Fresh ideas for the fruit trade

How can I see from the outside whether the avocado might already be brown on the inside, how can I keep greenhouse plants healthy and how can quality risks along the supply chain be minimised? The international start-ups presenting themselves at FRUIT LOGISTICA this year have forward-looking answers to all these questions.

In Hall 3.1, the previous Startup Day will become Startup World. 20 young companies from ten countries were selected by a jury of experts and can now present their groundbreaking products, projects and ideas for the future of the fresh fruit industry and exchange ideas with potential partners and trade visitors from all over the world. In addition, representatives of these top start-ups will speak on Wednesday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the Farming Forward stage (Hall 3.1 | D-10).

More efficient and scalable

"New technologies can help to meet the growing demand for food and reduce food waste at the same time. Digitalisation is already helping farmers to make their production more efficient, profitable and environmentally friendly, says Alexandra Prümke, Market Manager of FRUIT LOGISTICA. This year's focus will be on Smart Agri, i.e. the digitalisation of agriculture, for example with AI and sensor technology, but also on modern, innovative ideas for logistics, greenhouses and quality assurance.

Many of the innovations aim to make processes more efficient and scalable through digital solutions. For example, by analysing data. The Israeli start-up PhenoRoot has developed a platform for phenotyping and analysing the roots of soil-grown plants. The data collected can be used to derive valuable insights into strengthening plant vigour. Agurotech shows how producers can be supported by smart sensor technology. The data from soil sensors, weather stations and plant analyses give them valuable real-time insights into soil and plant health.

Less waste

The German company Harvest Ai trains its SaaS tool with data obtained from the company's own camera systems, among other things. It uses this data to derive harvest forecasts and efficiency improvements for greenhouses. AgStacked from the Netherlands collects data along the supply chain. Its tool uses machine learning, including weather, temperature and cold chain, to minimise quality risks. This reduces waste and avoids costly rejections.

This is also the aim of the technology from Orbem in Munich. With the help of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), it can virtually look inside and use deep learning algorithms to assess the quality of fruit, eggs or nuts - as well as the aforementioned avocado - and help to classify and sort the products. The Australian start-up Lyro Robotics offers robot-assisted, gentle packaging solutions to optimise supply chain processes and avoid waste.