Fresh Takes On Tech

We start Season 2 of PMA Takes On taking on the “first mile.” The first mile in the produce industry is from harvest through packing and shipping and on into the supply chain. This includes the technology used for harvesting, shipping, packaging, storing, transportation and tracking. It is the first part of the “messy middle” and is very messy. We talk to Seana Day Partner at Better Food Ventures about defining the first mile and the challenges in making our industry run. We then talk to Gary Loh Founder and CEO of Dimuto https://dimuto.io/ and Kim Bui Global Head, FreshCloud Infrastructure and Analytics at AgroFresh https://www.agrofresh.com/ about how their companies are helping the produce industry globally with these challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a seismic effect on businesses in the produce industry, but there are lessons that can be learned. This is an opportunity to fine tune business continuity and contingency plans, and also a chance to define what is truly important and find new ways in which to grow. Join our conversation with three innovators who are responding with new solutions when challenges demand them. Discover how all along the fresh produce supply chain, technology formed in response to COVID is producing safer, more efficient tools for our industry.

The history of the world’s food systems has had major shifts - from hunting, gathering, fishing, and foraging through the current industrial food system. The 5th and current food system has exhausted its growth trajectory and the world is, once again, staged for a major transformation in the way that food is grown, distributed and produced. There is a movement away from an industrialized, monoculture system built to provide calories and yield to one based on healthy people and sustainable, equitable ecosystems. In the produce industry we are all about nutrient-dense fresh food for healthy people and a healthy planet. In this episode, we talk to Caesare Assad, CEO of Food System 6 a nonprofit accelerator whose mission is to support impact driven entrepreneurs as they transform how we grow, produce, and distribute food. We also talk to two companies involved with FS6: Ethan Rublee, a brilliant roboticist turning his passion and experience from computer vision startups and google to the farm and Lindsey Lusher Shute on supporting smaller acre producers for a more equitable food system.

COVID-19 has shocked the foodservice industry on all fronts. Restaurants are having to open and close at a moment’s notice. Foodservice operators and suppliers are responding and modifying their business models for the new post-crisis world. How we plan, how supply chains move, and how we collaborate is all going to change. In times of rapid and drastic shocks, those who are quick to adjust will lead the way for the industry to follow. New technology and increased use and reliance on existing technology will help the industry plan for the future.  Join the conversation about current state of food service with Vesta Foods and two different types of technical solutions from Avolast and Agtools.

 

 

Guests:

Jin Ju Wilder - Director Of Marketing And Business Development at Vesta Foodservice

Martha Montoya - CEO Agtools Inc

Aidan Moaut - CEO of Hazel Technologies, Inc

Patrick Cortes - Senior Director of Business Development at Mission Produce Inc.

Vonnie Estes explores the labor shortage in produce production with guests Dr. Phil Martin, John Purcell and James Terry. Dr. Martin discusses labor issues in produce production while John Purcell explores breeding solutions and James Terry talks about integrated hardware and software in-field solutions. 

Guests:

Dr. Phil Martin Professor Emeritus Agricultural and Resource Economics University of California, Davis

John Purcell Head of Vegetables R&D Crop Sciences at Bayer 

James Terry Founder CloudFarming in Australia.

Guests:

Sanjeev Krishnan, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director, S2G Ventures

Rob Leclerc, Ph.D., Founding Partner, Agfunder

Guests:

Shay Myers, CEO, Owyhee Produce

Michael Helmstetter, Founder, President & CEO, TechAccel, LLC