Technology is going to increase its presence at produce trade shows as companies look to overcome the various challenges they face. One of these challenges is food waste and tech firms are providing more ways in which growers can prevent this. New Zealand-based RipeTime will be exhibiting their product at United Fresh in Chicago this week. Not only this, but it has been nominated as an Innovations Award finalist.
"RipeTime has developed a form of amplification technology which is being utilised as an Environmental Sensor," said Mitch Denton of RipeTime. "This allows for users to accurately measure and forecast optimal delivery times, maximise outgoings and minimise food wastage. RipeTime’s amplification technology allows for atmospheric reads in the form of parts per billion (PPB), this measurement is often used to describe concentrations of contaminants found within an atmosphere in its most precise and finite form (currently an unmatched industry standard)."
Reducing food waste
RipeTime's goal is to reduce the amount of food waste by providing a solution for growers and other industry professionals to optimise their fresh produce outgoings. According to the company, almost half of all harvested fresh produce is lost or wasted while in the supply chain. "This is roughly 1.3 billion tonnes of food and equates to USD $680 Billion of wasted fresh produce each year," Denton noted.
He added, "Ethylene is a naturally occurring chemical, which is released throughout the life-cycle of fresh produce. One of the biggest contributors to mass amounts of waste within the fresh produce sector is directly linked to cases of overexposure to ethylene during the ripening and storage process."
Denton said that RipeTime’s Environmental Sensor can work across both Climacteric and Non-Climacteric fresh produce and is available worldwide. "There simply needs to be a specific calibration process upfront that is geared towards the particular produce in circulation," he said. "RipeTime headquarters are located in New Zealand, but any orders of the Environmental Sensor can be shipped globally within two to three business days."
Nomination for Innovation award
RipeTime will be exhibiting at this year's United Fresh Expo in Chicago. The company is excited to be showing their product, which they say is now ready to market. At the booth will be a unit on display, brochures, media on screens and RipeTime staff to help out with any questions.
"RipeTime, after years of research and development has finally reached a point in which it is ready to go to market with its findings in the form of its data collecting product," Denton shared. "What better place to showcase this game-changing technology than at one of the industry’s biggest conferences."
In fact, RipeTime's product has been nominated as a finalist for the United Fresh Innovation award in the Best New Field Technology category. Denton commented on what it means for the company. "For RipeTime, our biggest goal is to notify the masses of what we do and how we hope to positively change the way cool chain systems monitor and optimise their fresh produce supplies on a global scale. So, we hope to make a big splash with our dedicated speaking position at United Fresh, along with our established booth and finalist position within the Innovation Awards."
"The team at RipeTime are really excited about what our technology can achieve not just within the context of financial stimulation inside of one of the biggest industries in the world but also what our technology aims to achieve on a humanitarian level," he concluded. "The fact that our technology can greatly reduce food loss on the journey from “Farm-to-Fork” is not just a numbers thing, it’s a people thing. We will be able to greatly increase food provisions to a world in desperate need."
Visitors to United Fresh can find RipeTime and their product at Booth #18045.
For more information:
Mitch Denton
RipeTime
denton@ripetime.com
www.ripetime.com