The FPC Fresh Awards 2023, held at the esteemed Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Friday, September 29, saw the largest turnout ever recorded. The gala evening was hosted by Celebrity Food Writer Jay Rayner and celebrated the most innovative and sustainable practices in the fresh produce industry.
Sony took home the Agritech Excellence Award for its groundbreaking device that employs image-sensing technology to detect airborne pathogens in horticulture crops. The technology is capable of identifying yellow rust in wheat and downy mildew in salad crops, allowing growers to better target and reduce fungicide usage. This not only minimizes production losses and costs but also lessens environmental impact.
G's Growers, responsible for producing over 50% of the UK's wholehead iceberg lettuces, won the Innovation Excellence Award for their revolutionary strategy to individually fertilize each of the 60 million iceberg plants they grow. The judges praised the innovation, calling it "a proactive and innovative approach to joining the dots with Agriculture 4.0 technologies in order to deliver a best-in-class solution involving specialists in artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering, and agronomy."
Source: fpcfreshtalkdaily.co.uk