Can an app revolutionise the horticultural sector?

"We created this app in order to add transparency to the horticultural sector," says Santiago Álvarez, director of operations at FruitBull. "With this service, we provide an identity to all fruits and vegetables, as it allows you check information on prices, varieties, sizes, formats, origins, producers, etc., in real-time, allowing for quick decisions to be made in trading and improving the buying and selling experience. The point is, if we know the price of oil in real time, why can't we have the same for fruits and vegetables?"

With it being a single, specific application for fruits and vegetables, it requires a network of professionals distributed at strategic points.

"We hire specialised staff to verify horticultural product prices on site, including processed products, at supermarkets. We discard cities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants and determine the specific weight of such supermarkets in the field of fruits and vegetables. We also never operate at times when supermarkets knock prices down, to prevent the data from being distorted."

FruitBull started operating in Spain recently, although its first steps have not been easy.

"We should have started in a northern European country," jokes Santiago. "Besides the fact that Spaniards are not used to paying for such services, we find that the Spanish horticultural sector is very focused on exports, which is why we have initiated a process to start introducing this application in other countries and thus connect producers, distributors and retailers worldwide," he says.

"The service is customised for each client, since a supermarket that wishes to monitor its competitors doesn't have the same needs as a producer who wants to know how prices are developing for their products. It's time to put an end to deception and speculation!"