Walmart pilot looks to reduce produce losses

Walmart is currently working alongside an agritech startup to pilot a creative solution to food waste, which will help bring better, fresher products to the customer while giving the retailer the ability to source fresh produce from totally new countries of origin. All this serves a greater goal: augmenting the supply chain and creating more sustainable alternatives for customers.

"A supply chain the size of Walmart’s is less linear than its name implies. It’s more similar to a web: Each connective point, each alternate route to the center, makes the web stronger," said Kyle Carlyle, vice president of sourcing and surety of supply for Walmart.

Comprising the web are people and products. Each new point strengthens the web, and progress relies on Walmart’s sourcing team, whose search for innovative approaches to supply chain improvements — and ultimately the customer experience — leads them to more than 100 countries around the world.

The aforementioned pilot is taking place in India. GreenPod Labs is based in the city of Chennai, where it’s asking an interesting question: How can we slow down the ripening of fruit in transit? The benefits here are wide-reaching. It extends the travel time in the supply chain, helping the produce stay fresh longer, and delivering a better product.

And GreenPod is succeeding in answering its own question.

GreenPod’s team is providing the sachets from India, which will be applied to mangos in Peru before shipping to the U.S. Upon arrival, Walmart will partner with the University of California Davis to evaluate efficacy in multiple environments.

“Working with a global player like Walmart revalidates the importance of our work in reducing fruits and vegetables post-harvest losses and quality degradation,” said Deepak Rajmohan, CEO of GreenPod Labs. “It’s been a great learning experience to interact with the sourcing and innovation team to understand the current challenges.”