FRESHCONOMICS — The Podcast of the Fresh Produce Business

As you already know from the previous episodes, over the past years I have been collecting, writing, rewriting and drafting texts to complete a book dedicated to the fruit and vegetable sector. A book that is both a text about the fresh produce business and a strange kind of autobiography of my endeavours in the industry.

This is because much of the content is the fruit of conversations and personal experiences with colleagues, clients, and bosses throughout my almost 30 years of professional practice.

One of main ideas of the book is that there is a common heritage in the sector. That there is a shared culture that is often conveyed in the form of aphorisms, stock phrases, jokes, or even stories. And that these phrases contain deep truths about how the fruit and vegetable industry works and how decisions are made.

For this episode, I want to focus on one fundamental concept: the FRESHMARKET. And notice I didn't say we're going to talk about the "fresh produce market" in general, because I'm trying to establish a very specific term, The FRESHMARKET, to describe something quite different from what you might expect.

That somewhere between the farm and your shopping cart exists an invisible market (a mental model shared by thousands of professionals) where prices are truly formed, and fortunes are made or lost in a matter of hours.

Today, we dive into one of the most important concepts in the fresh produce world: the Freshmarket. A market that exists, even though you cannot see it, touch it, or visit it; and yet it governs every transaction in this volatile industry.

And this is where a new adventure begins. An adventure that actually started many years ago when I launched a blog under my name (daviddelpino.com) and dedicated to the world of fresh produce.

I did it when blogs were already an almost outdated form of communication. The reception from the fruit and vegetable industry was surprising.

The following and respect over the many years of blogging encouraged me to finish writing the book I had been planning for so long.

The book is called Freshconomics, and as some of you may already know, it was published last year in Spanish and recently in English; but I have decided that I am not going to stop there.

So, I am starting a series of podcasts (both in Spanish and English) with the same name as the book. And, of course, I know that I am probably also late to the world of podcasts, but anyway here we go.

The podcast takes the same name of the book because the goal is to broaden the audience for the contents of the book. But I also hope it can be a great open window into the sector and maybe in the future other voices can join. But for now, welcome to Freshconomics Podcast!