Grand Mound, within proximity of the Mississippi River. His farming bloodline reaches back to Antebellum America, but although Campbell shepherds past legacy, his eyes are locked on the horizon. Internationally renowned for emerging technology, Crystal Creek is a consistent mecca for visiting ag delegations from Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America since 2013. In 2025, Campbell opened a BitCorn node on his farm. He jumped in the Bitcoin pool in 2023.

At present, Campbell estimates 85% of U.S. farmers take zero notice of Bitcoin. “They are nose to the grindstone, trying to juggle work, debt, equipment, and family, all while things get worse financially. I don’t know any more than anybody else, but I believe Bitcoin, at a minimum, is becoming a major tool in the toolbox to protect ourselves against an out-of-control government.”

“Just look at crop insurance, alone,” he continues. “You can spend $45 to $55 an acre insuring 250-bushel an acre APH corn. That’s crazy. I sure as hell won’t make 50 bucks an acre this year. Even if Bitcoin only gave some independence back on crop insurance, that by itself is enough for me.”

Does Campbell see growers investing a seventh of a crop in Bitcoin?

“We’ve got to put a portion of our proceeds in. If I could do that and have sufficient comfort to lower my 85% revenue harvest priced option insurance policy to 70% and lower my cost from $50 bucks to $20, that’s quite a savings account. Every year, regardless of how tight our belts are, we need to allocate a percentage of proceeds above and beyond our principal payments for land and green or red paint into something that can’t be debased and diluted by runaway government spending by 535 people in Washington, D.C.”

In 2025, Dennis Campbell opened a BitCorn node on his Iowa farm.

(Photo by Crystal Creek Enterprises)

Debt and the next generation loom large in Campbell’s view of Bitcoin.

“We’re spending our children’s money now and that’s what debt is. That’s what debt creates—a burden on future society and on future fruits of labor. It’s madness and we all talk about land as the best store of financial resources, but land is difficult to accumulate at a fractional pace. It’s not easy to wake up and say, ‘I’m gonna go buy 80 acres today,’ but there’s a way to wake up and say, ‘I can buy $500 worth of something that’ll hold value as good as or better than land.’ Bitcoin.”

Adios to the Rulebook
“The smartest thing somebody in agriculture could do is go down and borrow a bunch of money against traditional collateral and use that money to buy Bitcoin.”

Bold words. However, Matt Gilbert maintains Bitcoin future for agriculture is inevitable and backs his contention with receipts. Raised in the vast fields of Texas cotton country, Gilbert is an esteemed entrepreneur with specialization in mergers and acquisitions. He calls balls and strikes.

“Before my lifetime ends, the old playbook will be obsolete, and those prepared today will lead the charge into tomorrow’s agriculture economy,” says Matt Gilbert.

(Photo by Gilbert & Associates)

“Modern farmers invest heavily in equipment, infrastructure, and resources, yet the real paradigm shift lies in leveraging advanced financial tools. Up and down the agriculture supply chain, whether you’re manufacturing machinery or distributing fertilizer, nearly every participant depends on traditional lines of credit,” Gilbert explains.

“Financing in dollars is trapped in a cycle of diminishing returns—a negative loop. But using Bitcoin as a store of value creates an entirely positive feedback loop. If you’ve held Bitcoin during any four-year window since its inception, historically your purchasing power has multiplied, matching up to nearly 12 times what a dollar-based payment could achieve. This shift isn’t incremental—it’s transformational for agricultural economics.”

Adios to land or physical assets as necessary collateral? Yes, Gilbert says. “Choose any era in history: mass-market automobiles, television, the arrival of the Internet. Bitcoin’s adoption curve is exponentially steeper than any previous innovation. It stands alone as an asset that appreciates with unrivaled velocity, fundamentally altering the financial landscape for growers and agribusinesses.”

Agriculture trade is conducted via the U.S. dollar, which loses at least 3-5% per year in value. Tack on the price of inflation, and farmers see 10%-plus of dollar value slip away, annually. “Those numbers are incredibly disheartening,” Gilbert details. “For example, if someone got paid for a crop in 2023, sat on a little of the money, and decided to spend it in 2026, they’re going to have somewhere between 25-40% less purchasing power with the dollars they saved. That’s a giant problem. Bitcoin solves that problem.”

Bitcoin’s adoption rate has been phenomenally steep.

(Graphic by BlackRock)

“The implication for farmers and ag professionals is clear: Understand the currency paradigm shift, because the money you’re using, the dollar, is undermining your business more than you realize,” he says.

“My advice to those in agriculture is to leverage the advantages of both systems; pay expenses in dollars, but demand income in Bitcoin—the most secure and robust cryptocurrency. Weak currencies burden, but robust currencies liberate. It’s time for agriculture to pivot toward strength.”

What about buying farmland? Tokenization, Gilbert posits. “It’s already happening. Commercial real estate has been tokenized in the last couple of years. Agriculture assets are going to follow. Tokenization is the future, not theory. It’s reality. Commercial properties have already been fractionalized on the blockchain (the network Bitcoin runs on), and agriculture is next in line.”

Think apartment complex or condo in New York City. The building can be bought by tokenizing the real estate, meaning multiple people buy a portion. One buyer in Kansas; another in Indiana; more elsewhere, all purchasing 500 square feet apiece via the blockchain.

“Imagine democratizing rural assets. A family in Iowa, an investor in Mississippi, and stakeholders from across the nation jointly tokenizing a farm. The blockchain ledger transparently records every transaction, making ownership, lending, and risk radically clearer and more efficient than ever before. This will overhaul deed registries, middlemen, banking, and title services, drastically cutting costs and speeding processes.”

Markets also benefit, Gilbert believes. A futures contract is typically bundled in lots of 100, whether hedging crops, fuel, or fertilizer. Bitcoin splits the bundle into fractions of 1 million. “Instead of the current way things are primarily done, which is 100 units equals a contract, Bitcoin breaks that into a million pieces instead of 100 pieces, which means a far more level playing field for the person in agriculture versus the person in finance.”

The next 15 years will be telltale, Gilbert predicts. “Having studied the Bitcoin space since 2013, I’ve witnessed digital currency realize in a decade what it took the dollar more than a century to accomplish, without systemic debasement. Within the next fifteen years, financial rules governing agriculture will be rewritten, marking a generational inflection point. Before my lifetime ends, the old playbook will be obsolete, and those prepared today will lead the charge into tomorrow’s agriculture economy.”

What is Money?
Bitcoin naysayers abound. Ponzi party. Bernie Madoff special. Dot.com crash all over again. Sam Bankman-Fried unleashed. Cinderella at midnight .

Pitfalls? Certainly. Black swans. Always.

The Trump administration has generated strong support for Bitcoin, but the perspective of subsequent administrations is unknown. What about the Bitcoin blockchain—how secure will it be in years to come?

However, bolstered by steady gains and landmark promise, the past 16 years of Bitcoin have shown otherwise, contend Crowe, Kimle, Campbell, Gilbert, and Smith.

A handful of years in the past, Smith was a Bitcoin scoffer. Scam. Scheme. Trainwreck.

No more. He now sees Bitcoin as bell cow.

“It’s a question of when critical inertia hits, but Bitcoin will be utilized by folks in agriculture in the near future,” concludes producer Zach Smith.

(Photo by Stock Cropper)

“Whether Bitcoin is a store of value or medium of exchange in farming, it’ll be one or both,” Smith concludes. “Over the last 10 years, I’ve asked myself the hard question, ‘What is money?’ The best answer is to make the effort to find out for yourself. Go to Amazon and buy a copy of The Bitcoin Standard . Might be the most valuable $20 you’ll ever spend. Why? Because Bitcoin is the currency of the future, and that includes agriculture.”

For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer

Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust

Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing

Farmer Unearths Lost Treasure, Solves WW2 Mystery

3 Ways To Protect Your Ag Business from Cybersecurity Threats

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Agriculture is in the bull’s-eye for threat actors trying to access business information. But as Chris Sherman says: “Our keys in the visor mentality” has many farmers trusting too much and putting too much at risk.

Sherman is the founder of Tech Support Farm, an IT and cybersecurity consulting business who works with farmers, co-ops, custom harvesters and more ag businesses to shore up their systems, lock down their sensitive information and stay attuned to emerging risks.

The FBI has listed agriculture as a critical infrastructure for cybersecurity.

So where do most farmers leave themselves vulnerable to hackers? Sherman shares these:

1. Email

Sherman points to email as the No. 1 priority for farmers on where to start in taking cybersecurity seriously.

“The amount of information and data we are sending via email leaves every farmer at risk — from our FSA staff, agronomists, banks and more,” he says. “Emails can be intercepted, all contents can be exposed, and no one is the wiser. It would be like a rural mail carrier, and when he drops the mail someone stands there opening it, reading it and closing the envelope and putting it back in the mailbox. Foolhardy to be using the free email services such as Gmail, Yahoo and others.”

Here are four steps to shore up your email:

Get a domain
Get a commercial email provider
Get a filtration software (which monitors what comes in)
Get a DMARC compliance service (which manages outbound emails, so no one spoofs you and encryption is done properly)

As an example of why this should be prioritized, Sherman tells the story of a farm business working on a land deal.

“A dad and son were just about ready to sign, and the dad got an email from the bank, at least it appeared to be from the bank, but it was a spoof encouraging them to e-sign,” he says. “And everyone signed, and it drained the bank accounts and blew up the deal.”

2. Be aware of your personal information shared, and embrace “herd immunity”

All to often, farmers don’t have passcodes on their phones.

“That’s like leaving your credit card at the bar,” Sherman says. “For some reason in agriculture we are running multimillion dollar businesses on residential-grade infrastructure.”

He says by the nature of the business, enrolling in government programs, immigration workforce programs (such as H-2A) and more, make your address, phone number and email readily accessible.

“It’s a wealth of opportunity for threat actors. We can’t leave our doors and windows open,” Sherman says. “So you have to protect yourself, and encourage your friends, neighbors and business partners to do the same. If we are all reducing our individual risk, we are reducing the overall risk.”

3. Use high-quality passwords

Sherman says good passwords are must-have on all your accounts, including your Wi-Fi.

“Too often, farmers have their password just be a duplicate of the network name. Or if a farmer’s favorite tractor is a John Deere 4450, 4450 is his pin for everything,” he says. “When we are on the internet, it’s like being in the big city, and you have to act accordingly.”

Take It Outside: Onetime Indoor Ag Pioneers See Opportunity Out In The Field

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 12:16:34 GMT

For the past year, the team at Soil Action has been working toward building an artificial intelligence driven product to sense soil nutrition in real-time. Whereas other companies have attempted to revolutionize soil testing before, co-founders Jack Oslan and Nate Storey say the AI tools available today are making what was once difficult or nearly impossible, possible.

“Soils are unknown and misunderstood,” Storey says. “We can use AI to understand soil better, and our goal is to come up with the instruments to solve the problem.”

Soil Action’s solution in progress includes building models and training models pairing near infrared spectroscopy with AI. Its goal is to reengineer the traditional process of sampling, shipping, agronomic recommendations, prescription files and applications while making it all in real-time. They are doing on-farm demonstrations this fall.

Before founding Soil Action, these two businessmen first met 12 years ago co-founded indoor agriculture startup Plenty. Storey’s time at Plenty was applying his laser focus on yield with innovation in algorithmic nutrition.

“I went into indoor ag because it was an area with the largest opportunity to drive yield. I have a lot of interest in yield,” he says. “In indoor, you can control everything and measure it–everything can be known in those systems and control every part of the process: root zone temperature, gas composition, and more.”

Now, Storey and Oslan want to bring those learnings outside and into the field.

“We got really good at understanding how to take an algorithmic approach to yield. It’s about understanding the yield equation, breaking it apart, optimizing individual aspects, and restacking them,” Storey says. “In row crops, the soil is the most important part, and to solve the yield equation we have know the variables that correlate and then begin to manage.”

What Does The System Look Like?

Currently, the beta version product is housed in a 3”x6” steel tube which can be mounted on any style of implement or equipment to automatically take measurements 4” to 6” deep every 50’.

(Soil Action)

“The real end goal is to have every equipment cab be mounted with an AI enabled agent to give you real-time measurements of what’s going on in your field,” Storey says. “It’s an AI agent focused on optimizing yield.”

The first testing was conducted in northern Iowa.

“We’re building our models on data collected from the field, and we’re using deep learning to ingest all of the information and help understand correlations,” Oslan says. “We can see everything that’s there, but we don’t understand everything that is there. That’s a focus for our work right now.”

“Holy Grail of Soil Sampling”

When it’s ready to be commercially available, Soil Action aims to provide results measuring two forms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Other crop nutrients will be added in the future.

“Every expert we talked to said we couldn’t use NIRS in soil sampling, but the physics said we could,” Oslan says. “We took two intensive weeks using sand and manipulating it for measurements with NIRS, and our deep learning models can untangle data in a way classical statistical methods cannot. Now, it’s about how fast we can solve for soil nutrients with these newer tools.”

Soil Action says it aims to provide the equipment to farmers for a hardware fee of $10,000 paired with a subscription for the analysis on an annual fee basis.

AI in Produce: Practical Uses, Pitfalls and What’s Next

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:59:29 GMT

Artificial intelligence is quickly moving from pilot projects to practical applications across the produce industry. From supply chain optimization to compliance workflows, AI is starting to influence how fresh food is grown, packed and moved.

This past season on “Fresh Takes on Tech,” I spoke with researchers, investors, and operators about how AI is showing up across the food system. The conversations revealed a picture that was more nuanced than the hype — full of promise, but also full of risks we need to manage carefully.

AI Is Already Teaching Us How to Work With It

One of the most striking themes from these conversations is that AI “teaches” users how to interact with it. The best results come from iteration and refinement — giving clear prompts, checking outputs, and adjusting. This is true whether you are a scientist using AI to speed up a breeding program or a retailer automating demand forecasts.

Rachel Blake, who is developing the International Fresh Produce Association Global Intelligence Engine, explained the goal is to make IFPA’s data much easier to use.

“We wanted to take the data we already have and make it usable in the moment,” she said. “The interactive format means members can ask specific questions — about markets, imports, pricing — and get answers right away instead of waiting for the next report.”

This kind of application helps AI feel less like an experiment and more like a practical tool that makes everyone’s work easier.

From Single Tasks to Connected Systems

Another big theme was that AI is quickly evolving from a set of isolated tools to connected systems. Microsoft’s Ranveer Chandra described a future where “lots of tiny models … learn and make decisions on their own.” These agents can coordinate planting schedules, shipping routes and compliance checks — saving hours of manual work and reducing costly errors.

Longtime industry leader Joe Don Zetzsche shared how automation is beginning to orchestrate perishable supply chains. Algorithms can now anticipate harvest volumes, align transportation schedules, and allocate cold storage capacity in real time.

“When you get those three things talking to each other, you can keep product fresher, reduce shrink, and make better use of labor,” he said.

Anthony Howcroft, founder of Swarm Engineering, noted that many companies underestimate how transformative this integration can be.

“The power is not just in solving one problem — it’s in connecting solutions so that decisions in one part of the chain improve outcomes in another,” he said. “That’s where AI delivers exponential value.”

Data Quality Still Rules Everything

Despite the excitement, several guests warned that bad data is still the fastest way to sink an AI project. Elliot Grant, founding CEO of Mineral, was clear: “If we get the data layer wrong, everything else fails. AI needs good data the way crops need good soil.”

Patrick Vizzone, who will serve as IFPA’s 2026 board of directors chair, echoed this, noting that “many projects fail not because the tech isn’t good but because teams don’t want to share data.” Breaking down silos and building governance processes will be just as important as writing good code.

Workforce Concerns Are Real

Labor concerns came up repeatedly. AI will not replace agronomists, quality managers or food safety officers, but it will change what their jobs look like. Walmart is addressing this head-on with a nationwide AI certification program for its U.S. associates — part of a $1 billion skills investment through 2026. Moves like this matter because they help employees build confidence, not fear, when new tools roll out.

Risks We Can’t Ignore

AI can create value, but it can also create problems if it’s rolled out carelessly. Poorly tested outputs can lead to incorrect compliance decisions or flawed forecasts, eroding trust with growers, regulators and consumers.

Reputational risk is a real concern. Clear governance, validation processes and transparency about how AI is being used will be critical to avoid these pitfalls.

Where We Go From Here

The takeaway for produce leaders is clear: AI is no longer experimental. It is a practical tool that can help match harvest to demand, reduce waste, and simplify compliance — but only if we get the data right and bring people along. As an industry, we need to treat AI literacy as a core skill set, not a luxury.

AI is becoming part of the day-to-day work of the produce industry faster than many expected. The next few years won’t just be about testing pilots; they will be about scaling the ones that work and doing so responsibly so we maintain trust with customers, consumers and regulators.

Vonnie Estes is vice president of agfood technology innovation with the International Fresh Produce Association.

Apeel Sciences Addresses ‘Widespread Misinformation’ About Its Company, Products

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 22:40:19 GMT

Apeel Sciences, which in June was named one of Food & Wine’s 2025 Game Changers transforming the food supply, and earlier this year was recognized by Time magazine as the No. 3 Top GreenTech company in the world , says it’s been the target of a disinformation campaign since 2023 and is now named in the Apeel Reveal Act, a federal labeling bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind.

HR 4737 seeks to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to require the disclosure of certain product coatings used on fruits and vegetables, and for other purposes.

Apeel’s primary technology, a plant-based, edible coating that extends the freshness of produce without the need for refrigeration or synthetic preservatives, is tasteless, odorless and made from ingredients found in commonly eaten plants, says the company. Apeel adds that its technology extends freshness and reduces spoilage for retailers, suppliers and consumers at every step of the supply chain.

The Goleta, Calif.-based company issued a response to the federal labeling bill on Aug. 5, stating the company’s longstanding commitment to transparency in food labeling and addressing widespread misinformation surrounding its products and operations.

Apeel Sciences co-founder Jenny Du says disinformation online is a threat to the entire U.S. agricultural system.

(Photo courtesy of Apeel Sciences)

The Packer reached out to Apeel Sciences co-founder Jenny Du via email for additional comment. Asked what prompted the congressman to introduce the Apeel Reveal Act, Du said: “We requested a meeting with the congressman to learn the answer to that question. Our understanding is that he is a farmer, so we are hoping to have an open, honest dialogue about the U.S. food system, to set the record straight about our company, and to discuss better transparency for consumers.”

In the statement issued from Apeel Sciences, the company said it agrees with Stutzman that “every consumer deserves to know where they can find safer, higher-quality, fresher produce in their grocery stores,” adding that this has been a longstanding company belief since its founding in 2012.

“Our plant-based, edible coatings help keep produce naturally fresh for longer, reduce food waste, and lower grocery costs for American families,” the statement said. “Our products are among the safest and most rigorously tested on the market. The ingredients — plant-based simple fats called mono- and diglycerides, baking soda and citric acid — are common, naturally occurring food ingredients found in the edible peels, pulp and seeds of fruits and vegetables that also have a long history of safe use in everyday foods such as baby formula, dairy products, baked goods, meats and nut and seed butters.”

Disinformation Campaign

Du says the food safety questions surrounding Apeel stem from disinformation perpetuated online.

“Apeel Sciences has been the target of a disinformation campaign since 2023, which our leadership addressed in an open letter last year and which has also been addressed by several credible fact-checking organizations over these years,” Du told The Packer. “It is unfortunate that incorrect information about our company, its ownership and our products have circulated heavily online since that time.”

To address the disinformation, Apeel listed the following bullet points in its Aug. 5 statement:

“Our products fully comply with existing labeling laws established by federal agencies and with retail disclosure requirements for both packaged and loose produce.
The ingredients used in our products have long been publicly listed on our website (www. apeel.com ).
While first approved for use in 2017, our product for organic produce, Organipeel, has not been commercially available or used for nearly two years, as we are developing new products better suited to today’s needs of the organic industry.
Bill Gates is not now, nor has he ever been, a shareholder in Apeel Sciences. He has never been an owner, advisor or held any position within the company.
Apeel Sciences is an innovation company inspired by nature and proudly built in the United States by scientists dedicated to reducing hunger, improving health and cutting food waste. Innovation means challenging the status quo, which sometimes attracts detractors.”

Greater Food Supply Transparency

In the statement, Apeel said it has consistently “exemplified and advocated for greater transparency in the U.S. food system” and has “urged the industry to exceed existing legal requirements and share more information with consumers.”

Produce protected with Apeel products feature the Apeel logo or sticker, communicating the brand to consumers.

Apeel Sciences says it submitted a formal request to meet with Stutzman last week to discuss HR 4737 and reiterate its willingness to collaborate on solutions that benefit consumers and producers alike. Apeel says the letter emphasized that food transparency supports both informed choice and innovative companies trying to build a safer, more sustainable food system for the future.

What’s at Stake for the Food Supply

Apeel says its innovations have also driven significant environmental benefits, including saving 166 million pieces of fruit from going to waste, conserving 1.8 billion gallons of water and preventing more than 64 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions — outcomes that it says directly support creating abundance by protecting the resources and systems that make fresh, healthy food more available and sustainable for all.

“It is unclear what the ramifications might be for the industry if the bill passes,” Du said. “While our company name is included in the name of the proposed bill, the proposed legislation would apply to all postharvest treatments — not just Apeel products. We encourage the industry to get involved and make their concerns known to the congressman and their representatives.”

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer Sets Record Straight

Apeel’s statement follows a high-profile correction by actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who recently walked back a social media post that Apeel said “spread false claims about the company.” Her full statement, posted to Instagram, reads:

“Ugh! For any of you who reposted or shared my story about Apeel…it turns out that I unintentionally reposted inaccurate and outdated information, and I’m very sorry for that. Apeel Sciences has informed me that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded two research grants to Apeel Sciences and Gates has no role with or ownership in Apeel. And regarding their organic product, Organipeel, Apeel told me it was not JUST approved but was first allowed back in 2017, though it has not been offered commercially in any market for over two years because they have been working (through proper protocol) on new organic formulations to meet the evolving needs of the organic industry. ...Public conversations about food safety and sustainability matter deeply, but they’re only as helpful as they are accurate. Thank you! Xx M”

One Retailer’s Reaction

In a recent post on LinkedIn, Southern California-based natural grocery retailer Jimbo’s said it is reconfirming its policy established in June 2025 to not carry any produce that has Apeel or Organipeel applied to it.

“All we know is what their company has stated publicly,” Du said of the post. “We would welcome a dialogue with Jimbo’s to clear the air and make sure they have accurate information about our company and our products. Disinformation online is a threat to the entire U.S. agricultural system, and it is important that everyone in the industry makes decisions based on facts and scientific evidence.”

From AI to Genetics, Innovation is Fueling the Berry Category

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 18:50:04 GMT

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Berry innovation was on full display at the recent Aneberries trade fair, where Hortifrut CEO Hector Lujan sat down with The Packer to share the vertically integrated company’s vision for the future of the category.

Founded in Chile, the global berry company operates its own commercial platforms as well as partnerships with U.S. growers including Naturipe, Michigan Blueberry Growers and Munger Farms. Globally, Hortifrut has a presence in India, China, North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

What role does innovation play at Hortifrut?

Lujan: It’s huge. Innovation is in our core values. We try to be a very innovative company that is always looking to challenge the status quo, but also reinvent ourselves in terms of how we farm, how we take product to market, and how we inform and bring people closer to our company.

We also expect a high level of execution. Innovation comes with the ability to bring it forward. So, we try to merge that in our culture, and hopefully it shows up. We also find that innovation generates a lot of really strong energy and excitement within the company that helps move us forward. And that’s been a testament to Hortifrut throughout its history.

How important are genetics to the future of blueberries and your company’s future?

Hortifrut has been a strong blueberry company, but we’re getting stronger in all the berry categories, and genetics are at the forefront of that. If you look at what’s transpired in the berry industry over the last 10 years, it’s really been driven by the genetic improvements, farming improvements, go-to-market improvements — but genetics are also at the forefront of creating a better eating experience with consumers and moving our products forward.

We are very engaged with our own genetics, but we’re also tapping into and looking to partner with different genetic houses to bring the best genetics to our farming. We invest in genetics on our own. We’re vertically integrated that way, but we’re also strategically partnering with other genetic houses, because we want to bring the best genetics to the table and products being represented under the Hortifrut, Naturipe labels.

What advancements are you seeing in the berry category and how is technology accelerating the pace of change?

Everybody’s innovating. And AI (artificial intelligence) has made leveraging information faster, but also much more constructive in terms of making changes and analyzing data for better decision making. AI is bringing a lot of really good tools that we can use as we build our databases.

Everybody you talk to in the industry is asking how much data is there in the community? How are you bringing that data together to empower your organization, be it with improved farming practices, better decision making, logistics, and even in genetics AI is becoming huge in terms of reading the recommendations of crossings. So, it’s playing a huge role.

There are other improvements in technology that are coming through in how we farm and automate harvesting or assisted harvesting. I think the most pronounced advancements have been through assisted harvesting, tools that allow for the harvester to be more productive.

At Fruit Attraction 2024 in Madrid, Hortifrut launched BerryReality , a virtual reality project designed to transform the way the industry and consumers connect with the company’s growing experience, innovation and sustainability practices. Is that helping to share Hortifrut’s story?

What you witnessed was our virtual reality tour that we’re trying to engage now and also use it to bring people closer to our company. We’re consistently trying to advance that forward, to have — even with AI — a conversation with people that brings them to a farm experience. We like to innovate in the marketplace. And we like to innovate in our farms.

Berry sales continue to boom in the U.S. Dollar sales for the berry category were over $12.5 billion, according to Circana OmniMarket Integrated Fresh retail data for the 52-week period ending June 15, 2025, up 7.5% over a year ago. What’s driving demand?

The competitive landscape in the berry industry has gotten tighter and tighter. And I think it’s stronger. Where the berry industry is growing because of the flavor profiles and the improvements in genetics, but it’s consumer demand for [a high-level] eating experience that’s really driving that growth. So, I think companies now are much more keen to ask, ‘How can we add value together with our customers, our retailers, and drive opportunity for the farmers through better eating experiences?’

And what we’re seeing is better genetics in every single berry category — in raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries — which is creating a much more competitive environment, but it’s also really good for the consumer because the eating experience keeps getting better and better, and that’s driving opportunity, growth and demand in the berry category.

The other factor driving sales is berries are getting discovered worldwide. What we’re seeing is that because of the health benefits of berries coupled with the eating experience, emerging markets are becoming huge opportunities. The world is eager to get berries into their stomachs. So, our share of stomach is growing worldwide.

A Fruit Logistica in Berlin earlier this year, Hortifrut sampled blueberries on the vine. When will you bring them to market and will they be available in the U.S.?

They’re available seasonally, because it’s certain varieties that we can harvest on the vine that need to mature evenly. So, it’s not a product that we have year-round. We have it in Europe right now. Actually, last week we started shipping the first berries on the vine into the Nordics, and it has been a great success.

It’s been a very rewarding experience. We’re seeing an even better shelf life with the berries on the vine , and people are excited to get them. So, it’s a novelty. It’s not something that we have done yet on a very big scale, but it’s something that is exciting for us — part of our innovation, part of our working with retailers to offer them something that’s unique and brings a differential to them. It also gets more people engaged with blueberries and is bringing new customers to the category.

As far as bringing blueberries on the vine to the United States, we’ve started those conversations and I’d say we’re in the ground stages of looking at how to enter that market.

Your next read:

Farming Doesn’t Follow All the Business Models, Unique Opportunity for Startups

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:26:51 GMT

It could be said success in business is driven by timing and people. And AgLaunch provides agricultural startups with the nexus of both.

With its AgLaunch365 accelerator, early-stage startups have programming paired with the coast to coast network of AgLaunch farmers.

It’s a story Michael Rhys and the team at Barnwell Bio experienced firsthand. Their company spun out of the same technology platform used for municipal waste monitoring during COVID-19, except they are applying it to biosecurity and animal welfare.

Rhys says there is no other program like AgLaunch in existence.

“The farmer buy-in was really important to us along with the product feedback and guidance farmers can give us on the feature roadmap we want to add to Barnwell,” he says. “What’s great about the AgLaunch network is the level of inclusion along the way and the how the farmer network shares their feedback in real time and we’re able to iterate with them quickly because of their candid insights.”

Barnwell Bio collects aggregate samples from animal byproducts, analyzes them for a broad array of pathogens and then shares the assessment of potential health risks with farmers and their veterinarians.

“We see an opportunity to change the sentiment in animal health from being reactive to proactive,” Rhys says.

Michael Rhys, CEO, Barnwell Bio

(Ashley Benham)

Two-Way Street

Just as the startups receive benefits from the AgLaunch programming, as do the farmers. Fundamental to its approach it getting startups on farms in field trials, the farmers who take part in those field trials can earn an equity stake in the companies.

One of the original farmer members to the AgLaunch network is Grant Norwood, a Tennessee row crop farmer. He was part of the farmer network who proved the concept of Aglaunch earlier this year and cashed out an early investment in an irrigation technology startup.

“Farming is a business that doesn’t follow all the business models,” Norwood says. “And if you are coming from non-ag background, the farmer is your insight early on to how to best finish development and finish designing the product. We share knowledge to how ag markets work and to purchasing models. For a startup company it can be a big jump ahead to have that insight that would otherwise take them several years on their own.

Norwood has done field trials with sensors, hardware, and biological startups. And he’s proud to be part of the network he says is “where inventors meet farmers to solve agriculture’s problems.”

While the group started in Tennessee, it has since expanded into the midwest and pacific northwest.

“We’re a diverse group growing a lot of different crops and raising a lot of different livestock. But we are like-minded in helping startup companies bring their ideas to agriculture,” Norwood says.

AgLaunch has officially opened applications for the 2026 AgLaunch365 Accelerator. Applications are due by September 15, 2025.

AgLaunch365 aims to provide the proving ground startups need to help reshape how food is grown, animal are raises and land is stewarded.

For founders who would like to learn more, AgLaunch is hosting short Q&A webinars:

• August 4, 1-2pm CT: Registration link.

• August 14, 12-1pm CT: Registration link.

• August 25, 12-1pm CT: Registration link.

Biodiversity Index in the Field: A Look at Diagnostic Microbiome Tests for Soil Health

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 21:13:30 GMT

In the past few years, about a handful of companies have emerged with tests to measure a soil microbiome of fields, give a biodiversity index and help farmers understand the effects of inputs on soil health.

All of these companies recognize the complexity of a soil’s biology, and they aim to bring new tools to advance regenerative agriculture. Different from chemical and physical soil tests, which are often used to gauge what the soil needs (for example, rates of nitrogen), microbiome tests can provide insights on what the soil can supply (for example, nitrogen fixation or decomposition processes).

And these companies see the microbiome soil tests as complements — not replacements — to traditional soil testing.

Biome Makers

With a goal of delivering agronomic insights, Biome Makers built its BeCrop technology pairing soil microbiome knowledge and machine learning. The company, which is based in northern California, currently services farmers across 2.2 million acres and six continents. The BeCrop Test provides a report on nutrient cycling, health and biodiversity to be used to improve yields, monitor nutrient cycling, and predict disease risks. ( biomemakers.com )

EarthOptics

Launched as Pattern Ag and now part of EarthOptics, this platform claims to provide farmers a predication of key field agronomic outcomes with more than 90% confidence. The company uses DNA sequencing to provide soil biological test results. It also offers a premium program combing the soil microbiome results, with sensor data, yield data and satellite imagery for soil fertility and crop planning. ( earthoptics.com )

RhizeBio

Based in North Carolina, RhizeBio says its test uses a proprietary bioinformatics pipeline to translate raw soil DNA sequencing data into soil health reports both informative and easy to use. The results can be bucketed into three groups: biodiversity, bioindicators and risk analysis. The RhizeBio report provides biodiversity data including the number of species within the soil’s microbiome, community evenness, primary members and functionality. This gives insights on a soil’s capacity in stress environments such as droughts, disease, disturbance rating and nutrient cycling potential. ( rhizebio.com )

Trace Genomics

Recently acquired by Canada-based Miraterra, Trace Genomics was founded in northern California and has a soil analytical lab in Ames, Iowa. The Trace Genomics testing uses DNA sequencing to provide insights on the soil microbiome. The technology combines soil science, genomics and machine learning to output a measurement of a soil’s bacteria and fungi. Combining those measurements with chemical properties, growers receive information on a soil’s health and productivity. The company also offers a year-round sampling program to help guide seed selection, input selections, fertility products and biologicals for 70 crops and more than 225 pathogens. ( miraterrasoil.com/trace )

New Chassis For Application: Terrana Biosciences Emerges From Stealth Mode

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 10:40:00 GMT

The saying in real estate is location, location, location. And that applies for technology being unveiling by Terrana Biosciences.

Emerging from stealth mode after four years of development, this Flagship Pioneering company is taking the RNA expertise of cousin company Moderna, and creating crop protection solutions in parallel but distinctly different than cousin company Indigo Ag.

“Terrana is coming out of the Flagship Pioneering ecosystem in Boston, and Flagship has a long history of working on RNA,” Ryan Rapp Terrana Biosciences co-founder and CEO. “Probably the best known RNA company is Moderna, but we have a whole host of other ones within the ecosystem, and it’s helped allow us to have all this knowledge about RNA, but apply it to solve problems in agriculture.”

Rapp says RNA is a natural solution to deliver proteins and RNA molecules that can solve many agronomic issues.

“Plants have natural RNAs inside of them that have been evolving with plants for thousands of years. They’ve been largely ignored, because when people are thinking about RNA in plants, they’re usually trying to find things that are making plants sick,” he says. “What Terrana does is we actually look at all the things that everyone else has not had the time to look at and we begin working with those and what we’ve developed from that is a class of three products: prevent, protect and improve.”

Still in pre-commercial phase, Terrana is working on its portfolio of biological RNA-based products that can work like a chassis to carry and deliver protein building information directly to the plant. Protective effects provided by such technologies include anti-insect, nematicidal, antibacterial, and one key solution Terrana is focused on is antivirals.
“We’re looking at some of the vegetable species where today there are severe problems with viruses in the in glass houses and protected culture, particularly like tomatoes,” Rapp says. “We’re working to create viral products that can deliver resistance to several different viruses that when you get them, you kind of have to destroy the whole crop in the greenhouse.”

(Terrana Biosciences)

While the company’s first development focus is specialty crops, Rapp is eyeing opportunities in row crops as well.

“Think about Asian soybean rust in Brazil. You’ve got farmers that are growing three crops of soybean a year down there and spraying up to 16 times. We believe with the way that our technology works we could potentially reduce that to one spray per cropping cycle. So it’s basically three sprays per year,” he says.

New solutions to previously uncontrolled pests, improved application efficicacy and climate resilience are all benefits Rapp says are possible.

He points to cherry orchards in the Pacific Northwest requiring chill hours–hours below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. And farmers have observed warmer winters, which leads to poor flowering, poor fruit set and poor quality fruit.

“Farmers don’t have good options today—they could cut down the cherry trees, move north to Canada, or replace trees with new genetics,” he says. “Terrana’s product lets us do something completely different. We could go in during the summer, spray those trees with our RNA based product, and actually attenuate or turn down the amount of cold hours that they need so that they can go back to being productive farms that are setting high quality fruit. This keeps those flavor profiles, keeps the cherries that consumers have come to love, and gives the economics back to the farmer.”

Terrana is aiming to have commercially available products in the next few years, pending regulatory approval, that can be applied as sprayables or seed treatments. And the company says its RNA-based biologicals can be stored at ambient temperature and will be formulated as stand alone applications or for tank mixes.

How Social Media, Sustainability and Smart Tech are Reshaping the Industry

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 18:19:02 GMT

Technology is transforming the fresh produce supply chain from farm to table. Here we explore how social media, sustainability and smart tech are reshaping the industry.

Social Media: An Unlikely Driver of Fresh Produce Changes

Some technology is less tangible than an optical sorter, but that doesn’t change the impact it can have on the industry. Consider social media. While it is not growing technology in a classic sense, it is a vehicle that has driven on-farm activities as much as any farm truck.

For example, in the world of sweetpotatoes, the purple-skinned, white-fleshed murasaki varietal is seeing increasing consumer demand to the point that many farms are planting more and more acres around it and offering new product lines. Why do consumers want it?

“People shop with their eyes, and they eat with their eyes,” said Autumn Campbell, sales manager for Arkansas sweetpotato grower Matthews Ridgeview Farms. “[Murasaki sweetpotatoes] are beautiful, so they look good on plates and combined with other sweetpotatoes.”

That visual appeal works well in the world of social media, according to Michelle Grainger, executive director of the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission.

“The culinary world is always looking to do something different on the plate and to have pop,” Grainger explained. “And that ties into your social media influencers who are taking the pictures and are posting about the latest creation that they were able to enjoy.”

From Social to Sustainability

Since social media means a shorter distance between farm and fork, it allows consumers to gain information — and demand greater action — on topics
that are important to them. Topics that include sustainability.

Sustainable packaging is an area of growing interest. In the past three years of The Packer’s Fresh Trends reports, respondents have consistently rated biodegradable packaging as a key way the fresh produce industry can promote sustainability.

“Consumers are really interested in packaging right now, and for good reason; it’s the biggest and usually first touch point most consumers are going to have with their fresh produce,” said Jeana Cadby, environment and climate director for Western Growers Association, which represents fresh produce farmers in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico.

She pointed out that there are a lot of ways packaging can be sustainable. There is the direct way that most consumers likely think about — packaging material that is recyclable or biodegradable, or as minimal as can still get the job done — but she said that roughly 90% of the work of packaging is done before a product reaches the consumer.

Take lettuce, for example: “As soon as you pick it, the job of the packaging is to keep it as alive and fresh for as long as it possibly can. That itself is a huge technological marvel,” she said. “When we think about how our produce network is set up, it’s actually really incredible how far a bag of lettuce can travel and still be fresh when it comes to consumers.”

The more bags of lettuce — or clamshells of strawberries or packs of mushrooms and so on — that reach consumers fresh and stay fresh long enough to be eaten means less food waste, another angle of sustainability.

Smart Tech Has Changed Labor

Victoria Lopez — marketing and business development manager for Fox Packaging and Fox Solutions, fresh produce packaging makers and equipment distributors — sees technology in produce primarily answering questions of sustainability.

“How can we be sustainable, not just with packaging materials, but how can we be responsible with resources?” she said. “How can we be responsible with talent?”

Large infrastructure using artificial intelligence (AI) is helping with that now, Lopez explained.

“The advancements of technology have supported the flexibility and adaptability of our ability to process and get food to the store shelves,” she said. “With technologies, we’re able to determine what size produce is and how fancy it is.”

She gave the example of the Newtec Celox-P-DUAL-UHD, an optical sorter distributed by Fox Packaging that uses AI to assess photos taken of every potato that goes through for characteristics such as size and flaws across several different potato varieties.

“It can sort up to 13 different categories, identifying decay, rot, greening, holes,” Lopez described, adding that the programming allows it to adapt to new defects as it encounters them.

“The AI has been trained to recognize good versus bad potatoes just like how a human would learn, but faster,” she added.

Though the point of smart technologies isn’t to replace human labor, when it does, it also opens up the opportunity for operations to reallocate their talent, Lopez continued.

“It creates more growth opportunities for your workforce, whether it means becoming a lead, a supervisor, perhaps even a manager, or creating new departments — wherever there may be a gap,” she said, adding that identifying gaps is the point of automation. “Where is too much time being consumed in the process, and how can we make it more efficient? That’s where the innovation and creativity comes into place with a lot of this technology.”

Ultimately, she called AI a powerhouse for the future of the fresh produce industry that will arm people like operations and facilities managers to get deeper insights with real-time information.

Focus on a More Efficient Future

AI in agtech isn’t new, despite the growing public attention and interest.

“We’ve had laser weeders that use machine learning to identify weeds and help with reducing a lot of that labor that goes into weeding a field,” Cadby gave as an example. But she thinks the industry has only just started scratching the surface of the possibilities.

“It’s really fun to talk about the really big, exciting things like the giant laser weeders or the handpickers that are going to come out and increase efficiency and pick in the middle of the night,” she said. The big advancements will come in the “boring stuff,” she continued, technologies that answer the question, “How do we just make things more efficient?”

“For example, you have the laser weeder that’s out there weeding, but maybe it can also be taking images and tell you when you it’s identifying some sort of pathogen in the field,” she said. “Maybe it can do an early, super targeted identification of that pathogen, and it helps to capture that before it spreads to the rest of the field. That’s an example of doing more using the tools that we already have, or fewer passes in the field or resources generally.”

Less-flashy tools that make it easier for producers to make good, data-based decisions are also where Cadby sees the future of technology in produce. She offered Western Growers’ Green Link project as an example of such an effort that examines how to advance food safety with innovative technology.

“It’s using aggregated data to pull the industry together and design this more resilient and safer ecosystem for growers. I think that’s really cool,” she said. “It’s just exciting that we have these kinds of tools at our fingertips now that we can use to really make these educated decisions.”

Lopez described the future of technology in the fresh produce industry as being “turnkey;” smart technologies and partners that help operators throughout the supply chain make informed decisions from data that translate into improvements.

“I think technology is broader than people give it credit for,” she said, pointing out that it’s not just machines and software but also new approaches and processes. “Technology is hand in hand with innovation, and innovation is a supporter of anything that helps make improvements.”

Your next read:
Technology Goes Hand in Hand With Innovation in Produce

Technology Goes Hand in Hand with Innovation in Produce

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 21:52:43 GMT

What mental image does the word “technology” conjure up for you? Perhaps a seeder or the tractor it’s attached to? Maybe that new bagger? Your computer or cell phone? What about ChatGPT?

Did you think about data or how it’s gathered? Or perhaps that new process you heard about from a neighbor? Or the engineering that goes into a strawberry clamshell? What about the results of pickers working in the shade?

Those all impact efficiency and offer the opportunity for ongoing improvement, making them technology too, and they have had — and will continue to have — big impacts on the fresh produce industry.

Hardware Side of Produce Tech

The infrastructure of an operation — the physical, often large, examples of technology — has very literal impacts on the fresh produce industry. For example, Happy Dirt — a produce distributor with 16 farmer owners across North Carolina — has recently begun using high tunnels in a lot of its farms to extend the growing season of its heirloom tomatoes, reduce disease pressure on its strawberries and to generally protect crops from the uncertain and often extreme weather of the Carolinas.

Taylor Holenbeck, grower services coordinator for Happy Dirt, said that increasing this sort of on-farm infrastructure has “really helped consistency and quality of those specialty crops.”

Sometimes, the technology is the farm — literally — as in the case of container farming. In this small-scale version of vertical farming, the whole unit, which is often built inside refurbished shipping containers, is a self-contained piece of technology that allows for growing fresh produce out of season or in otherwise inhospitable places.

More often, however, big, physical technology in the produce industry looks more like a laser weeder or optical sorters — tools that don’t replace jobs, per se, but make the work easier and, importantly, more comfortable for workers.

“I think what people don’t realize about fresh produce is a lot of it is still hand-harvested, and some of that requires bending over and having a posture that’s not super comfortable,” explained Jeana Cadby, environment and climate director for Western Growers Association, which represents fresh produce farmers in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico.

“If there’s a way where technology can step in and not replace their job, but make it more comfortable — maybe they’re now in a shaded area and they’re putting things in packaging as opposed to bending over and harvesting — that is a major upgrade.”

Big, physical forms of technology can also open new markets for produce growers. For example, North Carolina’s Tendwell Farm co-owner Steven Beltram said that the farm has seen enough demand for specialty grape tomatoes that it is putting in an optical sorter this summer. He said it will speed up tomato sorting and allow for seven sizes and different colors to meet specific consumer demands.

Package Makes the Produce

Like big pieces of infrastructure, packaging also can help create new markets for produce. For example, the convenience of simply putting fresh produce in bags can spur consumers to purchase.

“It started right before COVID, and then COVID just put it on steroids because nobody wanted to go into the grocery store and hang out there and go through fruit,” said John McGuigan, director of industry affairs for the Hass Avocado Board. “They were just picking up a bag and going.”

This dynamic of bagged fruit has helped the avocado industry tackle a pressing issue it is facing: smaller fruit across the board.

“For 15 years, the #48 has been the bread and butter of the retail business of avocados selling in the U.S.,” McGuigan said. “That used to be the center of the size curve, and the size curve is definitely shifting down one size to the #60s.”

But smaller avocados fit nicely in bags, and now roughly a quarter of avocados are sold in bags.

“We have seen double-digit growth in bags,” he said.

Packaging can also change a piece of produce from the perspective of consumer use. While a potato could just be one among many in a bulk bin, with specific packaging, it suddenly becomes a single-serve, value-added microwaveable meal, for example. And there is growing demand from consumers for these sorts of value-added and convenience-oriented produce products.

“Convenience is a huge demand for society today,” said Robin Narron, marketing director and sales support for Nash Produce, a Nashville, N.C.-based fresh produce packer, shipper and marketer.

“People are still trying to eat healthy, whether it’s the grocery shopping or doing things more efficiently and quicker, so that’s where some of these new packaging materials come in handy,” she said.

This is Part 1 of a two-part story on tech innovation in produce. Stay tuned for Part 2 in The Packer’s Thursday , June 19 PM newsletter.

Clarifresh, Sun World Seek to Standardize Quality Control in Table Grapes

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 19:19:59 GMT

Branded table grapes continue to transform the category. Based on a survey of more than 1,000 consumers nationwide, The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2025 found that among consumers who had purchased grapes in the past 12 months, 25% reported purchasing Autumn Crisp grapes, 37% reported purchasing Cotton Candy grapes, and 47% reported purchasing another branded grape variety.

And as branded grapes continue to drive sales in the category, it’s critical for players across the supply chain — from seed to table — to ensure the fruit delivers a consistent eating experience every time.

With the goal of delivering top-quality grapes to consumers, Sun World International has formed a strategic partnership with Clarifresh, using its AI-powered quality management software for fresh food. Through the collaboration, Sun World, a fruit breeding and licensing company of proprietary varieties, is sponsoring the Clarifresh platform to its licensees, the growers and marketers behind brands including Autumn Crisp and Ruby Rush.

The companies say the partnership is intended to optimize quality control processes and drive greater consistency across the supply chain.

Pablo Gomez, director of quality insights for Sun World, wants consumers to have the best possible grape eating experience.

(Photo courtesy of Sun World)

“Our objective is to work with the growers, with exporters and also with retailers to understand the quality of the different varieties, and also to make sure the brands we have like Autumn Crisp or Ruby Rush are well represented to the consumer,” says Pablo Gomez, director of quality insights for Sun World.

3 Benefits to the Fresh Supply Chain

Elad Mardix, CEO and co-founder of Clarifresh, says he sees three key benefits for customers like Sun World, who are using the Clarifresh platform.

The first benefit is the ability to tap into the “Clarifresh language,” Mardix says. “We invented the language.”

Mardix explains that the Clarifresh language essentially takes all the quality specs for each variety — which are usually in a 20-page document that can be interpreted differently by everyone from the grower to the retail buyer — and converts it into standardized digital specs.

“What we do is we take this 20-page document, and we help the customer convert it into a digital spec — to our language — and by that we essentially create one digital language to communicate and then assess the quality of a specific variety,” he says.

In the case of Sun World and its premium Autumn Crisp grape variety, Clarifresh can help translate the variety’s specs to a digital format.

“And from now on, that’s how everyone in the world who is growing Autumn Crisp and harvesting it should assess the quality of Autumn Crisp based on that [digital] recommendation,” Mardix says.

Elad Mardix, CEO and co-founder of Clarifresh, says he sees three key benefits for customers like Sun World, who are using the Clarifresh platform.

(Photo courtesy of Clarifresh)

An Objective and Consistent Inspection Process

The second benefit, Mardix says, is where AI comes into play.

“We developed our own computer vision technology, which we have a patent on in the United States,” he says. “So, the customer can take a picture of the table grapes [with their phone], and the computer vision automatically analyzes external attributes, like size, color, secondary color — the stem color.”

Mardix says Clarifresh is now working on adding the same technology to table grape defects, thereby removing the human subjectivity of what someone thinks grape size, color, stem color and defects should look like versus the Clarifresh standardized model.

“The external attributes will come in a much more objective manner because of the computer vision technology that we develop,” says Mardix, adding that internal attributes will come through the integration of the refractometer’s measurements of Brix or the durometer’s measure of firmness as well as other tools being used to assess internal properties.

“If everyone is using the Clarifresh app through their phone — wherever they are in the supply chain — they will all get the same answer. That’s benefit No. 2; we’re making the inspection process objective and consistent,” he says.

This consistency on a global scale is key for a company like Sun World, which has licensees growing around the world. Sun World is initially offering these new tools to its network of grower-packer-shippers in Egypt and Italy.

“One challenge for us is on the day-to-day [operations],” Gomez says. “The growers and exporters do the growing and packing and everything [to bring the product to market.] And we have a technical team that support the grower during the planting process and the growing side of the season. And then we also have a quality team, which is the one that I am leading, and we are involved in the harvesting and in the packing. But it’s not possible for us to be involved in every day-to-day activity, because we have many thousands of growers and exporters around the world.”

And each country has its own set of standards, Gomez adds. As such, he says one of Sun World’s goals was to provide growers with a tool that allows them to control their own quality, inspection and packing processes, streamlining the inspection process around the world.

“Having a tool like Clarifresh can homogenize and harmonize the collection of data in the new era of artificial intelligence,” Gomez says. “Everything is data driven, but we don’t have access to all the data, and sometimes the data we receive is not clear. So, we are in this process to make a more efficient collection of the data, which will enable us to make better decisions once we can trust the data at a higher level.”

Standardized Quality Management

The third benefit, Mardix says, is analytics that inform decision making.

“We generate real-time insights and reporting that helps growers and marketing companies or packer-shippers make their decisions,” he says. “Who is the best customer to ship this pallet of table grapes? Or should I accept this pallet of table grapes? They can make those decisions based on actual data and reporting, rather than the intuition of the QC manager or the inspector who stands in the entrance of the packhouse.”

By integrating Clarifresh’s quality management technology, Sun World aims to establish a standardized and data-driven approach to quality control, ensuring alignment with the company’s high standards from field to fork. Mardix says that by leveraging Clarifresh’s AI-powered quality management solutions, growers can maintain greater consistency, reduce customer rejections and create a unified framework for assessing quality at every stage down to the seed level.

This standardization is also especially important given the labor crisis that plagues much of agriculture around the globe, Gomez says.

“One of the main challenges we face is that agriculture labor is struggling in many countries. It’s difficult to maintain a team from one year to the other,” he says. “Maybe one year you have a team and you teach them, but the following year you lose that team, and you need to hire new people. The Clarifresh tool is an easy way of obtaining more homogeneous and trustable data that doesn’t rely on human data collection.”

Next up for Sun World is to extend the Clarifresh platform to its licensees in Australia.

“I just met with Pablo’s colleague from Australia last week, and he said, ‘I think it’s going to increase the bar for everyone in the supply chain.’ Think about it, the weakest link in the Sun World licensee chain is the weakest grower,” Gomez says. “The brand is going to be as good as the weakest grower. And when we [implement this technology], we actually raise the bar for everyone.”

The Retailer, Consumer Benefit

“For retailers, there are a couple of big benefits,” Mardix says. “The biggest benefit at the end of the day is the consistency of the quality experience that consumers have with the fresh produce. Statistics show that 72% of the decision [to purchase] will be based on the consistency of experience, the expectation the consumer has.

“And that’s where we can be very impactful,” he adds, because if everyone from seed to the retail shelf is using these same Clarifresh tools to perform quality control, then there is no ambiguity on quality of the eating experience, which is what brings shoppers back to the store.

“That’s the biggest benefit that we’re seeing,” Mardix says. “I think the second benefit is that retailers are going to have earlier visibility into the quality of the supply that’s coming their way. Today, they don’t really know what they’re going to get until it actually arrives to their distribution center and they do the intake inspection.”

Fewer rejections could also benefit the consumer, he says. As fewer rejections could mean that retailers would charge a lower price for the grapes because there won’t be a 7% to 12% shrink for the retailer from the distribution center to the front of the store.

“I think that should translate to a lower price for the consumer, and a higher consistency of quality experience,” Mardix says.

Fresh Formulaics offers postharvest solution to maximize efficiencies in turbulent market

Wed, 21 May 2025 18:10:43 GMT

As produce exporters seek to navigate the turbulent waters of tariffs and trade negotiations, Fresh Formulaics says its plant-based postharvest treatments, including Flair S1, can help produce suppliers and shippers respond to market disruptions by improving quality, reducing shrink and unlocking new export opportunities.

“Tariffs create a lot of uncertainty, and there’s a tremendous amount of that in the market right now,” said Denise Junqueiro, vice president of marketing at Fresh Formulaics. “We are also seeing our customers looking for more stabilization in such an uncertain market. Our solutions can provide further stability within the system.”

Fresh Formulaics’ plant-based products are designed to give suppliers effective alternatives to traditional agricultural chemicals and help their operations reduce spoilage, extend freshness, inhibit mold and improve product appearance, Junqueiro said.

The company said the benefits of Flair S1, designed specifically for citrus, are that it can be applied to cold, wet fruit, leaving a uniform shine with no wax spots; eliminates the need for heated drying; reduces reliance on conventional fungicide; decreases reliance on pesticides; achieves higher fruit throughput; and allows for faster fruit processing fruit on the line.

Flair S1 is “an extra insurance policy” that the quality of fruit will be maintained during shipment and that it reaches its destination in optimal condition, Junqueiro said.

Currently, Fresh Formulaics’ plant-based, postharvest solutions are used for avocados (Extend) and citrus (Flair S1). The company said that while Mexican avocados remain exempt from new tariffs under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, recent trade policy changes have caused shipment delays and operational uncertainty. And citrus continues to face price volatility and changing trade conditions, prompting many produce suppliers to reassess their export strategies, Junqueiro said.

“A 10% tariff can cut down on your margins. But if you’re utilizing a product like ours, you’re getting 10% to 15% more sellable fruit,” Junqueiro said. “In the past, some suppliers would feel like, ‘You know what? I’ve already got that [loss] baked into our system. I already know what kind of shrink I’m going to get and it’s fine, because we’ve been doing it like this for years.’

“When something like [sweeping tariffs] happens, you’re trying to squeeze as much you can out of it, and 10% to 15% more fruit is something you need,” she said. “When your margins are already tight and followed by a tariff increase, every bit of sellable product counts.”

Junqueiro said U.S. tariffs have led some Latin American exporters to look to other markets in Europe and Asia. Fresh Formulaics said it is already working with growers and packers who are adapting their export strategies in light of recent trade developments. The company added that with its drop-ship model, getting started is simple, even for first-time exporters or those testing new markets.

“There’s a level of unrest globally to a certain degree right now, so across the board, our customers are having to find new ways through this,” said Junqueiro, who adds that a postharvest solution like Flair S1 creates efficiencies at a time when grower-packer-shippers are seeking stability.

“Flair S1 one actually creates a high level of efficiencies within your supply chain and operations, because it only requires one application, no drying, and it doesn’t have the same type of spotting that you see with certain waxes or coatings,” she said.

Junqueiro also said the shine on citrus is uniform and vibrant with Flair S1.

“The biggest feedback from customers has been that they’re getting the appearance that their retailers are demanding, and they’re creating a level of efficiencies and cost savings on the pack line, and for any shipper that is where the money is.”

Is ‘farming without farmers’ the future of ag?

Thu, 15 May 2025 18:53:50 GMT

The rapid evolution of technology, robotics and artificial intelligence has brought continuous and dramatic change to every industry — including, and perhaps particularly, agriculture. To discuss the growing role of AI across agriculture and the fresh produce industry, The Packer sat down with Rizwan Butt, vice president of product management for iTradeNetwork, in a fireside chat webinar on May 14.

“Imagine a future where we are literally farming without farmers,” Butt said. “And that may sound scary and anxiety-inducing for a lot of people, but … the question we have to ask ourselves is: Are we of those who are going to embrace these realities and adjust and adapt to them, or are we going to be apprehensive about them and try to avoid them for as long as possible?”

Agriculture is already employing robotics to aid in everything from planting to crop protection to harvesting to selecting for quality and much more, Butt said.

“This is not some scientific sci-fi future. This is a reality today that’s being done either in labs or in experiments or actually being deployed in the real world,” he said. “So, there is going to be a point in time where we have to accept the fact that there are going to be machines and AI tools that are going to augment what we do as human beings and make that job much more productive, much safer and much more optimized.”

As demands on the global food supply are expected to increase by 40% to 70%, while at the same time the labor pool continues to shrink, the need for AI in agriculture is real and the time is now.

For more on how AI is helping agricultural supply chains evolve from reactive to predictive as well as how retailers and growers can now anticipate disruptions — whether from weather, demand shifts or logistics breakdowns — and adapt proactively, watch the webinar now.

Watch on demand: Register here to download and watch the webinar

New study seeks to assess consumer acceptance of citrus gene editing

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 21:11:04 GMT

As the Florida citrus industry continues its fight against the deadly citrus greening disease, scientists are exploring genetic editing and CRISPR technology as potential solutions.

But while biotechnologies show promise in battling citrus greening, there’s another battle — in the court of consumer perception of gene editing — that must be won first.

Bachir Kassas, an assistant professor of food and resource economics at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has been conducting ongoing research to assess consumer acceptance of CRISPR biotechnology and genetic modification.

While CRISPR and genetic modification are both types of gene editing, there are key differences in the biotechnology, says Kassas. CRISPR allows scientists to modify DNA by cutting sections of the genetic code to remove, add or alter genes with the goal, in this case, to make citrus trees more disease-resistant or improve the taste of fruit. Whereas in genetic modification, scientists can modify crops and other organisms by taking genes from one species and inserting them into another to achieve similar goals.

As a behavioral economist, Kassas studies consumer behavior — with a specific emphasis on consumer preferences for products and product labeling, health-related decisions and social behaviors — to help explain and even predict consumer decisions.

In 2021, he conducted USDA-funded focus groups in New York City and Jacksonville, Fla., to assess consumer awareness and acceptance of gene editing.

Through these focus groups, “we learned that everybody knew what GMO was and everybody had negative impressions about GMO,” Kassas said. “The consumers in the focus group thought GMOs were driven by profit and there was no benefit to the consumer.”

They also learned that consumers don’t know the difference between gene editing and genetic modification.

“Nobody knew that CRISPR even existed as a technology for gene editing,” he said. “They all thought it was something in their refrigerator. So, in those focus groups, we also had them watch an animated video that explained the difference between GMO and CRISPR in a simplified way.

“Surprisingly, even after watching the video, more than 80% of the participants in those focus groups still did not know the difference between CRISPR and GMO,” Kassas said.

UF/IFAS also conducted three nationally representative online surveys of approximately 2,000 people per survey to assess behavioral factors like perception, attitudes, valuations, acceptance and willingness to buy orange juice made from CRISPR-edited and genetically modified citrus.

“Interestingly, GMO was discounted almost twice as much as CRISPR,” Kassas said. “If I remember correctly, the discount for GMO was around $3 and the discount for CRISPR was around $1.50 per carton of orange juice. So, this also gave us hope that CRISPR might fare better in the marketplace than GMO.”

Florida citrus in crisis

Florida has been struggling with citrus greening since 2005, when it was first discovered. “It spreads through groves like wildfire,” said Kassas, reducing the quality of the fruit, reducing yields and eventually killing the plant.

In 2022, the USDA estimated that citrus greening disease — also known as huanglongbing or HLB — had reduced Florida citrus production by 75% and more than doubled production costs. Multiple hurricanes have further hindered production.

“Florida was the flagship state for citrus, and it’s not anymore because of its struggle with [citrus greening] for two decades,” Kassas said. “Now, the entire industry is at stake. If a solution is not provided soon, the entire industry is at risk of shutting down.”

Consumer acceptance is critical

While scientists see CRISPR technology and genetic modification as possible solutions to Florida’s citrus industry crisis, educating consumers will be critical to success in the marketplace.

“CRISPR and GMO are very promising approaches to hopefully resolve the citrus greening issue and breed either tolerance or hopefully resistance,” Kassas said. “[But] for that to be a viable solution though, the marketing side is equally important.

“It’s one thing to develop the varieties that will help you circumvent citrus greening, but if people will not buy these varieties, then we didn’t really solve the problem [in a way that will allow] stakeholders to still sell their produce,” he continued. “So, for us to have a viable solution, we need to be able to market it. We need to make sure that it’s profitable for the stakeholders.”

Kassas says the university’s previous research further found that certain kinds of messaging were effective in increasing acceptance for CRISPR. Specifically, positively framed information was more effective than when it was negatively framed.

“Efficient educational and marketing campaigns are critical to the successful commercialization of CRISPR food products, especially given the resistance genetically modified foods have faced in the market,” he said.

Next up: Neuromarketing

This summer, Kassas and his team are planning to conduct a neuromarketing experiment in Gainesville, Fla., the results of which will inform messaging around CRISPR and GMOs with the goal of improving consumer perception and acceptance of biotechnology.

“The idea is to test different formats of informational message to see what the most effective way is of communicating with consumers to improve acceptance and increase willingness to pay for products made from gene edited citrus,” Kassas said.

Through previous work, Kassas and team have found that a positive lens works best, highlighting CRISPR’s benefits to fighting world hunger, increasing fruit quality and production, and so on. The researchers also found that providing additional information on gene editing and debunking myths were helpful in reaching consumers.

The Gainesville experiment will tackle this study from a neuroeconomics perspective or approach, says Kassas. “We want to see how people consume information, how that information manifests in the brain and then how it would be translated into decisions and preferences later.

“We’re looking at different ways to communicate with people, and we’re looking at what is the most effective way to help them understand how useful this technology might be for the economy, for sustainability, even for them to get the products that meet their demands and preferences,” he added.

Without consumer buy-in, it may not matter how effective gene editing is in the fight against citrus greening.

“For us to have a viable solution, we need to be able to market it,” Kassas said. “We need to make sure that it’s profitable for the stakeholders. That’s how important it is to raise awareness and hopefully improve acceptance.”

Oishii acquires robotics company Tortuga AgTech, extends harvesting capabilities

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 13:03:36 GMT

Oishii, a Jersey City, N.J.-based vertical strawberry farmer, has acquired Tortuga AgTech’s IP, assets and members of the Tortuga engineering team. The company says the deal will “turbocharge” the output and efficiency of Oishii’s robotic harvesting capabilities.

“The acquisition of Tortuga AgTech’s team, intellectual property and assets represents a strategic opportunity for Oishii to further enhance its technological capabilities in robotic harvesting,” Oishii co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Brendan Somerville told The Packer. “In an industry faced with the very real and incredibly timely challenges of climate uncertainty and labor shortages, Oishii has established an identity of stability and continued growth.

“We’re focused on solving these issues with even greater efficiency and precision,” Somerville continued. “In terms of timing, this acquisition aligns with our growth trajectory and the market’s readiness for scalable, innovation-driven agricultural solutions for the future of indoor farming and beyond.”

He added the acquisition will “bolster [Oishii’s] operation without compromising [its] financial stability.”

Through the deal, Oishii acquires Tortuga AgTech’s advanced robotics technologies, including AI-driven models, frontier robotics software and custom hardware. Oishii says it will integrate these technologies with its proprietary robotic systems and ongoing strategic partnership with Yaskawa Robotics, creating the potential to make the company’s harvesting capability fully autonomous.

Harvesting solutions

The vertical strawberry smart farm is currently home to 50 robots that Oishii says have revolutionized the harvesting of strawberries and grapes, two of the most delicate and labor-intensive crops to pick.

“To put this in context, by the end of the year we expect robots to surpass human performance with 98% harvesting accuracy 24/7, 365 [days a year],” Somerville said. “In terms of varietals, by the end of the year robots will pick more of our premium Koyo strawberries than humans and reduce harvesting expenses by 50%. Our robots already pick over 40,000-man hours per month, and this number will continue to grow.”

Oishii says Tortuga AgTech’s advanced automated harvesting and autonomous robot technology — designed for both indoor and outdoor farming — allows for improvements in harvesting and forecasting to assist farms in becoming more resilient, sustainable and successful.

Oishii says Tortuga AgTech’s advanced automated harvesting and autonomous robot technology — designed for both indoor and outdoor farming — allows for improvements in harvesting and forecasting to assist farms in becoming more resilient, sustainable and successful.

(Photo courtesy of Tortuga AgTech)

A different kind of vertical farm

In recent years, vertical farming has seen continued consolidation and a slew of bankruptcies. How has Oishii succeeded in an industry where others have struggled?

“The first major key to Oishii’s success in the space is our differentiation — namely, the fact that we grow and harvest berries, while leafy greens have been the universal industry standard product since the inception of vertical farming,” Somerville said. “Of course, this differentiation is only made possible thanks to our implementation of premier technology and AI — implementation that we are excited to super charge through this acquisition.”

Oishii’s Omakase berry was inspired by strawberries that grow in the foothills of the Japanese Alps, where fruit only grows for a short period of the year. Oishii says it recreated this specific climate year-round in its indoor vertical strawberry farm.

Another point of differentiation, at least initially, was the price point of Oishii’s Omakase berries, which made headlines as “the most expensive strawberries in the world.” Somerville says technology like that which Tortuga AgTech brings to the equation will help drive more accessible price points.

“Pricing for our berries is anywhere between $10 to $15 a tray,” said Somerville. “We’re proud to have scaled back the cost of our Omakase Berry from $50 per tray when we first launched, to $12 to $15 a tray today, making them an easily attainable luxury for consumers who wish to experience Japanese quality and flavor. Our second product was the Koyo Berry, which we launched at $14.99 and is now $9.99. From here, our plan is to continue to launch new varietals of berries at both higher and lower price points, so there’s something delicious at any budget.

“Ultimately, scale, new farms and new technology are what allow us to continue to bring these prices down,” Somerville added.

The company’s newest product, the Nikko Berry, currently in a beta launch phase available through Fresh Direct at a price point of $7.99, is poised to be its most affordable berry yet.

“The incredible early success of this beta launch certainly did lead us to consider how we might go about accelerating our robotics agenda,” Somerville said.

Growing pains in agtech

Oishii says Tortuga AgTech has raised $55 million since its founding in 2016 to advance its automated harvesting and autonomous robots. But the agtech sector has struggled of late; most recently, FarmWise announced it was restructuring.

“There has been no shortage of failure in agritech over the past 10 years, but what remains true is that agriculture needs significant advances in the face of global challenges like climate change, labor shortages, and many other risk and margin pressures,” Somerville said. “The fundamental vision and mission of Tortuga and Oishii are the same, and we share this vision with many pioneers, past and present.

“Despite the odds, both Oishii and Tortuga have become leaders in fields where many others have failed, and the melding of our teams gives our broader, shared vision the best possible chance of success,” he said.

Your next read: FarmWise prepares for next chapter in ag robotics

AI-powered FarmWise prepares for next chapter in ag robotics

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 18:43:59 GMT

FarmWise, an artificial intelligence and computer vision weeding technology company in the robotic precision weeding technology space is restructuring its business, CEO Tjarko Leifer told The Packer on March 14. The Salinas, Calif.-based company, which employs a staff of 50, is best known for its Vulcan next-generation, intra-row weeder and precision cultivator that launched in 2023.

“The need for solutions like Vulcan has grown as growers face mounting pressure from labor shortages, rising input costs and operational complexities, said Leifer. “The technology has proven its ability to deliver meaningful efficiency gains and cost savings in the field. But even with growing demand and a product that works, achieving sustainable, profitable growth remains a significant challenge in today’s market.”

Vulcan is really a three-in-one implement that does precision weeding, cultivation and thinning, says Leifer.

On the specialty crop side, the company’s Vulcan technology is employed primarily by growers of lettuce and brassicas in the coastal California and Arizona vegetable crop markets. More recently, FarmWise entered the processing tomato market in California’s Central Valley, a new segment that Leifer says is nearly as big as the leafy green and brassicas market on an acreage basis.

Leifer points to one customer — a 10,000-acre vegetable grower with farms in Yuma, Ariz. and Salinas — who saw significant savings and a reduction in labor costs.

“Implementing the FarmWise Vulcan has transformed how we approach weeding on our operation,” the vegetable grower said. “Over just one season, we reduced weeding costs by nearly $550,000 and eliminated the need for cultivator passes on 64% of the acres covered. The AI-powered technology has allowed us to scale operations more efficiently, reduce labor costs, and improve precision in ways that traditional methods couldn’t match. This technology has set the foundation for even greater growth and profitability in the future.”

The grower also reported its per-acre weeding costs dropped 38% in romaine and 15% in broccoli. Additionally, 64% of its acreage no longer needed cultivator passes, cutting fuel use and field wear. And machines achieved up to 100 acres weeded per week, with 1-3 acres per hour efficiency and no compromise on weed removal quality.
With such notable results, why was FarmWise unable to scale?

“The short version is that we haven’t — with the resources that we’ve been able to raise — been able to reach profitability,” said Leifer. “And that’s such a critical threshold to get to for any business.

FarmWise CEO Tjarko Leifer is hopeful about the next chapter for the agtech company.

(Photo courtesy of FarmWise)

“We’ve had some great milestones we’ve achieved in terms of a product that really works for farmers, that drives a return on investment, that has a payback period of less than two years, and that’s deployed commercially and reliable day-in and day-out,” he continued.

But the company has also faced challenges.

FarmWise says the time horizons have been challenging for the company, because while it sees demand for the technology, it needs a longer runway to prove itself and drive adoption.

Leifer says broader macroeconomic headwinds have also impacted ag equipment investment overall — from rising interest rates and policy uncertainty to challenges around labor and immigration.

“Agriculture is a business that rightfully values caution and real-world proof,” Leifer said. “Growers want to see new technology work on the ground before fully adopting it — and we respect that approach.” Next-gen tech isn’t alone in feeling these headwinds.

The CEO also said these headwinds aren’t unique to startups. Large equipment manufacturers have seen sales drop 30% to 50%, making it a particularly tough moment for capital-intensive innovations, he said.

“If you’re a 120-year-old company, it’s a cyclical downturn,” he said. “If you’re a startup, it’s a much steeper hill to climb with limited resources.”

Agtech is in need of fellow visionaries to succeed, and Leifer sees this as a moment for the industry to rally around innovation, while recognizing the path from early adoption to scale is never linear.

“Building a great product is only half the challenge,” he said. “The next chapter is building the distribution and support infrastructure to bring it to scale. That’s where partnerships become critical.”

FarmWise’s core product is the AI-powered Vulcan, which weeds, cultivates and thins vegetable crops like lettuces and brassicas.

(Photo courtesy of FarmWise)

Labor considerations

While agriculture, like many industries, is in a labor crisis, in some cases it’s been slow to adopt technology that would alleviate that challenge.

“Labor cost inflation, especially coming out of COVID, and also changes in laws around how ag overtime is treated in California, are pressing issues, but with the new administration’s approach to labor and immigration, people really don’t know if labor will become plentiful or if it’s going to be much harder to hire people,” said Leifer. “So, there’s a lot of things changing right now, and a bit of a wait-and-see attitude.

“It’s an existential question for many segments of farming, in particular vegetable farming segments where there’s a lot of labor costs per acre,” Leifer continued. “Those costs are going up. It’s getting harder to find people, and farmers are very interested in technology and solutions that help them address that.”

Leifer says even if growers aren’t looking to reduce labor, they’re still looking for solutions that allow them to farm on a larger scale with the skilled labor they already have.

“How can you upskill the needs you have so you can do more with the good people you have? It’s how do we keep agriculture profitable and healthy in the United States and competitive? We need to find ways to be more productive,” said Leifer.

With AI and computer vision robotics, there are efficiencies that can be delivered today that couldn’t before, he said.

Robotics addresses inputs

In addition to the labor side of the story, there’s also the chemical side.

“There’s a lot of talk about some of the herbicides that are used in broccoli being removed from the market,” said Leifer. “And as you broaden out to row crops, there’s the whole herbicide-resistance story in a lot of those cropping systems, which ultimately mean farmers are going to need new technologies. We’ve always thought that AI and robotics can play a really important role there.”

Robotic machinery allows growers to see and understand the crop in the field, differentiate between the crop and weeds, and then control in real time how the machine is behaving as it goes through the field. As such, robotics also offers the potential to reduce the use of chemistry, drive crop fertility and automate tasks that are still done manually, says Leifer.

“There’s natural herbicide resistance that’s gaining and farmers are going to need new solutions in a broad range of cropping systems,” he said. “The market is working on providing innovations for them and we believe one of those — a big one — has to do with robotics and agriculture.”

The road to adoption

FarmWise says its flagship three-bed, 80-inch unit had an MSRP of $645,000. The annual service and support package is an additional $45,000. Leifer says the savings driven by the unit pays for itself in under two years.

“It’s a very attractive proposition,” said Leifer. “If the machine works and it saves people money, people should be ripping this out of your hands and off the lot to put into their fields.”

But employing AI-driven tech is not as simple as flipping a switch or screwing in a light bulb.

“It takes someone who believes in it and sees their success in the organization tied to the success of making the program work,” he said. “It takes an ownership group that wants to empower somebody like that. So, there ends up being a lot of nuances to how an organization can successfully adopt technology.”

What’s next for FarmWise?

While the current FarmWise team is preparing to wind down operations by April 1, the company says it is actively pursuing strategic opportunities — including acquisition, partnership and technology transfer — to ensure the Vulcan platform continues to thrive.

“We’re proud to have proven that advanced robotics can deliver real value in one of the most complex environments — agriculture,” Leifer said. “This is just the start of what’s possible with this kind of technology.

“We’re in active discussions with potential partners and investors,” he added. “There’s a path forward here, and I’m hopeful the technology we’ve built will continue to scale and serve more growers in the future.”

FarmWise says it remains committed to supporting its current customers and ensuring continuity during the transition period — including access to service and spare parts.

“We know growers depend on this technology, and we’re doing everything we can to provide stability and a strong handoff,” Leifer said.

EXCLUSIVE: John Deere Speaks Publicly For the First Time About Layoffs, New Challenges in the Ag Economy

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 18:07:55 GMT

John Deere recently laid off a significant number of salaried employees as part of the company’s ongoing workforce reductions. The official number of layoffs is still unknown but are part of a broader trend of workforce reductions at John Deere, which have been ongoing for several months.

Cory Reed, president of the company’s Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division for Production and Precision Ag , spoke publicly about the layoffs for the first time in an exclusive interview with U.S. Farm Report this week.

What You Need to Know

Reed addressed everything from the recent layoffs to the company’s decision to move a small portion of its production to Mexico. Here are highlights from Farm Journal’s exclusive interview:

John Deere says recent layoffs of both its salaried and production workforce are due to lower net farm income, higher interest rates and market volatility.
Reed says John Deere expects equipment sales to be down 20% in 2024, due to economic pressures on the farm.
John Deere is addressing cost concerns by reducing the prices of some new technologies, such as the See & Spray retrofit kit.
John Deere is investing in automation to improve manufacturing efficiency and reliability.
Reed emphasized the job cuts are unrelated to the 2021 strike by production workers.
He also stressed that John Deere’s decision to move its cab production to Mexico is separate, saying that production site in Mexico has been in operation for nearly 70 years, calling it “an important part of our global footprint.”

The Reality of the Farm Economy

USDA is forecasting net farm income in 2024 to be $116.1 billion, which is a 25.5% drop from 2023 following a 16% drop in 2023 versus 2022. Those two consecutive years of significant decline mark the largest drop in net farm income in U.S. history.

“Net farm income is expected to be down in the mid to high 20s, and when that happens, and commodity prices pull back, interest rates are a little bit higher and we see volatility in the weather, it creates uncertainty that interrupts demand. We’re experiencing that today. Looking out across our industry, we’re expecting to be off roughly 20% year-over-year from 2023,” Reed told U.S. Farm Report.

USDA’s 2023 and 2024 Net Farm Income projections point to the largest drop in history.

(Lori Hayes )

The mounting economic pressures are showing up across the equipment industry. The latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) flash report released in June showed just how drastic of a drop the ag equipment sector is currently experiencing. AEM’s report showed combine sales in June dropped 31% compared to last year. Total farm tractor sales were down 16%.

While the company forecasts equipment demand to fall 20% overall in 2024, Reed says the second half of the year looks to be even more challenging than the first.

“We kind of have the tale of two ends of the year, “ he says. “If you looked at the front half of the year, in fact, if you took the large row-crop tractor business, what you would have seen is a market that was still peaking in the April and May time frame. A lot of buyers were in the market, based off of performance last year. As we hit May and going into June, used inventory levels started to grow and you saw buyers starting to pull back. Those trade differentials look different for them, and they started pulling back at a faster rate.”

As farmers pull back on purchasing new equipment, the short-term market outlook is hard to project, according to John Deere.

“I think what you see is markets that are cycling faster today. When you see what was going on in the commodity market, it’s been more volatile here recently. So obviously, we’d like to have better predictability of those things. What I would tell you is the long-term outlook for global commodities grown here in the U.S. still look really strong. We’re still bullish on that,” Reed says. “It’s the reason that even when we see these cycles potentially coming, we invest directly through them. We’ve never invested more in research dollars than we did this year, and in the next five years we will invest more than we have over the past five years. That’s a testament to what we believe about the future of the agricultural industry. We’re doing that around the world.”

John Deere Says Layoffs Are Unrelated to 2021 Strike

With the drop in equipment demand, came cuts to the salaried workforce this week. But the company had already cut more than 1,800 workers in its Iowa and Illinois production facilities.

In October 2021, those same production sites were in the news after 10,000 production workers went on strike . But a month later, John Deere and the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union reached a new six-year deal. With a 20% increase in pay granted by John Deere, UAW ended its month-long strike. But Reed says the job cuts today are not tied to that.

“Certainly, cost, availability and reliability of labor in the workforce is a factor all the time. Cuts right now are not related to that, they’re related to demand,” he adds.

As a result, Reed says John Deere is turning internally to manage its own cost structure, which means layoffs. Those started last September and have accelerated in 2024.

“We don’t like making workforce adjustments. We don’t. But that’s all about the cost structure we have, so we can hold the line on costs. We’re deploying more of our engineering resources to cost-reduce each part without sacrificing any reliability, durability or quality. We’re doing that in a big way,” Reeds adds.

John Deere has committed to providing severance packages to the affected employees. The packages include up to 12 months of severance pay based on years of service, pro-rated pay based on short- and long-term incentives, payment for unused vacation or paid time off, ongoing access to health and wellness benefits and a year of professional job placement services.

The Question on Every Farmer’s Mind

The question on every farmer’s mind: Does John Deere have any plans to cut the price of equipment? Reed says John Deere is addressing cost concerns by reducing the prices of some new technologies, such as the See & Spray retrofit kit.

“We’re taking some of our latest technologies, and we’re cutting the upfront price of it,” Reed says. “If you take See & Spray, which is a great example, that product would normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to add to a machine. We lowered the upfront price for a retrofit kit to be able to put it on for tens of thousands of dollars. A customer who wants to manage their herbicide cost differently has the opportunity to buy into that, on an acre-by-acre basis, and only pay based on what they save.”

John Deere’s Decision to Move Cab Production to Mexico

John Deere is also catching some backlash for its decision to move its cab operations from Waterloo, Iowa, to Mexico, which impacts a couple hundred U.S. jobs. According to Reed, John Deere’s production site in Mexico has been in operation for nearly 70 years. What started in 1956 became one of the company’s first operations outside the U.S., and Reed calls it “an important part of our global footprint.”

“First and foremost, it’s important to understand that the movement of certain components or products to Mexico is entirely separate from what we’ve seen in terms of layoffs today,” Reed says. “When we move a product, we make the announcement and say, ‘This portion of this product is going to move here.’ And by the way, we’re doing that all the time. It’s a part of what we do in our global network.”

Reed says what’s not reported when John Deere makes such an announcement is how they are replacing their production in the U.S. with the manufacturing of a new product or piece of equipment. While the cab production might be moving to Mexico, he says they are now building the new 9RX 830-hp four-wheel drive tractor there.

“If you drove to Waterloo today and went into the operations, what you’d see is that brand new tractor going down the very place in the factory where those cabs were manufactured before,” Reed says.

What John Deere Wants Farmers to Know

As John Deere aims to align production inventory levels with current market demands, the down cycle of agriculture is hitting all of the industry hard, but Reed says he’s still bullish on agriculture long-term. When asked what he wanted farmers to know, Reed’s message was this:

“We have 80,000 employees in the company. We wake up every day with the same purpose. That purpose is quality, innovation, integrity and commitment to our customers. We want to grow value on each and every one of those farms. We want to do it in a way that every day they wake up, with every pass they make through the field, they have confidence they’ve partnered with someone in the industry, John Deere and our John Deere dealers, working to drive value, working to drive profitability, on each and every one of their farms,” Reed says.

You can watch the full interview with Reed here.

Google’s Parent Company Alphabet Disperses Its Ag Tech Subsidiary

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:35:00 GMT

Announced earlier today, Mineral, Alphabet’s ag company, will wind down its operations.

“Mineral will no longer be an Alphabet company, and our technology will live on inside of leading agribusinesses where they can have maximum impact,” said Mineral CEO Elliott Grant in a blog post.

Mineral was founded in 2018 as part of X, the moonshot factory of Alphabet, and it had about 100 team members.

What did Mineral develop and build:

• an image database of more than 17 crops in every stage of growth in multiple environments.

• A four-wheeled semi-autonomous rover platform with multiple configurations and the core functionality as a data collection machine.

• in-field harvest analysis and post-harvest crop condition ratings for berry crops in partnership with Driscoll’s

• a geospatial analysis platform that has collected more than 450 million acres of farmland.

• Phenotyping databases and analysis

• And additional machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies.

Here’s a link to previous coverage about Mineral.

Driscoll’s has confirmed it will license the tech it partnered with Mineral to develop.

“Mineral had partnered closely with Driscoll’s - the world’s leading berry company - to develop AI tools to improve crop phenotyping, better forecast yields, optimize quality inspections, and reduce food waste in the supply chain. Some of the technologies we developed have now been transferred to Driscoll’s and will be integrated into their systems to help achieve their sustainability ambitions. Driscoll’s is the first agribusiness to receive Mineral technology, and is a first step towards ensuring that our breakthrough technologies achieve the greatest impact,” Grant said.

In closing he gave an analogy of the company’s name to the how it can be applied as a verb in the agricultural context:

“In soil science, mineralization is the process by which the nutrients in organic matter are released in a form that makes them available to the plants around them. I think this is a fitting metaphor for the new chapter of Mineral - as our technologies will be mobilized into the agriculture ecosystem, with the goal of making it more sustainable, and more resilient.”

Southeastern Grocers responds to consumer demand, launching e-commerce this fall

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 21:01:11 GMT

Winn-Dixie and Harveys shoppers will soon be three clicks away from fresh apples, bell peppers or avocados landing on their doorstep.

Parent company Southeastern Grocers is partnering with technology company DoorDash to launch online shopping and delivery from regional Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores as early as October. Curbside pickup and e-commerce from SEG’s Fresco y Más are slated to begin in early 2023, according to a news release.

This move is another indicator that retailers continue to dive headfirst into produce e-commerce, troubleshooting challenges unique to the category — such as perishable supply chains, seasonality and consistency issues — to satisfy consumer demand.

“After extensive research and listening to customer feedback, we recognized there was a need for delivery and curbside pickup options that reflected the same great prices and deals shopping in our stores provide,” Andrew Nadin, Southeastern Grocer’s chief customer and digital officer, said in the release. “We believe shopping online should be an extension of shopping your local stores, and our new offering is just that. It’s a win for customers looking to save, while still enjoying the convenience of shopping from their homes or offices.”

Customers will be able to shop for groceries online through the Winn-Dixie or Harveys app or website. What’s more, they’ll receive their order in two hours or less by DoorDash’s fulfillment platform, the release said.

Southeastern Grocers Inc. is a parent company of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores and serves communities throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. For more information, visit www.frescoymas.com , www.harveyssupermarkets.com and www.winndixie.com .

DoorDash is a technology company connecting consumers with their local businesses in 27 countries across the globe. Founded in 2013, DoorDash is building infrastructure for local commerce, enabling merchants to thrive in the convenience economy and deliver goods to consumers in their community. For more information, visit www.doordash.com .