Best Innovative Practices for the Produce Industry

🔎 What if nearly half your harvest never reached the consumer? That’s reality today — 40–50% of fruits and vegetables are lost post-harvest due to poor cold chain and handling. It’s not just food waste. It’s lost revenue, higher emissions, and missed impact. 📊 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually. 💸 Up to 25% of supply chain costs are tied to spoilage. 🧊 Ice-based logistics? Outdated, expensive, and risky. 🚀 But a new generation of innovators is changing that: 🌱 Hazel Technologies – BreatheWay® ❄️ No more ice. Modified atmosphere pallet bags extend shelf life, reduce CO₂, and lower weight. 🛡️ Apeel Sciences 🍃 Invisible plant-based coating acts like a second skin, doubling or tripling shelf life — no packaging needed. 🕸️ Cambridge Crops (Mori) 🧵 Silk-protein film slows respiration and spoilage in delicate produce like berries and peaches. 🌸 FreshPaper 📄 Botanical-infused sheets for retail boxes or kitchens — freshness boost without refrigeration. 🍃 It’s Fresh! – RYPEN Tech 🌬️ Absorbs ethylene gas to slow ripening. Protects apples, kiwis, and more. 🧪 Oscillum – Stiint® 🔬 Food-contact patch that delays deterioration, keeping flavor and nutrients longer. 🌍 This isn’t just sustainability — it’s strategy. ✅ Less shrink = more profit ✅ Better shelf life = happier customers ✅ Smarter tech = cleaner supply chains 💭 Which approach do you believe will scale fastest? 💬 Let’s connect ideas, reduce waste, and redefine freshness — together. 🍅♻️ #FreshProduce #PostHarvest #ShelfLife #ColdChain #FoodTech #AgroFood #HazelTech #Apeel #ItsFresh #Oscillum #CambridgeCrops #RetailInnovation #FoodWaste #Sustainability #ZeroWaste

Sometimes, the simplest ideas spark the biggest impact. Food waste is a trillion-dollar global issue—nearly one-third of all food produced is lost before it even reaches consumers. But what if we could slow spoilage without refrigeration, chemicals, or costly technology? Enter GreenPod Labs™, an India-based AgriTech startup that’s redefining how we keep produce fresh. Their innovation? A small, plant-based sachet that slows the ripening of fruits and vegetables by triggering their natural defense mechanisms. No complex machinery. No expensive preservatives. Just a smarter, nature-powered way to reduce waste, cut costs, and extend shelf life. According to GreenPod Labs founder, Deepak Rajmohan: "The compounds are made from plant-based edible products like extracts from corn and potato. Many Indian spices from our age-old traditions are also being used. Similarly, we extract compounds from plants, leaves, etc. In total, about 10-15 ingredients are used for the product." GreenPod’s simple yet powerful solution caught the attention of one of the world’s largest retailers, leading to a partnership with Walmart to test their technology on mangoes from Peru headed to the U.S. This milestone isn’t just a validation of GreenPod’s technology—it’s proof that creative, high-impact solutions can scale beyond borders. Here's what their success means for all of us: ☑️ Less food waste – Slower ripening prevents spoilage before food reaches shelves. ☑️ More sustainable supply chains – A natural way to extend shelf life without added energy consumption. ☑️ Global market expansion – GreenPod’s partnership with Walmart gives them a gateway to international distribution and massive scale. You'll likely be enjoying the fruits of their labor eventually. GreenPod Labs is showing us that real innovation isn’t about complexity—it’s about solving problems that matter. Here's what we can learn from them: 🔹 Small, scalable ideas can have global reach. One breakthrough in food science is now influencing supply chains worldwide. 🔹 The best innovations remove friction. GreenPod’s approach is simple, cost-effective, and easy to implement. 🔹 Impact fuels opportunity. By solving a major issue, GreenPod didn’t just build a great product—they unlocked doors to global growth. Innovation doesn’t always start with billion-dollar R&D budgets. Sometimes, it starts with a fresh perspective and a relentless commitment to solving real problems. What small, overlooked problems in your industry could spark game-changing ideas? Drop your thoughts below—let’s rethink what’s possible.

India’s transition to a green economy from the grassroots level is no simple feat. It's filled with cultural and economic complexity. On India's 75th Republic Day, here are 7 Indian startups innovating to bring sustainable change to the agriculture sector and pushing for climate resiliency in a country of 120+ million farmers. 🌳 Farmers for Forests (F4F) They closely collaborate with and financially support farmers to protect and restore forest cover through their Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) model. They identify land, gather field information, and carry out afforestation and reforestation with native species as recommended by botanists. They use conditional cash transfers that are dependent on farmers protecting a certain percentage of tree cover on their land as measured quarterly by photographs and satellite data. 🫑 GreenPod Labs They extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by using natural plant extracts to activate their inbuilt immune system to slow down the ripening rate and minimize microbial growth. This is in the form of small sachets that are included in packaging and help increase the shelf life by 40-60%. 🌾 Takachar They turn crop and forest residues, that are traditionally burnt on site causing significant pollution and increased risks for catastrophic wildfires, into carbon-negative bioproducts by sequestering carbon-rich fertilizer blend into the soil. While the technology has existed, they’re solving the barrier to collect and transport bio residue by using a portable combination of easy-to-use hardware and IoT-based control systems. 🧅 S4S Technologies Their patented climate-clean micro-food processing units dehydrate agro-produce to preserve them for up to 1 year without using any chemicals and preservatives. This prevents post-harvest losses of up to 40% due to perishability, lack of storage, and distant markets while adding additional income to farmers and women entrepreneurs. ⛏️ RuKart They’ve created a range of products with zero energy and maintenance costs to increase produce lifespans with nature-based coolers, crop protection from animals, and targeted irrigation systems that optimize water management. What’s innovative about their approach is their partnerships with local bodies that reduce barriers to adoption through product usage as a service. 🚜 Kamal Kisan Their product innovation in agricultural equipment, which has been co-created for the Indian context, results in at least 50% cost-benefit to farmers. Making small and marginal farmers profitable by increasing their productivity through our smart mechanization solutions. 🪱 Loopworm They’re transforming the feed industry that is traditionally reliant on unsustainable practices for protein sources by using insects to make an environmentally impactful shift. They produce nutritious and sustainable feed for pets and livestock by leveraging bio technology. —- ♻️ Share it with someone who could collaborate with these teams