It’s Fresh tech extending produce life to cut food waste
It’s Fresh’s first commercialised product is a “high-tech” filter that removes the ripening hormone from fresh produce.
The company said this development is helping the global supply chain maximise the value of produce by extending quality, prolonging freshness and enhancing flavour. The filter is “secure and sustainable” and helps address key industry challenges of food security, profitability and global food waste.
Its first commercialised product, a discreet but high-tech filter that removes the ripening hormone – ethylene - from fresh produce, is helping the global supply chain maximise value from growing, transporting and retailing top-quality produce for consumers. By extending quality, prolonging freshness and enhancing flavour in a secure and sustainable way, It’s Fresh! addressed the key industry challenges of food security and profitability. The company said it is also having a “huge impact” on food waste.
According to It’s Fresh founder director Simon Lee, "hundreds of millions of filters are [already] in circulation". The filters are used by leading global retailers including Walmart and Albertsons Safeway in the US; Morrisons, Waitrose, and M&S in the UK; and Carrefour in France.
The business, a division of Food Freshness Technology Holdings, is now preparing to step up expansion having secured a €8.2m (US$10m) investment from AgroFresh Solutions.
Accelerating global growth
The investment is “mainly about growth acceleration for It’s Fresh”, Lee told FoodNavigator.
The additional cash will be used to fund global expansion and It’s Fresh will access new markets through AgroFresh’s distribution network, Lee explained. The company will gain access to AgroFresh’s network of 300,000 customers.
Strengthening NPD
Lee believes that the alignment with AgroFresh also offers the potential to augment It’s Fresh’s research and development capabilities.
The companies’ respective R&D teams will work together to further their mutual goal of improving food quality, the group revealed.
“There is a good chance that NPD could arise from this collaboration,” Lee predicted. “Both companies will be operating completely independently as they do now but may collaborate on R&D.”
