AgroFresh Accelerates Retail Growth Strategy

 AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGFS), a global leader in produce freshness solutions, today announced that it has invested $10 million for a 15% ownership stake in and entered into a commercial agreement with Food Freshness Technology Holdings Limited (FFT), providers of the award-winning It’s Fresh!  ethylene removal filters.  The proprietary active ingredient of It’s Fresh! has been found to be 100 times more powerful than any other ethylene-absorbing substances, providing a powerful tool to preserve food freshness.

“This commercial agreement provides a creative approach to gaining access to ground-breaking technologies as well as entering into unique collaborations to accelerate our retail growth strategy.  We expect FFT’s It’s Fresh! technology to complement the RipeLockTM Quality System, our retail solution for extending the freshness of bananas. Through the commercial agreement, AgroFresh will gain access to It’s Fresh! Ethylene Removal Filters, adding a new technology offering for high value crops such as berries, stone fruit, avocadoes, tomatoes and cherries, and opening up new opportunities to address food waste in retail”, said Jordi Ferre, CEO of AgroFresh. “Our investment in FFT will enable us not only to participate in its growth, but will also accelerate our penetration of food freshness solutions for retail. We are excited to work with FFT to offer their It’s Fresh! product to our extensive global roster of fruit growers and enhance the value of the solutions we deliver for them.  Our relationship with FFT is further evidence of our commitment to capitalize on the growth opportunities emerging in the $1 trillion food preservation and waste reduction industry.”

FFT, headquartered in Cranfield, UK, markets its unique ethylene filters under the “It’s Fresh! TM” brand to retailers, growers and exporters in North America, EMEA and Latin America.  FFT’s filters create a protective ‘FreshasphereTM’ around fruit and vegetables, significantly improve the quality of fruits and vegetables, reducing waste and increasing sales.

Peter Shalson, CEO of Food Freshness Technology, said, “We are excited by AgroFresh’s investment and their ability to extend our commercial reach through AgroFresh’s strong brand and global distribution network.  Both companies share a common culture and an unwavering commitment to developing new solutions to the growing problem of food waste, especially at retail.  Under this commercial agreement, we will work cooperatively to grow our market share in the retail and grower segments”

Furthermore, the companies’ respective R&D teams will work together to further their mutual goal of improving food quality.  Although both companies will continue to operate independently, a key goal of the mutual collaboration is to increase penetration of each company’s respective technology at leading retailers.  Where FFT has developed strong retailer relationships, it will serve as a sales agent for AgroFresh’s RipeLock program and AgroFresh will correspondingly do the same for FFT’s It’s Fresh! TM filters with AgroFresh’s retail partners.

To learn more about Food Freshness Technology and the It’s Fresh! TM products please visit FFT’s website at http://www.itsfresh.com.

About It’s Fresh! Ltd

More information on It’s Fresh! can be found here: www.itsfresh.com

It’s Fresh! provides innovative technologies that extend the freshness and quality of fresh food. Its first commercialised product, a discreet but high-tech filter that removes the ripening hormone from fresh produce, is helping the global supply chain maximise value from growing, transporting and retailing top-quality produce for consumers. By extending quality, prolonging freshness and enhancing flavour in a secure and sustainable way, It’s Fresh! helps to address the key industry challenges of food security, profitability and global food waste.

It’s Fresh! is a division of Food Freshness Technology Holdings that has invested over $25m to bring to market a range of ground-breaking products that help leading retail groups and their supply chains worldwide to reduce waste and to deliver extended quality and freshness.

About AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.

For more information on AgroFresh, please visit www.agrofresh.com

AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGFS) is a global industry leader in providing innovative data-driven specialty solutions aimed at enabling growers and packers of fresh produce to preserve and enhance the freshness, quality and value of fresh produce and to maximize the percentage of produce supplied to the market relative to the amount of produce grown. Its flagship product is the SmartFresh™ Quality System, a freshness protection technology proven to maintain firmness, texture and appearance of fruits during storage and transport. SmartFresh is currently commercialized in over 40 countries worldwide. Additionally the company has a number of different solutions and application technologies that have either been launched (Harvista, RipeLock, LandSpring) or will be launched in the future that will extend its footprint to other crops and steps of the global produce supply chain. For more information, please visit www.agrofresh.com.

Image Source: Produce Report