Try Acres for free: https://www.acres.co/
IFPA's Fresh Field Catalyst Accelerator: https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/technology/fresh-field-catalyst/
"Taste is King" on the Fresh Takes on Tech podcast: https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/technology/takes-on-tech-podcast/episode-56-taste-is-king/
"Locally Grown Through Vertical Farming on the Fresh Takes on Tech podcast: https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/technology/takes-on-tech-podcast/episode-59-locally-grown-through-vertical-farming/
"Traceability is Crucial to the World Produce Industry" on the Fresh Takes on Tech podcast: https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/technology/takes-on-tech-podcast/episode-55-traceability-is-crucial-to-the-world-produce-industry/
"New Innovations are Improving All Aspects of Our Produce Supply Chain" on the Fresh Takes on Tech podcast: https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/technology/takes-on-tech-podcast/episode-68-live-from-the-global-show-2022-part-four/
"The Future of Automation is in the Fields" on the Fresh Takes on Tech podcast: https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/technology/takes-on-tech-podcast/episode-57-the-future-of-automation--is-in-the-fields/
Today’s episode features Vonnie Estes, vice president of innovation at the International Fresh Produce Association or IFPA. You probably noticed in our opening segment more than just Vonnie’s voice. That’s because we will be playing clips of some of the entrepreneurs and mentors that participated in IFPA’s Fresh Field Catalyst this past year.
You see, Vonnie reached out about coming back onto the podcast to talk about how applications are open for their second cohort. After talking to Vonnie and hearing about how the first cohort went, I realized this would be a great chance to talk about tech and innovation in the produce industry in general. Our conversation today covers some of the challenges facing this industry, including water, labor, food safety, traceability, quality, compliance and more. And you’ll hear from entrepreneurs and industry leaders about differentiation, consumer preferences, indoor ag, traceability, and automation and robotics.
Before we dive in, I want to make it clear that the intention of the accelerator is to attract companies that already have a product in the market somewhere. That could be a market outside of agriculture, or perhaps in row crops, or maybe in produce but in another geography. So they’re looking for companies that already have some traction, but maybe haven’t directed much focus to produce yet but think that there might be value in that market. If that sounds like you or someone you know, applications close soon: March 20 of 2023. I’ll link to the application in the show notes.
You may remember hearing from Vonnie back in episode 270 of this podcast. To refresh your memory, she has held leadership positions at prominent companies including DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta along with start-ups including DNAP, Emergent Genetics, and Caribou Biosciences. She has a BS in Horticulture from New Mexico State and a Masters in Plant Pathology from UC Davis.
In addition to Vonnie, you’re going to hear clips from some of the entrepreneurs and mentors in the program’s first cohort. These clips came from Vonnie’s podcast called Fresh Takes on Tech. You definitely want to go check that out. I’ll link to it in the show notes as well.
FoA 248: Regrow Merges Agronomic Insights with Sustainability Metrics
FoA 247: How to Stop Herbicide-Resistant Weeds
FoA 246: Unlocking Grazing Potential with Virtual Fencing
FoA 245: Agtech Product Strategy with Climate Corp Chief Product Officer Ranjeeta Singh
FoA 244: Farm Data Analytics with Aaron Gault of Advanced Agrilytics
FoA 243: Farm Data Economics with Terry Griffin, Ph.D.
FoA 242: Regenerative Research and Demonstration with Jonathan Lundgren, Ph.D.
FoA 241: From Drives to Driverless with Craig Rupp of Sabanto
FoA 240: Conservation Agriculture at Scale with Jason Weller of Truterra
FoA 239: Sensors for Predicting Grain Quality with Naeem Zafar of TeleSense
FoA 238: 5 Barriers Limiting Agtech (and the companies breaking through them)
FoA 237: Use Cases for Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture with Craig Ganssle of Farmwave
FoA 236: A Call for Startups to the Cattle Feeding Industry
FoA 235: The Fastest Growing Tilapia Farm in Africa
FoA 234: What Data do Farmers Trust? In10t Series Finale
FoA 233: Walmart Reinvents Their Beef Supply Chain
FoA 232: Are Agtech and Regenerative Agriculture Aligned?
FoA 231: Fixing Nitrogen with Karsten Temme of Pivot Bio
FoA 230: Agtech is Booming in Brazil with Francisco Jardim of SP Ventures
FoA 229: NanoGuard is Reducing Food Waste and Improving Food and Feed Safety
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