AgroShelf

Project "AgroShelf" data sheet

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 Partnership

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 Project objective

Today up to a third of all food produced—and almost the 50% of fruits and vegetables (F&V)—perishes before being used with a consequent economic and environmental cost of $1.7 trillion. Somewhere between the 20% and 40% of F&V are lost at postharvest stages, during handling, storage and distribution. Among causes, food spoilage due to fungal pathogens such as molds leads to substantial food waste and an estimated $100 billion of economic losses for producers, retailers and consumers. Traditional control of fungal infection relies on preharvest (field) application of synthetic fungicides, but their use is being progressively banned and efficient natural alternatives are lacking on the market. Moving from this scenario, AgroSustain has identified and patented more than 60 antifungal plant-derived compounds, getting to the formula of a new generation of highly-efficient and cost-effective natural fungicides. Our first product, AgroShelf, shows an unprecedented fungitoxic efficacy against a wide range of mainly spread fungi, thus preventing postharvest fruit spoilage and extending the F&V shelf-life by a minimum of 7 days. This will allow food retailers and distributors using AgroShelf to greatly reduce their food loss costs and improving food quality for consumers. Starting with Switzerland in 2020, AgroSustain plans to expand sales to other EU countries (France, UK and Germany). During this Ph1 project we will optimize the product formulation in order to stress the AgroShelf performances targeting specific crops. We will also go through the first round of toxicity tests requested for the certification and regulative approval pathway. A cost-benefit analysis and a deeper market research will also consolidate our pricing strategy and business model. This will pave the way for the pilot test with large retailers in the Phase 2 project.