The recent Food Valley Conference in the Netherlands saw NSure chosen as the winner of the Food Valley Award 2010, with the group handed the prestigious prize for its 'Grip on quality of apples and pears' quality measurement programme.
NSure's decision-support system is based on technology that assesses fresh produce quality by measuring gene activity profiles, with the topfruit programme in question specifically allowing Dutch growers to predict optimal harvest times.
As well as helping topfruit industry stakeholders anticipate optimal harvesting times, NSure's technology enables more efficient sales planning as it can select high-risk batches of fruit that will not survive long-term storage, the group noted.
This limits the financial risk for the grower and packer, and enhances the efficiency and sustainability of the industry, while the consumer receives fruit with optimal colour, taste and other quality aspects.
'NSure is a young company with strong ambitions to grow,' said Monique van Wordragen, CEO of NSure. 'We are proud and honoured to receive this recognition for our work. It will certainly be of value in our plans for international expansion.'
In picking the award winner at the Ede-based conference, the Food Valley foundation jury looked at a number of areas including innovation value, cooperation, viability and social responsibility.
'NSure is an innovative starting company, that is already active in various parts of the world,' said Jan Maat, president of the jury. 'The company is an example of high-value export, that builds on to the knowledge infrastructure of the Netherlands. An exceptional enterprise that rightly deserves this innovation award.'
