MIAMI, FL - Hazel Technologies is extending a helping hand to tropical fruit distributors with its latest USDA-funded post-harvest technology, Hazel®. In fact, a few distributors, including Frieda’s Specialty Produce, WP Produce, and Sweet Seasons, have already tested the technology and found that Hazel Technologies’ new solution helps extend shelf-life by five days, reduce shrink rates by up to 50 percent, and yield higher sales in leading categories, like “green-skin” avocado, dragon fruit, guava, passion fruit, and starfruit.

“Hazel Tech is fast and an easy-to-use solution for tropical fruit growers, packers, and retailers to maintain longer shelf life, reduce food waste, and increase category sales,” said Aidan Mouat, CEO of Hazel Technologies.

According to a press release, tropical fruits are especially challenging perishable items to maintain at peak quality, particularly when shipping the fruit long distances and cold-chain breaks are factored in. In order to prevent the decrease in sales and the higher amounts of food waste that often result because of these challenges, Hazel Technologies introduced Hazel, a quarter-sized biodegradable and food-safe packaging insert that is placed in fruit boxes during packing.

"Working with Hazel Tech´s easy-to-use solution allows us to consistently deliver high-quality tropicals,” said Allen DeMo, Director of Procurement and Sourcing at Frieda’s Specialty Produce, one of the largest distributors of tropical produce in the world.

Chris Gonzalez, Vice President at WP Produce, one of the largest tropical avocado distributors, added: “We’ve seen tremendous increases in the shelf life of our Desbry Tropical Avocados with Hazel’s active technology. We’ve received great feedback from retailers who appreciate the reduced shrink the additional 4-5 days of shelf life offers. This technology is especially useful in protecting our Tropical Avocados on longer transit times to Canada, the West Coast, and the Caribbean.”

Marina Bernal, Owner at Sweet Seasons Produce, one of the largest tropical fruit importers from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada, also added: “Sweet Seasons exports a large range of tropicals over long distances, and since we started working with Hazel, we have seen a 50 percent reduction in product shrink."

Researchers at universities like UC Davis and Cornell University have also validated the new Hazel technology.

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Hazel Technologies