Major live trial confirms Sufresca coating keeps produce fresher, longer
Shelf life extended, weight loss reduced, in tests in Europe and Mexico
- Sufresca's tasteless, odorless, edible coatings can extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, cut food waste and packaging
- In live trial, tomatoes exported from Morocco by leading European distributor confirm Sufresca coating nearly doubles shelf life, reduces weight loss, enables more advanced ripening before picking of premium produce
- Coating delays weight loss, softening and decay in avocadoes, peppers in Mexico trials
- Potential customer becomes strategic investor
- Up to $5M SAFE; OurCrowd has $1.7M allocation at 20% discount
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Dear Josb,
Sufresca is an Israeli startup that has developed a novel, cost-effective, edible, natural, biodegradable coating for fruits and vegetables that is ultra-thin, transparent, tasteless, odorless and virtually undetectable to consumers. A major field trial with one of Europe's largest distributors confirmed that Sufresca's coatings applied to fresh produce extend shelf life, significantly reduce weight loss between harvest and store, and allow crops to be picked at a more advance ripening stage and still remain fresh long enough to satisfy retailers' demands for premium produce.
OurCrowd is investing in Sufresca's up to $5M SAFE. The details here are based on information received from, and verified solely, by the company.
Sufresca's coating is based on 15 years of research at the Hebrew University. It extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by up to several weeks, in cold, ambient and changing temperatures. The coating is made entirely of natural and biodegradable food additives.
Trial with major European distributor
In a field trial just concluded with a major European fresh produce distributor, a Sufresca coating was applied to some 900 red cherry and red baby plum tomatoes picked in Morocco. Half the crop was exported through normal channels to Europe, while the rest was stored in Morocco. A control batch of a similar number of each crop picked at the same time was similarly divided.
The results of this live trial, conducted by a third-party distributor, exceeded Sufresca's own expectations:
Shelf life extended: Compared to the uncoated control group, the shelf life of the exported Sufresca-coated tomatoes was extended to 23 days.
| Exported from Morocco to Europe | Stored in Morocco |
Weight loss cut by ~40%: Compared to the uncoated control group, the usual weight loss – which reduces producers' revenue based on weight at destination – was cut by up to ~40%, halving the revenue lost by the fall in weight between farm and retailer.
| Exported from Morocco to Europe at room temperature | Stored in Morocco at room temperature |
Saleability increased: Overall saleability of the exported produce after 23 days was maintained at up to 85% of the coated group compared to just 3% of the uncoated group.
Later harvest: Instead of picking the tomatoes when still green or a bit later, depending on the destination – the usual practice to extend freshness – the produce was picked at a more advanced stage of the ripening process, but not fully ripe. Even so, the tomatoes easily fulfilled the industry shelf-life requirement. This indicates that Sufresca's coating enables distributors to supply premium produce that stays longer on the vine without reducing shelf life.
Avocado and pepper trial with Mexican growers and exporters
Avocado weight loss halved: Trials in Michoacán, Mexico, source of 25% of global avocado production, showed avocadoes with Sufresca coating stored at 26oC lost only ~4.1% of their weight after 6 days, compared to ~8.2% among the control group.
Avocado lifetime extended: Untreated avocadoes in the Michoacán trials rotted and were unusable after 7 days. Only 9% of the Sufresca-coated produce had decayed beyond use by 7 days and 56% was still usable after 9 days.
Orange pepper weight loss and softening reduced: Untreated orange peppers, the most perishable of the bell pepper varieties, suffered 12.3% weight loss after 28 days while Sufresca-coated produce lost only 6.2%. 100% of untreated peppers had softened after 15 days, compared to only 20% of the coated produce. By day 28, 40% of the coated produce was still marketable.
Potential customer becomes strategic investor
Milouot Corp., a major Israeli agricultural export and marketing group, has become a strategic investor in this SAFE.
The round
OurCrowd has secured a $1.7M allocation in this up to $5M SAFE at a 20% discount with a $20M cap. Funds from this SAFE will be used to set up operational centers in Mexico and Spain, accelerate production capabilities, and scale up sales and marketing.
Meet the CEO
Watch an investor briefing with CEO Efrat Ferri and learn more about Sufresca.
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