If what CNN says is true about the supply chain breaking in terms of meat production, then we might want to have a look at temporarily going vegetarian. We have effectively reached the end times. We’ve gone full dystopia.
“Pass the tofu,” said no one. Ever.
But one person’s misfortune is another person’s opportunity.
Take AgroFresh Solutions (AGFS.Q), for example. They have increased the range of their SmartFresh supply-chain tech solution to include a wider range of crops, including avocados, broccoli, melons, tomatoes, mango and stone fruit. So if we’re suffering through a drastic meat shortage, we’ll have an abundance of delicious melons, bananas and avocados to get us through.
And, you know, maybe tofu. If you bake it, and marinade it—no. It still tastes like plastic. Sorry vegetarians.
Regardless, SmartFresh handles the freshness supply chain of apples and pears, and has only recently extended its reach to include bananas. Now SmartFresh is available for use with the largest amounts of crops, across the widest range of application environments and with the most extensive geography since it was launched in 2002.
“SmartFresh is an industry-trusted solution that helps to preserve the texture, firmness, taste and appearance of produce during storage, transportation and retail display. For years, our global customers have relied on SmartFresh for support in managing an ever-increasing number of crops. Now, customers are also reporting excellent ready-to-eat produce freshness results, especially with avocados and melons, and are excited about leveraging new business opportunities.” said AgroFresh director of business diversification, Narciso Vivot.
AgroFresh Solutions is a different kind of tech company.
They provide science-based solutions, data driven technologies and services to improve the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce. They’ve been doing this for 20 years, working to produce new innovative solutions in variety of fresh produce categories from bananas to cherries and citrus to pears. They support growers, packers and retailers by providing near and post harvest solutions to preserve crops while doing the work to conserve the planet’s resources and reducing food waste.
It takes anywhere from three to four weeks for a banana to get from the countries where they’re harvested—usually Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama, if you’re curious—to your local grocery store. They kept cold in various stages for transport, but there’s no stopping entropy. So if you’ve wondered why it seems like they’re ripe within days or even hours of them showing up in your house, that’s why.
SmartFresh benefits include:
- Ready-to-Eat Freshness. Delays the ripening process to protect just-picked freshness and quality for consumers.
- Ripening Management. Supports post-harvest ripening and conditioning protocols in various supply chain stages.
- Fruit Quality. Reduces weight loss and disorders to achieve a bigger packout. Helps protect fruit skin, which is fruit’s natural protective barrier.
- Storage. Extends the storage window to improve inventory flexibility.
- New Business Opportunities. Supports business opportunities in distant geographic markets.
- Consumer Appeal. Optimizes yellow banana color.
- Sustainability & Food Waste Reduction. Enables fresher fruit through the supply chain, which decreases food waste.
- Effective on Wide Range of Crops. Effective with many crops, for example: pome fruit, avocado, banana, melon, tomato, broccoli, mango, peach, nectarine, plum, persimmon, kiwifruit, lime and watermelon.
Now growers, packers and retailers can use SmartFresh to manage ripening during the journey from the field to the consumer, ultimately helping to preserve desired taste and texture. So maybe your avocados and bananas might not rot as fast in your house if their journey is adequately tracked from orchard to the little bowl above the fridge where you keep such things.
As for meat becoming somehow scarce due to closed plants and a broken supply chain—it’s a multi-billion dollar industry servicing the continuing health needs in two of the richest countries in the world—there’s no way that our elected bodies are going to let that stand. Not even Trump is that stupid.
—Joseph Morton