CHICAGO, IL – Hazel Technologies Inc., a USDA-funded technology company delivering new solutions for the fresh produce industry to extend shelf-life, increase sales, and fight food waste, announces a partnership with Miami, Florida-based tropical produce company Fruits n’ Rootz.
Founded in 2018, Fruits n’ Rootz specializes in the shipment of rare and exotic tropical produce items directly to consumers. Offerings include a wide variety of fresh tropical fruits such as soursop, mamey, cherimoya, and specialty banana varieties. Consumer interest in tropical fruit online delivery has skyrocketed in 2020 in the wake of COVID-19: This year Fruits n’ Rootz has reached over half a million Instagram followers and ships 20,000 boxes per month across the United States and Canada.
One persistent challenge with shipping tropical fruit long distances is the extremely high level of perishability. Fruits like soursop frequently have a shelf life of less than 7 days. For Fruits n’ Rootz, spoiled fruit was adding up, resulting in not only lower sales, but also lower social impact: A fraction of the sales for each fruit box is donated to support hungry children in Africa through iheartAfrica, a charity driven by a social mission to improve the livelihoods of men, women and children in the Democtractic Republic of Congo, Jamaica and Ghana.
Following the implementation of Hazel Tech® in 2020, shrink levels have decreased for Fruits n’ Roots. “Since incorporating Hazel into our tropical fruit boxes, we have observed approximately 40% lower quality complaints from customers,” said Krystal Pitt, Co-Founder and CEO of Fruits n’ Rootz. “Hazel not only allows us to reach more consumers with quality fruit, but also give back to communities in need more generously.”
“Food waste is one of the largest social issues facing the world today,” said Aidan Mouat, CEO, Hazel Technologies, “Our goals at Hazel are to not only support our partners like Fruits n’ Rootz in their efforts to fight world hunger, but also to provide our waste-reducing technologies across the globe.”
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About Hazel Technologies, Inc.:
Hazel Technologies is a USDA-funded startup company that develops new solutions to extend the quality shelf life of fresh produce and reduce food waste. Founded in 2015, Hazel Tech® services over 150 of the world’s largest fresh produce packers, shippers, and retailers. Selected as a Finalist for Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas and winner of “Best Sustainable Packaging”; at the 2020 World Food Innovation Awards, the company’s patent-pending technologies have been tested by top academic research programs including UC Davis, Cornell University, and Oregon State University. In 2020, Hazel is on track to be used with over 3.2 billion pounds of fresh produce, preventing more than 270 million pounds from going to waste.
For more information, visit www.hazeltechnologies.com.
About Fruits n’ Rootz:
Founded in 2018, Fruits n’ Rootz’ mission is to spread knowledge on healing and well being through the variety of direct-to-consumer fruit boxes that we offer. Our goal is getting the best quality tropical fruits to you. Purchasing a box of fruit here allows us to provide fruit for hungry children in Africa. By choosing to support us, you’re supporting children in the orphanages that iheartAfrica.org supports.
For more information, visit www.fruitsnrootz.com, follow them on Instagram @fruitsnrootz, or Facebook @Fruits N Rootz.
