It is not news that Covid-19 has affected almost every industry around the world from fruits and vegetables to air transportation. However, what is in fact news is how due to the closure of schools, restaurants and in some countries, even supermarkets we have seen a disruption of connecting farmers to supermarkets. This has exposed issues the fruits and vegetables industry has in their supply chain, which are causing a significant increase in food loss.
Producers who used to sell their products to schools, cafes and restaurants were confronted with having to shift to sell direct to consumer, or find other channels. This meant investing in shipping and packaging which more often than not was not profitable and caused them to throw away or donate food instead of losing money by selling below the market price.
Due to these arising new problems growers are being compelled to innovate and find new ways to achieve the digitization of the fruits and vegetables industry in order to satisfy the needs of their consumers. This has led to them partnering with already established delivery applications and platforms that are enabling their communication and sale of produce to be digitized and more efficient.
The Covid-19 pandemic, besides causing the closure of establishments like restaurants and schools, caused the closure of entire countries and their borders. This, of course, caused countries who depend on imports of fruits and vegetables from abroad to really evaluate their situation. One of them being the Emirates, more specifically Abu Dhabi and Dubai, who have decided to invest in indoor farming since 80% of their food is imported. Indoor Farming offers multiple benefits for the country, one of them being able to recycle 95% of the water used.
The digitization of the fruits and vegetables industry is seeing an increase of investment in technology and in ways to digitize all of their supply chain. Covid-19 gave this industry new opportunities to digitize and take advantage of new technologies. Good news: the sky’s the limit.
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