The creators of two new mobile-based online marketplaces for the fresh produce industry believe they are poised to revolutionise the way produce is traded globally.
Established in November 2016, FruitsApp is described by its founders Carlos Iborra and Eslem Alzate as the first bidirectional business-to-business marketplace for the fruit and vegetable sector. It uses artificial intelligence, algorithms and bots to connect buyers and sellers all around the world, thereby streamlining the trading process, avoiding intermediaries and saving time, resources and money for the companies involved. And by connecting all the players in the chain, FruitsApp raises the visibility of even the smallest company, enabling it to reach a better deal.
“Carlos had been working for a number of multinationals within the industry for more than ten years. He observed that by communicating via costly and inefficient means such as telephone calls and fax, sellers were losing out on the best deals as they had no way of reaching all potential buyers to compare options,” explains the company’s chief marketing officer Elena Molinaro. “Thanks to our algorithms we know who is selling an apple and who is looking for apples and we connect them through an interactive map that they have in their personal profile.”
The logistics are also integrated, meaning that at the end of each transaction the app provides various options of companies that cover a particular route. “We have different logistics companies that cover different routes and when the transaction is concluded, users can select from a list of companies the one that better suits their needs and contact them with just one click,” Molinaro continues.
Companies register to use the site for free and are charged a small commission on each transaction and logistics route. In addition to the basic service, FruitsApp offers extra services – such as demand, price and trend forecasting – for premium users at a fixed price. Sellers joining the platform are required to upload proof of GlobalGAP, HACCP or other accreditation systems, while buyers have to undergo solvency checks before they can use the service.
There are already over 1,400 companies registered on the private network, including Carrefour, Spar, Co-op, Dia, Edeka and Del Monte. Most are located in Spain, but a growing number are coming from other countries in Europe and South America.
The company certainly has big ambitions. “In 2018 our goal is to handle 10 per cent of the total value of fruits and vegetables traded internationally and in the next 20 years we want to be among the biggest e-commerce platforms, becoming the stock market for the fresh produce industry,” she says.
Meanwhile, Israeli entrepreneurs Zachi Ben Moshe and Eli Edri are in the second stage of development for their app and software package Gamp, a similar system that uses blockchain technology and a patented algorithm to link buyers with sellers that meet their specific needs, by using a whole raft of input data such as logistical availability, regulatory limitations, supplier ratings, minimum residue levels and phytosanitary requirements. “We are connected online to logistics suppliers to reflect real-time availability and to regulatory libraries to ensure compliance,” explains Edri.
Having invested a few hundred thousand pounds in the software to date, the company is now looking for innovative suppliers and buyers to test the process and provide feedback.
The Gamp team believe the traditional ways of trading fresh produce are time consuming and inefficient, and are all too often based on long-term relationships within a small pool of businesses. Due to sub-optimal production planning in traditional supply chains, there are high-volume losses – something that the Gamp app says it could counter through real-time availability monitoring.
The company plans to target Europe and the Far East to start with, and the pair expects to have 500 customers on board by the end of 2018. With a range of both established and up-and-coming IT solutions, buying and selling produce online has never been easier.
