Introducing Fruitspot – A Faster, Real-Time Platform To Trade Fresh Products

NEW YORK ? Set to make its worldwide debut April 1, 2016 is Fruitspot.com, a faster, intuitive platform for commercial buyers and sellers of fruits, vegetables and flowers to connect and trade. Fruitspot is a large community of verified buyers and sellers of fresh products, a unique matchmaking platform, and an on-demand support and troubleshooting service.

More than just a marketplace, Fruitspot combines its unique platform with a full set of on-demand troubleshooting services for its users, including support with certifications, permits, logistics, quality assurance, claims, and overall assistance.

Fruitspot will be available starting on April 1 in over 100 countries.

“We've designed Fruitspot to quickly solve urgent needs, frequently caused by production that is over or under annual contracts between commercial buyers and sellers,” said Jose Baptista, Fruitspot’s CEO. “In under two minutes, our users can notify a large and verified community of buyers or sellers, and receive a response that solves their need faster than anywhere else. This makes our platform uniquely valuable to trade in the spot market, and to diversify by trying out new suppliers or buyers.”

“Fruitspot enables our users to grow and access new markets, enjoy more and better options, and trade in a more transparent market. We also believe our platform is a great solution to reduce food waste caused by market inefficiencies,” added Eduardo Bozzolo, Country Manager in Chile.

Unique platform design

Fruitspot is a revolutionary online platform that specializes on speed and availability. It’s designed to save time and effort for users, by breaking down the amount of information and forms to fill. In less than two minutes, users can notify a large base of verified buyers or sellers (depending on what they’re looking for).

Fruitspot has flipped the marketplace model on its head to make it easier and faster for users – instead of searching through hundreds of postings, users simply notify either buyers or sellers and receive responses from those that are interested. This fundamental difference allows the platform to ensure products are actually available, rather than providing outdated postings of products that might not be available anymore – typical in traditional B2B marketplaces.

The platform also boasts a unique inbox design, where users can easily monitor their orders in one intuitive dashboard, compare offers side-by-side, and negotiate terms and details with their counterparts using chat, email, or telephone – Fruitspot is transparent in providing contact information.

Reliable, verified buyers and sellers

Commercial buyers and sellers of fresh products now have an incredible way to connect with less effort and faster. Fruitspot has built a community of over 40,000 commercial buyers and sellers of fresh products in over 50 countries. Each and every user is verified before their first transaction, in order to make sure they are reliable and qualified.

Fruitspot makes sure its users have access to the most reliable buyers and sellers in the world, from the largest supermarkets and producers in the world, to local and specialized partners. Users are able to connect and interact faster, compare and select among more and better options, negotiate terms and conditions, and place orders online.

Every user has a rating on Fruitspot – users rate each other once they complete an order, and also when products have been delivered. Fruitspot’s Support Team actively monitors ratings and reviews, in order to make sure its active users are always the best and most reliable. The Team even moderates access and works on improvement plans for users that need help.

Ultimate support, on-demand

Fruitspot is more than just a marketplace – The platform is integrated with world-class support and troubleshooting services, on-demand through email, chat, or telephone whenever users need help. With the right connections and expertise, Fruitspot’s Support Team helps resolve questions and issues related to certifications, permits, logistics, quality assurance, claims, among other.

Fruitspot has also solved an eternal problem in B2B marketplaces – slow responses or even no responses at all. Any time an order (i.e., notification) is posted by a user, Fruitspot's Support Team proactively monitors its progress and follows-up to make sure every order has a response within a few hours.

Safer trading

Fruitspot never touches any payments made from buyers to sellers – payments are more secure when buyers send their payments directly to sellers. However, buyers and sellers can print or save back-up documentation to support their agreement and negotiation – Fruitspot not only provides a

full account of negotiations that happen through the platform, but also provides purchase orders once an agreement is in place.

Fruitspot also provides access to Trade Credit Insurance, in order to enable sellers to become more competitive by offering credit to buyers, while making sure that they get paid.

Pricing & Availability

Fruitspot is free to join and free to use. Starting on April 1 2016, commercial buyers and sellers of fresh products are invited to complete their first transaction for free. After this trial period, Fruitspot will only charge a small service fee for providing users with a large community of verified buyers and sellers, a unique matchmaking platform, and on-demand support and troubleshooting service. The service fee will only be charged once a trade is satisfactorily completed, and is currently set at $250 per container, with discounts available upon request.

Leadership

Jose Baptista, CEO and Founder

Jose is a business and marketing strategy executive, with more than 15 years of experience building digital businesses, managing product and service brands, and leading organizations to identify and pursue business opportunities worth +$2 billion.

Mr. Baptista has worked as a business and digital strategy advisor for brands such as Google, Nike, Diageo, FX Networks, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, American Express, Procter & Gamble, and The Clinton Foundation.

Prior to Fruitspot, Jose was Director of Business Strategy at Hugeinc.com (an IPG company), Booz & Co., and worked in supply chain / procurement at Procter & Gamble, and The Clinton Foundation.

Jose has had a close connection to agriculture throughout his life. He started working at his family’s farms in Costa Rica at age 8, until he returned to New York to pursue his MBA in Strategy, Marketing, and Leadership and Change Management at NYU Stern. More information at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baptistajose

Source: Fruitspot