Fruitbox

As with so many industries, the pandemic brought the world of trade exhibitions to its knees over the past 18 months.

There is still another year to go before Asia Fruit Logistica, Asia’s biggest and most international fresh fruit and vegetable trade event, can open its doors again. But for the show’s new executive director, David Axiotis, the fundamental strength of the business itself remains a source of optimism and confidence.

Axiotis was speaking to Fruitnet’s Chris White during Asiafruit Congress, which brought together more than 1,700 people from over 80 countries earlier this week for two days of online insight and networking all about Asia’s fresh produce business.

Firstly, he pointed to the huge opportunity presented by China. “It simply is a massive market for suppliers from Asia and all over the world,” he commented. “According to the latest statistics, China imported more than US$8bn worth of fruit in the first half of 2021, up 24 per cent year on year. Cherries, fresh grapes, and citrus all recorded significant growth.”

But Asia’s emerging commercial opportunity is not just about China, he added. When Asia Fruit Logistica returns, he pointed out, that multiplicity of markets is likely to support further dramatic growth in the produce arena.

“There are another 20 markets that play a significant role in the trade, and that’s also at Asia Fruit Logistica,” he said. “It’s exactly this combination that makes Asia Fruit Logistica so special in the end. It’s a truly pan-Asian platform connecting all the important players in Asia. That’s what makes it unique and indispensable, whether you are based in China or wherever in Asia.”

The countdown to Asia Fruit Logistica 2022 has already begun. It will take place on 7-9 September 2022 at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong.

Hosted by Chris White, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

For more details about Asia Fruit Logistica, visit www.asiafruitlogistica.com

For more information about Asiafruit Congress, visit www.asiafruitcongress.com

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Smaller strawberries could meet new consumer demand for ultra-convenient, healthy foods and mimic the kind of success that blueberries have had in recent years as a popular snack item.

That’s according to Marion Regan, managing director of Hugh Lowe Farms, a major supplier of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries based in Kent, south-east England.

As she explains in the latest edition of Fruitnet’s conversation series Fruitbox, investment in better-eating and more productive varieties has underpinned the category’s commercial success over the past two decades, and helped it become the largest single product group in the UK fresh produce market in terms of sales.

Crucially, she says, good-tasting fruit has been a key ingredient in the remarkable rise of fresh berries over the past couple of decades.

“Berries are just a wonderful product,” she tells Chris White during a recent visit to the farm. “They tap into the zeitgeist of people who want healthy, convenient, highly snackable fruit. And I think we’ve done a very good job of putting something better in front of the consumer every single year – in terms of better-eating varieties and fresher fruit.”

But for Regan, it’s not just about taste. “It’s the whole experience of eating a berry,” she argues. “For me, what you really want is that quintessential English, balanced strawberry flavour. Not just sweet, but all of those aromatics there as well.”

One noticeable consumer trend for berries is that they are now a more common sight at breakfast time.

And having also observed a dramatic spike in interest around home baking – especially during lockdown – Regan says she was keen for her company to offer the market strawberries that required no cutting.

So Hugh Lowe Farms now supplies a product called Mini Berries, a line of smaller strawberries that is more reminiscent of the fruit seen in French pâtisseries.

“The specification is smaller, but they are actually very snackable and attractive to children,” she observes. “There’s more than one way to eat a strawberry.”

Hosted by Chris White, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The supermarkets’ rapid rise has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the amount of data that flows along their supply chains.

But as Tesco’s technical manager for salads Mike Corbett explains in the latest episode of Fruitbox, all of that information helps to reassure consumers that the food they buy has been sourced in a safe, secure, ethical and sustainable manner.

“The demand for more data and more insight has steadily risen [over the last 30 years],” Corbett explains. “There are lots of ways and means of capturing data and demonstrating to consumers that we are being ethical, we are trying to be sustainable, we are trying to be traceable, we do care about provenance. A huge amount of data has to be captured to demonstrate our credentials.”

For some in the business, it might seem that retailers ever-increasing demand for information is excessive and perhaps even intrusive. But as Corbett observes, efforts have been made to reduce the administrative burden on suppliers.

“We’re continually demanding more information, and greater access, but we’re building up these pictures to help customers understand that we’re trying to do the right thing by them,” he argues.

“Yes, it can be quite challenging for suppliers and producers, but there are reasons for that. These are things that customers care about.”

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does ‘managing your data better’ actually mean? For Nico Broersen Junior of Dutch startup AgriPlace, it can be something as simple as reducing the volume of emails you send and receive, or minimising the number of times you enter information into a spreadsheet.

Even for tech-savvy people in the fruit and veg business, it can be hard to really understand what data management really involves in practice.

But as Broersen warns in the latest episode of Fruitnet’s conversation series Fruitbox, fresh produce companies are storing up trouble for themselves by hoarding crucial information in “dangerously large spreadsheets”, “endless folders” and increasingly large email databases.

“This makes it really hard to see what is going on in your supply chain, and also to identify risks,” he explains. “When a risk occurs – for example a producers loses its certification – you want to be able to see through which packhouses and suppliers a product has arrived, to avoid risk now or later on.”

And with retailers asking more and more of their suppliers in terms of knowing precisely where their products originate, these days the stakes are even higher.

That’s why AgriPlace is helping companies move to safer and more sustainable practices, by using digital systems to collect information automatically and keep it accessible.

“We help companies ensure the product fulfils the customer requirements, while saving them time and cost by not having to send endless emails and filling spreadsheets and ERP systems manually,” he says.

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Artificial intelligence can now be used to predict the future with unprecedented accuracy.

That’s good news for companies in the fruit and vegetable business, where the products’ sheer unpredictability in terms of yield and shelf-life remains the industry’s biggest inherent challenge.

Michele Dall’Olio, chief operating officer Fresh4cast, says companies have started to unlock the big potential that AI offers. In particular, he says, greater predictability means greater profitability.

“Being able to see into the future, and have a good understanding of what happened in the past, brings you multiple benefits,” he tells Chris White during the latest episode of Fruitnet’s conversation series Fruitbox.

Fresh4cast has pioneered the introduction of AI-based yield forecasting software over the past decade, and in doing so has enabled suppliers of items like berries and tomatoes to fine-tune their operations by making them more predictable.

“If you think about the medium to long-term time horizon, this can help you avoid potential shocks to your supply chain, or help you leverage better an opportunity that the market presents – like for example by arranging a promotion or organising your pickers for next season.”

There are also short-term benefits, he continues. “You can, for example, manage your workforce better in the packhouse. Or you can arrange an alternative sales channel to avoid wastage, in case you have an overstock of a product.”

Dall’Olio is keen to dispel some of the myths around artificial intelligence. “AI is not that sentient being that all the sci-fi movies are telling us about. It’s a smart piece of software that is very good at performing large amounts of relatively simple and easy tasks,” he observes. “AI is a tool that allows you to perform multiple tasks with exponential ease.”

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Experience, instinct, maybe even just gut feeling – all of these things play an important part in helping fresh produce companies make strategic decisions.

But in a world where computers are able to collect and even interpret an increasing volume of potentially useful information relating to almost every single link in fruit and vegetable supply chains, perhaps nowadays a more analytical, data-focused approach to business makes more sense.

Giles Barker is chief executive of KisanHub, a company that has developed data analysis software specifically for the fresh produce sector. As Barker explains in the latest episode of Fruitbox, this platform allows produce companies to collect their data in one place and to analyse it, which apparently helps them boost their margins and improve relationships with customers.

“Fresh produce has been lagging behind other industries and I think it’s time to move it forward,” he says.

But the idea isn’t to replace the expertise that lies in the people who run fresh produce companies, Barker is keen to point out: “Gut feeling is something that you develop over many years of seeing the same thing happen, or different things happen each season, so you learn how to take decisions on the fly. Platforms like ours do something similar, the only difference is that the data doesn’t get forgotten. It’s always in the system and then you can make comparisons.”

During the conversation, Barker discusses the enduring importance of human involvement in data analysis, the prospects for connecting consumer and retail demand patterns with production information, and the need to open new opportunities by making agriculture a more digitally connected business.

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding a safe and sustainable way to extend the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables represents an important priority for anyone in the business of selling fresh produce.

That’s why shelf-life extension technologies like SmartFresh, first launched around two decades ago to great acclaim in the apple business, have been so instrumental in driving up quality and reducing waste.

Now, having had a major impact not just on apple supply chains but also on items like kiwifruit, plums, and pears, SmartFresh developer AgroFresh is introducing VitaFresh Botanicals, a set of edible, plant-based coatings that promise to have the same impact on other products such as citrus, avocados and mangoes.

As Carles Doménech Rodríguez, the group’s global coatings and disinfectants product lead, explains in the latest episode of Fruitbox, the new range is an important step forward in terms of extending freshness.

“VitaFresh gives retailers a much stronger opportunity to market the best-quality products, and also to improve consumer satisfaction while increasing profit potential,” he explains.

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fresh fruit and vegetables have a central role to play in safeguarding the health of consumers all over the world.

That’s the view of Inci Dannenberg, Head of Global Vegetable Seeds Strategic Marketing for the Crop Science division of Bayer.

Speaking during Fruitnet’s World of Fresh Ideas, a free virtual event for the international fresh produce business which takes place on 26-27 May, Dannenberg outlined various sustainability challenges that the world’s food system faces.

She referred in particular to climate change, limited natural resources, a growing population with diverse nutritional needs, and people’s varying abilities and opportunities to access fresh fruit and veg.

She also underlined the potential for the produce business to work together and drive positive change.

“There has never been a more important time for innovation and collaboration to tackle these challenges,” she commented.

“Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of our nutritional needs as the World Health Organisation recommends five servings a day to prevent disease and to maintain health.”

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Gilad Sadan, the term ‘box fresh’ has a real resonance. Not just for the fruit and vegetable products housed in the carefully designed packaging his Melbourne-based consultancy Navi Co Global helps to create, but for all kinds of consumer goods – including a newly delivered pair of green Adidas trainers (“sneakers!”) made from recycled materials.

And in a world where environmental concerns mean that packaging’s place in the global supply chain is under more scrutiny than ever, the word ‘sustainability’ also has added significance for Sadan.

As he explains in the latest episode of Fruitnet’s conversation series Fruitbox, buying things that are marketed as sustainable – be it fresh produce or indeed footwear – has emerged over as a way for people to show support for something they believe to be important.

“I think what we’re seeing now is that sustainability is becoming something that consumers are talking about and engaging with, or they want to do the right thing as far as they are concerned,” he says.

“But what the right thing is, is still to be determined. I think coronavirus has done a wonderful job bringing up to the surface what the true meaning of [sustainability] is.”

Post-pandemic, Sadan sees even more of a shift ahead in terms of attitudes to packaging.

“Packaging is still there, but the purpose that it fulfils is different now,” he comments. “The primary and secondary packaging is very different now, because if you’re selling direct to consumers [via e-commerce] then it doesn’t have to be as exciting as it is on the retail floor. The product gets delivered to your house after you’ve made the decision to purchase.”

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Long distances can always be overcome in the fresh produce trade.

Juan Gonzalez Pita has proven that beyond doubt since he co-founded import-export firm Salix Fruits around ten years ago.

From small beginnings in his home country of Argentina, the group has become a key player in several of the Northern Hemisphere’s fresh produce markets.

At the time, together with co-founder Luis Elortondo, Gonzalez was encouraged by what he describes as untapped opportunities for growers in lots of emerging markets, such as the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

“People were not paying attention to this,” he tells Chris White in the latest episode of Fruitnet’s conversation series Fruitbox, “so I just focused there, and relying on technology first we started with email marketing campaigns.”

Operating from a tiny office in Buenos Aires, the universal accessibility of new online platforms was instrumental in the company’s initial expansion. But in contrast with previous advances in global communications like the telephone or fax machine, the internet gave Gonzalez a chance to reach people he didn’t even know existed.

“I started making Google AdWords,” he recalls, a move which was relatively unheard of at the time. Soon, this began to generate “a lot of leads for very little money” from interested parties in places like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

Gonzalez goes on to explain how the company, now a major international player with offices in the US, South Africa and Argentina, intends to keep growing in the years to come.

He talks about the importance of people and trust in the business, the challenges of international travel, the pressures of dealing with perishable products, and effect of changing demand in the business.

Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis.

Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.

To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email [email protected].

To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email [email protected].

Read the latest fresh produce industry news at www.fruitnet.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.