It’s Fresh has already sold more than a million Rypen Case Liners, with its new tech striking a chord with southern hemisphere grape suppliers
Food waste fighters It’s Fresh have celebrated selling a million Rypen Case Liners since launching their second-generation ethylene moderating technology less than four months ago.
The new Rypen brand from the UK business extends the life of different fruits during storage and transit by capturing ethylene. This is done without the need to block receptors or to oxidise the molecule through chemical reactions.
The new technology comes in three formats:
- The FLIA-nominated Rypen Case Liner: a film for lining cases of table grapes, stonefruit and kiwifruit
- The Rypen Leaf: a small paper-backed sheet that can be added directly into bulk cases or inside case liners of avocados, stonefruit and other products
- The Rypen Pad: a dual-purpose pad that absorbs excess moisture or liquid, while also controlling levels of ethylene that build up inside punnets of soft fruit
Since its release in November, at the start of the southern hemisphere table grape season, the Case Liner has proven especially popular with producers and exporters in key countries such as Peru, Chile and South Africa.
It’s Fresh also reports interest from other major grape-producing countries, such as Egypt, Italy, Spain and Australia.
As mentioned, the Case Liner was nominated for the 2025 FLIA Technology prize, which ultimately went to Croptimus from Israeli firm Fermata Technology, an SaaS solution for greenhouse vegetable production.
Rypen is the second generation of food waste reduction tech from It’s Fresh, and according to the company, it absorbs 10 times more ethylene than the previous offer.
The effects of ethylene are “gently moderated”, It’s Fresh says, allowing natural ripening but at a slower rate.
Essentially, with Rypen, fresh produce can be stored, or shipped, with less deterioration in condition. This reduces deductions and wastage, leading to better financial returns.
Additional benefits of the technology are that it reduces the need for premature harvesting; ensures higher, more consistent fruit pressure upon arrival; and can be seamlessly integrated into existing packing operations.
Global marketing director for It’s Fresh, Tristan Kaye, told Fruitnet: “We’re solving a significant pain point for the industry.
“Ethylene is emitted by grapes post-harvest, and it leads up a range of condition issues that the industry sees when it ships the fruit.
“The grapes dehydrate, the colour starts to change, and the stem goes brown. But if you control the ethylene, you get a higher bunch weight at destination, the grapes maintain their colour for longer, and the stems stay greener for longer.
“It’s also an advantage for growers who decide to hold their grapes and release them onto the market towards the end of the season – to capitalise on higher prices. It gives the supplier lots of flexibility.”
He added that Rypen can be especially useful for producers and exporters in South Africa, which has faced major challenges with logistics and port delays in recent years.
“Growers can pick amazing grapes only for them to sit in the port for two weeks and then all that hard work goes down the drain.
“Rypen gives you an extra insurance policy that even if things go wrong at the port, the grapes will hopefully still be in good condition when the container arrives in Europe and assessors check the fruit.”
