Australian grower-packer-marketer Montague will utilise innovative technology from US-headquartered AgroFresh Solutions to drive a digital transformation of its quality inspection system and decision-making.
FreshCloud Quality Inspection is AgroFresh’s proprietary cloud-based mobile quality management service that digitises manual quality control processes by capturing, organising and analysing quality metrics in real time. The service combines digital information from different physical and digital sources and locations, including analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
AgroFresh chief executive, Jordi Ferre, said these features allow growers, packers, shippers and retailers to drive accuracy and consistency across their operations.
“As an agriculture technology innovator and fresh produce industry leader, our mission is to provide the global supply chain with solutions that increase efficiencies, improve operations, deliver high-quality produce and reduce food waste,” explained Ferre.
“The adoption of FreshCloud Quality Inspection by a global leader such as Montague is evidence of that mission, as this service equips our customers with intelligent visibility, allowing them to be at the forefront of quality decision making that curtails waste and helps to enhance consumer satisfaction.”
Montague chief innovation officer, Rowan Little, said his company was impressed with how AgroFresh combines extensive post-harvest expertise with cutting edge digital technology capabilities.
“We are excited to collaborate with their global teams, and look forward to the significant advantages that FreshCloud Quality Inspection will bring across all facets of our operations,” Little explained. “We expect numerous benefits throughout our entire quality system, including growing, harvesting, storing, packing and selling.”
Montague’s adoption of FreshCloud follows a series of successful partnerships with North American fresh produce companies, which resulted in enhanced fruit quality and freshness, according to AgroFresh.
“This powerful service streamlines quality assessment workflows by centrally configuring, managing and reporting on product performance to help customers apply excellent quality standards for fresh produce across the supply chain,” AgroFresh said in a media release. 'The cloud-based service offers automated, end-to-end quality control capabilities that facilitate fast, objective, and consistent fresh fruit and vegetable quality management.
“Operators will gain real-time visibility, insights and imagery that allow their teams to access the latest checking standards and digitally capture their findings to identify accurate quality metrics and compare performance across various crops, regions, locations and markets. FreshCloud Quality Inspection enables users to reduce testing time by 80 per cent and increase sample frequency.”
