AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (AgroFresh) operates as an agriculture technology (AgTech) innovator.
AgroFresh supports growers, packers and retailers with solutions across the food supply chain to enhance the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce. The AgroFresh organization has 40 years of post-harvest experience across a broad range of crops, including revolutionizing the apple industry with the SmartFresh Quality System more than 20 years ago. The AgroFresh platform is powered by the...
AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (AgroFresh) operates as an agriculture technology (AgTech) innovator.
AgroFresh supports growers, packers and retailers with solutions across the food supply chain to enhance the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce. The AgroFresh organization has 40 years of post-harvest experience across a broad range of crops, including revolutionizing the apple industry with the SmartFresh Quality System more than 20 years ago. The AgroFresh platform is powered by the company’s comprehensive portfolio that includes plant-based coatings, antimicrobials, digital solutions and proprietary solutions that help improve the freshness of fruit across the supply chain from harvest to the home.
AgroFresh’s market leadership is underpinned by the company’s global footprint, extensive applied scientific and regulatory expertise, customer intimacy and growing portfolio of value-added solutions and mission-critical advisory services. The company’s key products are sold in approximately 50 countries, and it supports customers by protecting an estimated 25,000 fruit storage rooms globally. In addition, the company provides in-depth plant physiology expertise and offer a comprehensive list of solutions spanning from near-harvest to post-harvest, and from storage through to retail. More importantly, AgroFresh has been able to gain a high level of trust from the company’s customers, which is built on four decades of interaction and support. The company’s direct market approach, full portfolio of solutions, high touch customer service and science-based model best position it to address its customers’ needs and differentiates it from other companies.
With the acquisition of rights in proprietary 1-MCP (1-Methlycycloproprene) technology, the company pioneered the development and commercialization of SmartFresh. This groundbreaking ethylene management solution is a plant-growth regulator that revolutionized the apple industry by allowing for long-term storage. By 2002, SmartFresh received its first registration for commercial use in Chile, with the U.S. following shortly thereafter. The benefits of this technology serve multiple crops in all key growing regions and have helped reduce apple waste by nearly 260,000 metric tons from 2002 to 2018 in the U.S., France and Italy alone. In the past several years, AgroFresh expanded beyond SmartFresh with the introduction of Harvista, a proprietary 1-MCP formulation used in the orchard for near-harvest application in pome fruit. Harvista helps to maximize peak ripening and fruit quality. It also allows for an expanded harvest window by keeping fruit on the tree longer to achieve optimal color, size and firmness bringing the added benefit of helping growers to optimize labor management. Harvista is approved for use in apples, pears, cherries, and blueberries. AgroFresh further expanded into new crops and post-harvest offerings with the 2017 acquisition of Tecnidex, integrated into AgroFresh as AgroFresh Fruit Protection S.A. (AgroFresh Fruit Protection), a leader in the citrus industry based in Valencia, Spain, which diversified the business into fungicides, coatings, and disinfectants. As a further step towards its long-term diversification strategy, the company launched its digital solution in 2018 with the release of FreshCloud, its quality insights and analytics platform.
AgroFresh’s portfolio of solutions to extend the shelf life of fresh produce is subject to extensive national, state and local government regulations. The company has completed more than 400 comprehensive international health and environmental tests that have shown its products, including SmartFresh and Harvista, to be safe for consumers, workers and the environment.
AgroFresh products have been approved by over 50 authorities, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission.
The company is an AgTech innovator in proprietary advanced technologies that enhance the freshness, quality and value of fresh produce. The company offers SmartFresh applications at customer sites through a direct service model utilizing third-party contractors. The company also provides advisory services based on its extensive knowledge on the use of 1-MCP collected through hundreds of thousands of monitored applications done as a part of the service model. The company operates in approximately 50 countries and derive most of its revenue working with customers to protect the value of apples, pears and other produce during storage. SmartFresh diversification efforts are focused on expanding use in underserved crops and regions, such as the U.S. and South America. Harvista is approved for sale in Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States and New Zealand. ActiMist was launched in the U.S. and in 2022 launched in Australia and the company is seeking to expand into other countries subject to regulatory approval. In support of its growth through diversification strategy, line extensions and new services are planned for introduction to seek to strengthen the company’s global position in post-harvest storage and to capitalize on adjacent growth opportunities in near-harvest markets.
1-MCP, the active ingredient in key solutions, such as SmartFresh, Harvista and Ethylbloc, is an ethylene action inhibitor with a proven ability to maintain freshness and extend the shelf life of fresh produce. The 1-MCP molecule is structurally close to ethylene, a naturally occurring plant hormone that occurs in certain fruits and vegetables. Ethylene helps produce grow and ripen, but it eventually causes over-ripening and spoilage. 1-MCP works by blocking the ethylene receptors in plant cells, which temporarily delays the ripening process, enabling the produce to better maintain the qualities associated with freshness.
Fruits and vegetables are classified as climacteric or non-climacteric, a term referring to the process of fruit maturation. Climacteric fruits can ripen after being picked and produce much more ethylene than non-climacteric fruits, which cannot ripen after harvest. The climacteric event is a stage of fruit ripening associated with higher ethylene production and changes in the fruit, including pigment changes and sugar release. The climacteric event marks the peak of edible ripeness, with fruits having the best taste and texture for consumption. The role of SmartFresh is to delay the onset of the climacteric stage until the product is ready for consumption. Apples, pears, kiwifruit, plums, persimmon, bananas, melons, peaches and tomatoes are examples of climacteric fruit. The company continues to evaluate the commercial value of 1-MCP with a range of other climacteric fruit.
AgroFresh extended its post-harvest leadership with the acquisition of AgroFresh Fruit Protection, a leading provider of fungicides, disinfectants and coatings primarily focused on the citrus market. For over 40 years, AgroFresh Fruit Protection has been helping fruit and vegetable producers offer clean, safe and high-quality products to customers in 18 countries with strength in the Mediterranean growing region. AgroFresh Fruit Protection helped to expand the company’s R&D capabilities and to enable it to leverage ActiMist, an innovative delivery system of foggable fungicides. The company’s fungicide and coatings offerings further diversify its revenue by expanding its ability to provide solutions and service to the citrus industry.
SmartFresh Value Proposition
The SmartFresh Quality System, the company’s flagship solution, preserves the texture, firmness, taste and appearance of produce during storage, transportation and retail display. Available in storage room and on-the-move application formats, the SmartFresh Quality System is the original, most recognizable post-harvest choice to maintain consumer-desired produce freshness and quality and reduce waste. It allows growers and packers to deliver just harvested freshness on a year-round basis and enables retailers to increase customer satisfaction with fresh, high-quality produce. An integral part of the SmartFresh value proposition is a direct service model providing customers with on-site applications of SmartFresh at their storage facilities together with mission-critical and value-added advisory services. AgroFresh Verified is the company’s proprietary analysis and reporting service that provides confirmation of a successful SmartFresh application in storage rooms.
The value of SmartFresh with any crop is determined by both the biological efficacy with that crop and the utility value the application delivers to the customer. The biological efficacy with apples is high; apples are sensitive to ethylene, and SmartFresh is effective at delaying ripening. In addition, SmartFresh brings high utility value by helping to keep apples fresh year-round despite their narrow harvest window, effectively extending the marketing window for growers and packers to monetize their crop. This has resulted in the widespread adoption of SmartFresh by apple growers and packers worldwide. The cost of SmartFresh translates into less than one cent per pound of apples in the United States, which is small relative to both the value of the crop and the importance of maintaining the quality of that crop during storage. Retail prices of apples in the U.S. typically range from $1.30-$4.50 per pound depending on the variety. The use of SmartFresh gives growers and packers the ability to store apples from one season to the next without losing their just picked quality characteristics.
Beneficial effects of SmartFresh have been proven across numerous apple varieties throughout the world. SmartFresh is also effective with other crops that are highly sensitive to ethylene, including pears, kiwifruit, plums, persimmons, avocados, melons, tomatoes, and broccoli, each of which requires a different application method and supply chain logistics beyond storage rooms. The company also offers a corresponding solution for flowers, marketed under the EthylBloc brand name through two strategic partners that have a strong position in the global flower market.
AgroFresh’s business historically has been highly seasonal, driven by the timing of apple and pear harvests in the northern and southern hemispheres. The first half of the year is when the southern hemisphere harvest occurs, and the second half of the year is when the northern hemisphere harvest occurs. Since the northern hemisphere harvest of the company’s two core crops of apples and pears is typically larger, a significant portion of its sales and profits are historically generated in the second half of the year. In addition to this seasonality, factors, such as weather patterns may impact the timing of the harvest within the two halves of the year. Crop diversification is an important strategy to achieve more balanced revenues across the year, and the ability to service the citrus segment provides an opportunity for the company to increase revenue in the fourth and first quarters, which are the two strongest quarters for citrus crops.
SmartFresh Service Model
The company has developed deep, trusted relationships with its customers by combining its effective SmartFresh product with application expertise and trusted advisory services. Over the past decade the company has amassed a valuable proprietary database of technical information on the best practices for the effective use of SmartFresh on a wide range of apple and pear varieties, since each fruit and fruit variety requires a different treatment protocol. The advisory services component utilizes this information to help maximize the profitability of the company’s customers’ operations.
Harvista
Complementing the company’s post-harvest solutions, Harvista is used for near-harvest management of apples, pears, cherries and blueberries. The company’s Harvista product line includes proprietary 1-MCP formulations that are specifically designed to slow ripening, reduce fruit drop and hold fruit on the tree longer to promote better color and fruit size, which are beneficial to the grower. With wide flexibility in application timing, it extends the harvest window by allowing growers to factor in ever-changing weather conditions and labor availability. The company has found that the combination of Harvista in the orchard and SmartFresh in the storage room results in improved fruit quality metrics compared to use of either product individually.
Harvista extends the ideal harvest window for up to an additional 14 days. This added flexibility creates significant benefits both in terms of harvest logistics and crop profitability. Widening the harvest window allows for better scheduling and the optimization of limited resources, such as harvest crews and equipment. Overall, crop value is enhanced by bigger average fruit size, better color and fewer defects.
The company offers Harvista through a pre-scheduled application service, including ground and/or aerial applications depending on the crop and growing region. Typically, the company’s technical staff designs the protocol in consultation with the customer, and either a third-party service provider or the customer makes the application.
Harvista is available in Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Ukraine, Turkey and the United States. In addition to apple and pear crops, Harvista has received approval for applications to cherries and blueberries in the U.S. and Chile. The company expects to pursue additional registrations and label expansions as new formulations and/or crop concepts are validated.
VitaFresh Botanicals
In 2021, the company launched VitaFresh Botanicals, which is a proprietary, plant-based portfolio of coatings solutions for a wide variety of crops, including citrus, avocados and mangoes. VitaFresh Botanicals utilize anti-thirst technology to boost the skin’s natural protection, creating a double skin” membrane in fruit that reduces dehydration, maintains weight and locks in produce freshness throughout the supply chain. The solutions are completely turnkey and easy-to-apply as part of regular packinghouse operations. AgroFresh provides customers with all the necessary application equipment and expertise.
VitaFresh Botanicals coatings are sustainably sourced and created using certified ISO 14001 environmental management system standards.
Fungicides, Coatings and Disinfectants
In addition to VitaFresh Botanicals, the company has a complete line of fungicide, coating and disinfectant solutions across various crops and application types.
ActiMist/ActiSeal
Antimicrobial technology is generally delivered by airborne or liquid systems, including drenching or tank. ActiMist is a thermo-fogged fungicide that works simultaneously with SmartFresh for convenience and enhanced storage room logistics. ActiSeal, a portfolio of liquid fungicides, offers broad-spectrum protection based on a full portfolio of active ingredients, and is delivered via drencher or tank. Together, these fungicides provide control of a broad spectrum of post-harvest diseases and help to protect against a wide range of fungal threats on pome, citrus and stone fruit.
Teycer Originals
Teycer Originals includes a full line of coatings to improve produce freshness, quality and appearance, increase shelf life and reduce food loss. These traditional edible coatings, including some with fungal protection, are used primarily for citrus, pome fruit and tropical fruit.
FreshStart
FreshStart is a full portfolio of biodegradable detergents and disinfectants for cleaning fruit and packaging equipment in packinghouses and reducing the threat of diseases during storage and transportation for citrus, pome fruit, stone fruit and other crops. They remove traces of sooty mold and other particles from the surface of the fruits, as well as help to improve the protection of fruit against most of the main post-harvest diseases. With formulations that include fungicide and fruit preservatives, they also help increase fruit shelf life. The FreshStart line of disinfectants are used on surfaces, boxes, bins and tools in the packinghouse and during transport. FreshStart fruit disinfectants have low impact on the environment as they degrade quickly without leaving residues. They also can help decrease contaminants in water treatment and recycling systems and help make water recycling. FreshStart surface disinfectants help keep packinghouses, rooms and processing equipment free of fungus. They are useful for water recycling systems, and they work as a complement to fungicides for optimal rot control.
Control-Tec
Control-Tec is a leading range of post-harvest systems and equipment for the application of antimicrobials, coatings, detergents and sustainable water management for packinghouses, packing lines and storage rooms. The Control-Tec portfolio also includes controlled-atmosphere solutions, including automated ripening and de-greening control.
FreshCloud
The company continues to evolve and expand its FreshCloud digital technology service platform of produce monitoring and screening solutions. FreshCloud Quality Inspection is a proprietary cloud-based mobile quality management service that digitizes what was formerly a manual quality control process to capture, organize and analyze quality metrics in real time. The service combines digital information from many different physical and digital sources and locations, including analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. This allows growers, packers, shippers and retailers to drive accuracy and consistency across their operations. FreshCloud Harvest View is an easy-to-use digital service that complements Harvista. FreshCloud Harvest View captures, organizes and presents fast and easy-to-access data insights on starch hydrolysis progression, thereby enabling growers to make timely decisions on when to apply Harvista, intended to maximize quality and yields for higher profit potential. FreshCloud Storage Insights combines proprietary technology and data analytics in the storage room to offer customers real-time insights into the condition of their stored fruit.
Marketing and Sales
The company's post-harvest business includes solutions designed to improve yields for growers and packers. These solutions include SmartFresh, Harvista, ActiMist, digital services platform FreshCloud and a large range of antimicrobials, disinfectants, coatings, and packinghouse equipment, marketed under the brands Actiseal, FreshStart, VitaFresh Botanicals, Teycer Originals and Control-Tec, respectively.
AgroFresh's global sales teams are organized geographically across the Europe/Middle East, North America, South America and Asia Pacific regions designed to drive growth and accelerate diversification.
The technical sales support group supports the sales team and runs customer-specific trials for local crop varieties or specialized storage and distribution conditions and conducts follow-up with customers. This team works closely with customers to provide advice on appropriate protocols for SmartFresh, Harvista and other product applications such as coatings and fungicides depending on crop, variety, region, and climatic conditions. The technical sales support group draws on the company’s extensive knowledge base of 1-MCP applications across all regions and conditions.
The marketing function is organized on a global and regional basis. This consists of corporate brand/image stewardship and regionally driven marketing management, including country-specific marketing strategies, plans and tactics to drive growth and customer penetration. Marketing personnel are embedded within the company’s operating regions to improve collaboration with local sales teams and customers and capitalize on business opportunities.
Intellectual Property
The company is a technology-based solutions provider and, as such, rely on a combination of important intellectual property strengths, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secret protection laws to protect its proprietary technology and intellectual property. In the normal course of business, the company provides access to its intellectual property and/or its products protected by its intellectual property to third parties through licensing or restricted use agreements.
A majority of the company’s SmartFresh applications use SmartFresh ProTabs, an application method patented through 2022. Harvista formulations are patent protected through at least 2027. The company continues to invest in application technologies as a means to provide its customers with the most relevant, convenient and effective solutions for their specific operations. The company’s portfolio of intellectual property totals more than 375 granted patents and patent applications in over 50 countries.
Research and Development Expenses
The company’s research and development expenses were $12.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Regulation and Compliance
The company is subject to extensive national, state and local government regulations, and the company has a regulatory team that is best in class, which leverages a global network of highly experienced regulatory consultants. Through this network, the company has successfully obtained registrations for SmartFresh, Harvista and LandSpring in every country where the review process has been completed, and the registration process for Harvista continues in many additional countries. The company has completed more than 400 comprehensive international health and environmental tests that have shown the AgroFresh family of products, including SmartFresh and Harvista, are safe for consumers, workers and the environment. 1-MCP, the active ingredient in many AgroFresh products, is metabolized by the natural processes in apples and other fruits and leaves no detectable residue when used according to the label instructions. The products have been approved by over 50 authorities including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission.
History
The company was founded in 1996. It was incorporated in 2013. The company was formerly known as Boulevard Acquisition Corp. and changed its name to AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. in 2015.
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