November December 2024 - 8

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
relevancy, " said Mithun Shrivastava, consumer and market
researcher at Vineland. " At the same time, it's not just
about gathering the data but also about using that data to
generate insights and to help with decision-making. "
Roadmapping is one tool that is useful in identifying
opportunities and challenges and providing focus for a
path forward, whether for an individual business looking
to enter a new market or an industry organization seeking
labor solutions.
The Vineland team worked with Berry Growers of
Ontario, an organization representing the province's
blueberry, raspberry and strawberry producers, to develop
a technology roadmap for the sector and help address
growing labor shortages.
The report identified that while automated transplanting
and harvesting equipment solutions are emerging rapidly
for berry production, they're not yet a viable option for the
small- to medium-scale farm operations making up most
of the Ontario berry industry.
Alternatively, transitioning to tabletop strawberry
production and growing long-cane raspberries were found
to be two solutions that growers could adopt more rapidly
and easily in not just addressing labor challenges but also
improving berry quality and increasing market yield.
" It's really key to not just understand what the problems
are, but also to very thoroughly evaluate the technology
solutions that are available to determine what stage
they're at and whether they're commercially ready to
be implemented, " explained Alexandra Grygorczyk,
research scientist in sensory and consumer services at
Vineland. " Figuring out whether their capabilities meet the
industry's needs becomes really critical. "
Next to labor, reducing food waste and finding new
ways to convert produce waste streams to value-added
products is another big challenge that food producers are
increasingly grappling with.
Not only are there environmental and climate impacts
to food waste, there are also economic costs that have the
potential to make a significant difference to a company's
bottom line if they can be reduced.
However, sometimes what is a challenge can become an
opportunity - and finding the best and most profitable
opportunities for waste reduction and repurposing
byproducts isn't always easy in the horticultural sector
with its large crop diversity.
That's where opportunity mapping can come into play,
using market intelligence to find gaps in the current
market and determine how businesses can potentially fill
those gaps.
Grygorczyk said this includes identifying the potential
uses for different waste streams, looking at what type
of technology exists or can be developed for their
conversion and how the repurposed material performs in
a real product from a consumer, sensory, biochemical or
business standpoint.
Vineland has completed a research project to look at
untapped waste streams with repurposing potential in the
seven most-produced Canadian fruit and vegetable crops:
potatoes, apples, field tomatoes, greenhouse tomatoes
and cucumbers, onions and carrots.
Because of a strong processing market industry,
The consumer, sensory and
market insights team met at
Vineland Research and Innovation
Centre to discuss its approach to
improve the economic viability,
sustainability and competitiveness
of horticulture in Canada.
relatively few fresh carrots, potatoes, onions, field
tomatoes and apples that can't be sold on the fresh
market end up being wasted.
By comparison, there are no
further processing opportunities for
greenhouse vegetables, so tomatoes
and cucumbers that are edible but
don't meet fresh market or foodservice
specifications end up in landfills. In
Leamington, Ontario, the greenhouse
capital of North America, approximately
15 million pounds of edible tomato and
12 million pounds of cucumber gradeouts
are discarded annually.
The processing sector also
Photos courtesy of
Vineland Research and
Innovation Centre.
8 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024 GPNMAG.COM
generates large volumes of
unavoidable waste in the form of
peels, cores or pomace (what is left of
fruit after juice production), much of
which currently also goes into landfills
or animal feed.
The report showed that apple
pomace, for example, has the
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November December 2024

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