SANTA BARBARA, CA - Tempering some of our industry’s biggest problems is a feat that calls for all hands on deck. One company stepping up to alleviate food waste and freshness challenges that retailers face is Apeel Sciences, who is marrying nature with technology to save retailers’ bottom line and product quality.

Following the success of its avocado launch, Apeel Sciences is taking the natural next step and diving into the citrus category to improve the diversity of fruit offerings on store shelves and consumers’ kitchen counters. I chatted with James Rogers, PhD., Founder, Science Director, and CEO, to learn more about this exciting new product.

“We received such a remarkable response from our retail partners after launching our avocado product that we wanted to create an awe-inspiring experience in the citrus category as well. With this development, we have ensured citrus can last three times longer than before and will now have a 15-week-long shelf-life. As a result, we anticipate folks bringing a wide variety of citrus into their homes with less concern for perishability and quality and more of an appreciation for the attributes many look for when purchasing citrus, like nutrient and flavor profiles and the genetic diversity of specialty citrus offerings,” James explained.

Apeel’s new citrus product not only improves shelf-life by maintaining internal and external quality, but also reduces shrinkage and the amount of water loss in citrus by up to 70 percent.

The name Apeel comes from the idea that fruit with a peel already has a much longer shelf-life than fruit without a peel, and Apeel is extending its efforts to add a formulation on top of the natural peel in order to dramatically improve shelf-life and shift the abundance of product out of grocery stores and into consumers’ homes. This will help increase people’s overall exposure to and consumption of fresh produce.

“The key here is that we’re not going into a lab and making up new modules that nature has never seen before. Instead, we’re going to the environment. We’re isolating and extracting and coming up with formulations that use food to preserve food. Nature working with nature is the grounds on which we’re standing as we continue to build our business,” James shared with me.

James noted that Apeel’s new citrus product is an especially useful tool for those growing organics because the technology is so new and capable of upping the stakes across the board for what it means to offer organic citrus and engage in sustainable growing practices.

In partnership with Costco and Harps Food Stores, Apeel Sciences is bringing new life to all of our favorite citrus varieties, including limes, lemons, mandarins, grapefruit, oranges, and more, and in an innovative way that is sure to be appreciated across our industry.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to keep our eyes peeled for more developments from those pushing our industry into the future.

Apeel Sciences