The cold standard

• Delecta Fruit has been using a ‘blue box’ to track their supply chain. In just 4 months, they’ve identified areas for improvement.
• This ‘blue box’ is a device by 500-backed Escavox, which captures and transmits data in real-time as it moves through the supply chain. But that’s not what’s revolutionary — it’s what they do with the information.
• “We’re analyzing the data in a way that, frankly, no-one else does,” shared CEO Luke Wood, adding that there are two sides of the coin: the traditional logistics side which physically tracks where the product is, and the side which concerns itself with the shipping conditions.
• “Those two problems are typically solved independently of each other. What we really do is to merge those datasets,” he elaborated.
• This means the data can help food producers lower their purchase risk. Luke explained, “If I understand what’s happened to my product in terms of quality, I can phone my customer and say look, the container sat longer in port than expected, therefore move this container before the others. Like any commercial conversation I’ve pre-empted the problem, and I’ve changed the conversation.”
• Ultimately, Escavox wants to reduce that gap to reduce food waste. By tapping into data, they can help producers extend shelf life and reduce food losses.
• What’s next for the team? Luke revealed that they are beta testing capabilities to predict pulp temperatures in the chain.
• Read the full story here.