NEW YORK, NY - As we reported recently, the food industry forecasting developer, Crisp, recently made its signature software platform available to retailers, distributors, and food industry suppliers. The platform went through extensive beta testing, during which Crisp customers could test the technology. To get a better sense of how this will impact our industry, I spoke with Are Traasdahl, Co-Founder and CEO, and Trevor Hough, Vice President of Products.

“We’ve had some really encouraging feedback. We’re focused on the reduction of waste and the increase of revenue, all while reducing the time it takes to accomplish both,” said Are. “Nounós Creamery said waste dropped by about 80 percent and reduced the out of stock by 10 percent and that almost directly transfers in people’s revenue. We’re seeing that across the board from other customers as well, showing that we’ve had some real impact on these numbers. This speaks to the trends we are seeing in produce and expecting on this side of the fresh sector as well.”

While this innovative platform can be beneficial to all operators in the industry, whether you are buy- or supply-side, I was curious to find out who has shown the most interest in this technology. Are said that everybody is benefiting from this technology, but it’s particularly taking off in the fresh category.

“It truly is an interconnected industry where everybody is dependent on each other. The platform allows for one set of truths across multiple internal departments and companies, as well as the information exchange between companies,” he explained. “It all leads toward an extremely accurate, real-time updated forecast, so everybody can take the actions that they need.”

As we all know, you can’t get the good without getting some of the bad. Only, in Crisp’s case, the bad is simply another challenge that this innovative team is working its way past. According to Trevor, the incredible technology has practically solved this challenge itself.

“It’s unfamiliar and uncharted territory. Our goal from the beginning has always been to make this approachable and easy to use for somebody who doesn’t understand technology. We are giving them the tools to excel with the technology that we know will ultimately help them be successful,” said Trevor. “From a product principles perspective, our goal is to not overwhelm the customer but to make it so that they can get set up and running without an expensive IT project. They can start for free and get up and running in less than 30 to 60 minutes.”

He continued, “We have this internal M.O., which is if you can send an email, you can use Crisp technology. All accounting software and ERPs have the ability to export reports and automate them from an email perspective—we just ingest the email reports and that’s all it takes to get set up with Crisp. Our forecasting platform is so fast that within about 60 seconds we start delivering all of the forecasts for a customer. Then they immediately get value out of the platform because they can see the forecast and start comparing it to what they’re doing today.”

What more will we see from the brilliant minds over at Crisp? We can’t say quite yet, but one thing is for sure: The company’s newly-available software platform will change the way we operate in the fresh produce industry. Follow along with us at AndNowUKnow as we observe this catalyst for change.

Crisp