Problems & Solutions
What farms lose, and what we give back.
Fresh produce has only days to sell. Here's what that costs a grower, what our container changes, and what it's worth to a farm each season.
The problems
Farms lose money between harvest and sale.
~5 days
Fresh fruit spoils fast
A strawberry farm has about five days to sell its harvest before it goes bad.
15–25%
Farms lose product and price
Up to a quarter is lost in ordinary cold storage, and farms are forced to sell when prices are lowest.
$6.4M
Cold chain is costly to run
One California strawberry grower spends $6.4M a season ($2.14 a tray) on precool, handling & loading, and storage & cross docking.
Typical figures; they vary by crop. Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center, FAO, Kynetic grower interviews (2026), one grower's 2026 records.
Our solution
One unit: pre-cool, store, and transport.
CA / DULO technology
Lowers the oxygen around the produce and keeps it cold, so it ripens and decays more slowly. CA for sensitive crops like strawberries; DULO (dynamic ultra-low oxygen) for crops like apples and pears.
4 technologies in 1 to reduce operating cost
One unit replaces steps a grower pays for separately today:
- Precooling
- Storage at the farm
- Handling & loading
- Cross docking
Transportation
A standard shipping container, so produce can be trucked or shipped without unloading or breaking the atmosphere.
What it means for a farm
Up to $174K of value per container, every season.
$110K
Counted value per season
Cooler fee removed, plus better prices, less commission
$124K–174K
Including handling and transport
Adds cross-docking and the drive to an outside cooler
$2.76–4.36
Value per tray
On 40,000 trays a season
| Where the value comes from | Per tray | Per season |
|---|---|---|
| Outside cooler fee no longer paid (pre-cool, inspection, loading) | $0.55 | $22,000 |
| Better prices: sell in a stronger week instead of at harvest (15% on a $16 flat) | $2.40 | $96,000 |
| Less shipper commission on the higher price (8%) | −$0.19 | −$7,680 |
| Counted value | $2.76 | $110,320 |
| Cross-docking avoided | $0.08–0.10 | $3,200–4,000 |
| Truck trip to an outside cooler avoided | $0.25–1.50 | $10,000–60,000 |
| Including handling and transport | $3.09–4.36 | $123,520–174,320 |
Planning estimates, not results. Based on one California strawberry grower's costs (outside cooling at $0.50–0.60 a tray, consistent with UC Davis cost studies) and USDA shipping-point prices, where flats moved between about $4 and $20 in one district in a season. Assumes the unit pre-cools in the field and holds strawberries for 21 days; our 2027 pilot will measure both.
Want to see the numbers for your farm?
Tell us your crop and volume and we'll walk through the estimate with you.