SmartFresh expanding beyond apples
SmartFresh expanding beyond apples
SPRING HOUSE, PA " Since 2002, many of the major U.S. apple shippers have applied the "SmartFresh? brand product to slow the ripening rate, thereby maintaining crunchiness and juiciness in fruit.
AgroFresh Inc., here, is now introducing SmartFresh to much wider segments of the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, with tomatoes, bananas and melons high on the firm?s priority list.
Gerald Lopez is vice president of the Americas for AgroFresh, which is part of the international chemical firm, Rohm & Haas Co. Rohm & Haas has a major office building near Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Spring House is a small northern suburb of Philadelphia.
The chemistry of SmartFresh is very similar to ethylene gas, Mr. Lopez explained. Almost all produce commodities, when they sense SmartFresh in the atmosphere, will trigger a mechanism that, if the cold chain is maintained, largely shuts down the products? response to ethylene gas. This extends the shelf life of the produce. SmartFresh can be used in cold and controlled-atmosphere storages or in sea containers.
Mr. Lopez said it is critical that SmartFresh be applied to apples as soon after harvest as possible. In apple cold storages or controlled-atmosphere warehouses, very small quantities are mixed with water. The low toxicity vapor that emanates from two ounces of SmartFresh is enough to treat a million pounds of apples. The effects of SmartFresh continue for weeks after the fruit leaves the storage room, as long as cold temperatures are maintained.
Mr. Lopez said that consumer preference has been tested repeatedly in many retail stores throughout the country. Without any promotion, point-of-sale material or consumer tip-offs, in every single store where SmartFresh apples were sold, repeat sales rose in subsequent weeks. In control stores where conventional apples were sold, sales levels consistently remained steady.
In other consumer tests, three out of four consumers prefer apples that have been treated with SmartFresh. Mr. Lopez said that SmartFresh brings "an overall increase in quality? in apples. "The appearance is unchanged. You can?t tell the difference until you take a bite."
In some apple varieties that would have a 12-pound pressure, SmartFresh apples show 14 pounds. Holding the firmness of McIntosh apples gets "fantastic? results with SmartFresh, he added. "It's a big, big deal? for growers in New England and British Columbia. Depending on the specific situation, SmartFresh is applied to produce within 12 to 24 hours after harvest.
As McDonald?s moved toward a healthier menu with apples, Mr. Lopez said that the fast-food giant specified that its apple suppliers use fruit that had been SmartFresh treated.
SmartFresh isn?t designed to slow the oxidation of cut apples, but rather it will present fruit that is crispier. Apples exposed to SmartFresh "snap when you bite them," said Mr. Lopez.
Additionally, pear shippers are enjoying SmartFresh benefits like those realized by apples.
Mr. Lopez said, "We are a company that was set up in 1999 specifically to develop and commercialize " the SmartFresh technology. It is our only product."
The first SmartFresh sales were in the United States and Latin America in 2002. AgroFresh marketed its product at the Produce Marketing Association conventions in 2003 and 2004. It pushed its products in Chicago at the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association Produce Show last year and will do so there again this spring.
In 2004, SmartFresh was introduced in 15 countries. An office in Paris is marketing to Europe and Asia. The entire staff of AgroFresh numbers only 60 people, so it will take a while to introduce the product to all commodities in all corners of the world, Mr. Lopez notes. SmartFresh has "very, very little effect? on three commodities: grapes, citrus and berries.
Using SmartFresh with melons and tomatoes offers benefits that are different than those realized for apples, Mr. Lopez said. Melon and tomato growers using SmartFresh are able to "pick the fruit later, so they can pick with better flavor and taste properties." Under such conditions, without SmartFresh "the fruit doesn?t survive getting to market, so you have to pick it a little green."
Some melons exported from Guatemala and Nicaragua are currently receiving SmartFresh applications.
In 2004, AgroFresh introduced SmartFresh to the tomato industry, and already has two or three repeat customers, Mr. Lopez said. One U.S. customer that operates tomato greenhouses in Mexico applies SmartFresh as each new crop is harvested; much of that firm?s product is shipped to Wal-Mart and Costco. Because of the shelf-life extension through resistance to ethylene gas, the tomatoes can be left on the vine an extra day or two, allowing the consumer to buy better-tasting, more mature tomatoes. Because of the production controls that come with greenhouse tomato production, SmartFresh is ideal for such growers.
?For field-grown tomatoes, it is more difficult to judge the application, so it's easier for us to start with greenhouses," said Mr. Lopez, who added that this month a San Francisco tomato and banana distributor will begin applying SmartFresh to its products before shipping to Northern California customers.
SmartFresh is applied to bananas after the ripening process to hold the color at store level.
AgroFresh is working with stone fruit customers in Chile, South Africa and Argentina. SmartFresh will allow the shippers of plums, peaches and nectarines to extend their seasons. Stone fruit, Mr. Lopez said, "is one of our biggest opportunities."
AgroFresh has begun working with Mexican mango shippers, but a lot more work needs to be done. "In papayas, we offer a big program benefit. With tropicals, you can do a very dramatic job because that fruit is so perishable."
Mr. Lopez said that SmartFresh brings no direct benefits of pest resistance, but on products like melons that may soften and thus become susceptible to mold as they mature, a firmer SmartFresh melon will mold less quickly.
?As long as you maintain the integrity of the [fruit] surface, it is difficult for mold to attack. That?s a byproduct benefit. The firmer an apple is in storage, the less chance you have for mold. So you get a higher percentage of packout for apples coming out of storage. It's a real financial benefit to have 2-5 percent less culls."
SmartFresh was developed at North Carolina State University in Raleigh for another purpose in a research project. AgroFresh is selling the technology under license.
SmartFresh is regulated and approved by the biological division of the Environmental Protection Agency. It's considered a biological product because it is chemically similar to ethylene, which is a naturally occurring gas emitted by fruits and vegetables.
SmartFresh works because produce receptors mistake its presence for ethylene. Mr. Lopez said SmartFresh has "extremely low toxicity," especially for the volumes involved.
Mr. Lopez summarized, "It's truly amazing. All of us working with SmartFresh have never worked with an industry that was so profoundly changed by a product as this. "It's too good to be true," has been mentioned several times. Some say it's the most important innovation since controlled atmosphere. It is a very unusual, completely innovative breakthrough."
AgroFresh Inc., here, is now introducing SmartFresh to much wider segments of the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, with tomatoes, bananas and melons high on the firm?s priority list.
Gerald Lopez is vice president of the Americas for AgroFresh, which is part of the international chemical firm, Rohm & Haas Co. Rohm & Haas has a major office building near Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Spring House is a small northern suburb of Philadelphia.
The chemistry of SmartFresh is very similar to ethylene gas, Mr. Lopez explained. Almost all produce commodities, when they sense SmartFresh in the atmosphere, will trigger a mechanism that, if the cold chain is maintained, largely shuts down the products? response to ethylene gas. This extends the shelf life of the produce. SmartFresh can be used in cold and controlled-atmosphere storages or in sea containers.
Mr. Lopez said it is critical that SmartFresh be applied to apples as soon after harvest as possible. In apple cold storages or controlled-atmosphere warehouses, very small quantities are mixed with water. The low toxicity vapor that emanates from two ounces of SmartFresh is enough to treat a million pounds of apples. The effects of SmartFresh continue for weeks after the fruit leaves the storage room, as long as cold temperatures are maintained.
Mr. Lopez said that consumer preference has been tested repeatedly in many retail stores throughout the country. Without any promotion, point-of-sale material or consumer tip-offs, in every single store where SmartFresh apples were sold, repeat sales rose in subsequent weeks. In control stores where conventional apples were sold, sales levels consistently remained steady.
In other consumer tests, three out of four consumers prefer apples that have been treated with SmartFresh. Mr. Lopez said that SmartFresh brings "an overall increase in quality? in apples. "The appearance is unchanged. You can?t tell the difference until you take a bite."
In some apple varieties that would have a 12-pound pressure, SmartFresh apples show 14 pounds. Holding the firmness of McIntosh apples gets "fantastic? results with SmartFresh, he added. "It's a big, big deal? for growers in New England and British Columbia. Depending on the specific situation, SmartFresh is applied to produce within 12 to 24 hours after harvest.
As McDonald?s moved toward a healthier menu with apples, Mr. Lopez said that the fast-food giant specified that its apple suppliers use fruit that had been SmartFresh treated.
SmartFresh isn?t designed to slow the oxidation of cut apples, but rather it will present fruit that is crispier. Apples exposed to SmartFresh "snap when you bite them," said Mr. Lopez.
Additionally, pear shippers are enjoying SmartFresh benefits like those realized by apples.
Mr. Lopez said, "We are a company that was set up in 1999 specifically to develop and commercialize " the SmartFresh technology. It is our only product."
The first SmartFresh sales were in the United States and Latin America in 2002. AgroFresh marketed its product at the Produce Marketing Association conventions in 2003 and 2004. It pushed its products in Chicago at the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association Produce Show last year and will do so there again this spring.
In 2004, SmartFresh was introduced in 15 countries. An office in Paris is marketing to Europe and Asia. The entire staff of AgroFresh numbers only 60 people, so it will take a while to introduce the product to all commodities in all corners of the world, Mr. Lopez notes. SmartFresh has "very, very little effect? on three commodities: grapes, citrus and berries.
Using SmartFresh with melons and tomatoes offers benefits that are different than those realized for apples, Mr. Lopez said. Melon and tomato growers using SmartFresh are able to "pick the fruit later, so they can pick with better flavor and taste properties." Under such conditions, without SmartFresh "the fruit doesn?t survive getting to market, so you have to pick it a little green."
Some melons exported from Guatemala and Nicaragua are currently receiving SmartFresh applications.
In 2004, AgroFresh introduced SmartFresh to the tomato industry, and already has two or three repeat customers, Mr. Lopez said. One U.S. customer that operates tomato greenhouses in Mexico applies SmartFresh as each new crop is harvested; much of that firm?s product is shipped to Wal-Mart and Costco. Because of the shelf-life extension through resistance to ethylene gas, the tomatoes can be left on the vine an extra day or two, allowing the consumer to buy better-tasting, more mature tomatoes. Because of the production controls that come with greenhouse tomato production, SmartFresh is ideal for such growers.
?For field-grown tomatoes, it is more difficult to judge the application, so it's easier for us to start with greenhouses," said Mr. Lopez, who added that this month a San Francisco tomato and banana distributor will begin applying SmartFresh to its products before shipping to Northern California customers.
SmartFresh is applied to bananas after the ripening process to hold the color at store level.
AgroFresh is working with stone fruit customers in Chile, South Africa and Argentina. SmartFresh will allow the shippers of plums, peaches and nectarines to extend their seasons. Stone fruit, Mr. Lopez said, "is one of our biggest opportunities."
AgroFresh has begun working with Mexican mango shippers, but a lot more work needs to be done. "In papayas, we offer a big program benefit. With tropicals, you can do a very dramatic job because that fruit is so perishable."
Mr. Lopez said that SmartFresh brings no direct benefits of pest resistance, but on products like melons that may soften and thus become susceptible to mold as they mature, a firmer SmartFresh melon will mold less quickly.
?As long as you maintain the integrity of the [fruit] surface, it is difficult for mold to attack. That?s a byproduct benefit. The firmer an apple is in storage, the less chance you have for mold. So you get a higher percentage of packout for apples coming out of storage. It's a real financial benefit to have 2-5 percent less culls."
SmartFresh was developed at North Carolina State University in Raleigh for another purpose in a research project. AgroFresh is selling the technology under license.
SmartFresh is regulated and approved by the biological division of the Environmental Protection Agency. It's considered a biological product because it is chemically similar to ethylene, which is a naturally occurring gas emitted by fruits and vegetables.
SmartFresh works because produce receptors mistake its presence for ethylene. Mr. Lopez said SmartFresh has "extremely low toxicity," especially for the volumes involved.
Mr. Lopez summarized, "It's truly amazing. All of us working with SmartFresh have never worked with an industry that was so profoundly changed by a product as this. "It's too good to be true," has been mentioned several times. Some say it's the most important innovation since controlled atmosphere. It is a very unusual, completely innovative breakthrough."
