Is horticultural innovation back on the map?
Picture reference: S. A. Triana
Some say that innovation in horticulture is hot again. Industry insiders will probably not agree, as over the last two decades, many horticultural seed companies have invested over 25% of their turnover in R&D, more than Computing and Health care industries. However, it is hard to ignore the renewed attention to HortTech innovation from global policy makers, governments and investors. Smart changes in horticulture will ensure our food production to be healthy, sustainable and stable and can have a huge impact on our planet.
Five exiting tech developments and trends, all announced last week, that will change the way we produce fruits and vegetables over the next decade.
Pairwise announced the closing of its $90 million Series B funding round. The company’s CRISPR technology platform will develop fruits and vegetables with improved taste, increased shelf life, improved yield and simplified harvest. Its first product is expected in 2022. In 2018, the company also announced a $100 million collaboration with what is now Bayer Crop Science to advance gene editing tools in corn, soybeans, wheat, canola and cotton. First time we see such a substantial investment uniquely focused on the development of gene-edited fruits and vegetable varieties.
Last week, VITO published a digital twin solution for breeders to support their disease resistance trialing. In cooperation with experienced local growers, experimental hybrids are tested along side the best approved varieties to confirm whether these new varieties perform better than the control varieties. This recent work was done on sugar beet, but VITO also has experience evaluating vegetable and fruit trials. It is a promising drone and remote sensing technology solution that can be integrated pragmatically in your in-house breeding and product development platform.
The China’s e-grocery sector goes through a major growth spurt with $93 million A series funding for startup Xianshenghuo, which provides cold chain solutions for the transporting fresh produce, following last year’s online-grocer MissFresh raising over $800 million in funding, more than any other agrifoodtech startup in the world. With the development of China’s economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, the catering service and fresh food market is growing rapidly and the e-grocery segment in large countries like China and US attracts eager investors.
Almost a century of horticultural history has helped the Dutch to be true experts in greenhouse manufacturing. With an increasing global demand for sustainably produced fresh fruit and vegetables, several AgTech companies around the world are exploring the advantages of indoor farming. One of them being AppHarvest, a Kentucky-based indoor farming startup, which went public last week at a record high $1bn valuation. The company is building and operating some of the country’s largest high-tech indoor farms to sustainably grow affordable, nutritious, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables, using 90% less water than traditional open-field agriculture. The company plans to establish 12 more indoor farms by 2025 and is apparently the first indoor farming tech company to go public in the US. Many are wondering if these developments in the US, will also affect Europe’s food production market, where today many mid-size to large businesses are family-owned.
One of the most effective and remarkable innovations I found this week in my fruit basket, on top of my own kitchen table. A plant-based spray-on peel that slows down spoilage of fruits and vegetables. Apeel, a California based startup developed this technology as a sustainable solution to our planet’s massive food waste crisis. This simple and effective solution increases the longevity of our fruits, reduces plastic packaging and waste and limits your trips to the grocery store. And who does not appreciate fewer trips to the store during covid-lockdowns and record-breaking winter storms?
