| Project Detail |
The demand of fresh fruits and vegetables is increasing gradually. However, fresh fruit and vegetables are perishable products whose freshness is difficult to maintain along the supply chain. There is a need for reduction of post-harvest food loss by increasing the efficiency of the whole food chain, as one of the first means to fight imbalances and reduce tensions between the increase in food consumption and the challenging increase in food production. At the same time, primary producers are facing the challenge of reducing the use of chemicals to comply with ever stricter regulations. Therefore, there is a market need for 100% organic solutions to increase the shelf life of fresh products and reduce food waste.
Among the existing solutions, edible coatings are the most promising to prevent vegetable food-loss and extend vegetable shelf life. However, there are very few solutions free of synthetic additives and suitable for the organic market.
To contribute to solve this challenge, we aim to bring to the market our in-house developed product: ALOEco – a 100% organic, effective, safe and sustainable Aloe vera-based post-harvest edible coating. ALOEco extends a 40% the shelf life of vegetables, reducing by 100% the need for post-harvest fungicides, also reducing the energetic requirements for post-harvest conservation, the residue levels on fresh vegetables and the need for synthetic packaging. Our initial sales forecast shows potential cumulative revenues of 12.1 M€ thanks to sales of 4,000 m3 of ALOEco in Europe.
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