CHICAGO, IL - Our industry's category is self-explanatory—we truly supply the freshest food on the market. This torch, though bright, comes with a specific set of challenges, which industry innovators like Hazel Technologies are navigating with style. The esteemed food waste fighter recently announced a successful table grape export campaign with Campos Borquez, premier fourth-generation grower of Mexican fresh table grapes. In related research, Hazel Tech announced the results of a new study titled Effect of the Use of the Hazel™ Grape Sachet on Table Grape by the Institute of Agricultural Research in Chile (INIA).

“In 2019, grapes were the fourth most popular fruit in the U.S. At Hazel, we are intensely focused on providing technologies to prevent food waste in the largest produce categories, and thus reduce even more waste,” said Aidan Mouat, CEO, Hazel Technologies.

Rodrigo Torres, Vice President of Sales at Campos Borquez, said of the partnership, “Our grape arrivals in Asia with Hazel Tech displayed improved stem turgidity and appearance compared to control fruit without Hazel. Campos Borquez has always been at the forefront of innovation in the table grape category. Using Hazel Tech’s USDA-funded technology allows us to provide the highest quality grapes imaginable across the world while also reducing food waste and our carbon footprint.”

While Campos Borquez focused on the use of Hazel™ for grape packaging with Early Sweet green seedless table grapes, INIA research studied the use of Hazel for Grape sachets with Autumn Royal and Red Globe varieties.

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According to a press release, fruit sent to Asia arrived in approximately 21 days, whereas fruit held in cold storage at INIA was periodically evaluated for a period of up to 60 days for qualities such as level of stem dehydration.

“In the INIA trial, rachis from clusters treated with [Hazel] sachets showed less dehydration than the clusters from untreated fruit. After 30 days of storage, the fruit treated with [Hazel] retained more stem moisture than the control, this was also observed after 60 days of storage,” commented Natalia Param Agurto, Post-Harvest Manager at Hazel Technologies, who joined the company in 2019 and was previously a post-harvest produce researcher at Universidad Católica de Chile.

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