Post-harvest solutions specialist is expanding its Produce Wash to tackle items including blueberries, cantaloupe melons and pineapples
Food Freshly has introduced two projects for 2026, developed to combat avoidable losses in melons, blueberries, pineapples and other fruits, and provide wider efficacy testing services based on customer needs for fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.
The first project is an expansion of the new Food Freshly Produce Wash, a solution launched at last year’s Fruit Logistica that tackles food safety and log-reduction.
Produce Wash has now increased in scope in response to customer demand to include berries, pineapples, Cantaloupe melons and root vegetables, the group confirmed.
The second announcement is the introduction of new, laboratory-based testing services for fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, which are available to test the efficacy of any post-harvest solutions and products, not just those supplied by Food Freshly.
Using newly-inaugurated, ”extremely comprehensive” laboratory facilities, the Food Freshly team is able to examine how different products and varieties react to post harvest treatments, packaging, and sanitation processes.
“We’re expanding into every possible area that may be of benefit to our customers,” explained Benjamin Singh, CEO/CSO at Food Freshly.
”An example is the Produce Wash, where we have worked on it to be able to treat very difficult items, such as blueberries, cantaloupe melons and pineapples.
“We have been working with growers and processors to find out what fruits have been causing them issues and we found that berries were a key area where they needed assistance,” he said.
”People buy them at the supermarket and a couple of days’ later, they are full of mould – the industry has struggled with that.”
The Produce Wash brings together two washes for the first time that the group said ”perfectly complement” each other, preserving and protecting product quality and integrity in the process.
“While one wash will effectively remove potentially harmful bacteria, yeast and mould, the second will enable companies to take advantage of Food Freshly’s proven expertise in shelf-life extension,” it noted.
Instead of relying on washing with chemicals, such as chlorine and peracetic acid which are not permitted in some countries, the Produce Wash uses only food-grade materials authorised by EU legislation and US FDA (GRAS).
Another area where Food Freshly is helping with the Produce Wash is with root vegetables.
“We grow carrots in the earth, which is full of bacteria, yield and mould, and washing with water doesn’t always do the job of cleaning them properly,” explained Singh.
“There’s also a legal limit on the use of chemical applications; that’s not the case with the Produce Wash, which makes use of food ingredients that are approved worldwide.”
It is currently carrying out trials of the Produce Wash with customers in Spain, the Netherlands and the UK.
Food freshly is also expanding the scope of its postharvest testing facilities to include those sourced from other supplies, as well as Food Freshly itself.
“We can cover any application that a customer may ask for and can build up a complete picture telling us what the product looks like, what level of microbial ground contamination it has received, and how different post-harvest treatments will affect the shelf-life and organoleptic qualities,” said Singh.
”We are able to answer a lot of questions that customers may have.
”Dedicated specifically to fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, our service is able to address multiple questions simultaneously that, to the best of our knowledge, no comparable service currently offers,” he added.
”This includes for example how fresh-cut products respond to Modified Atmosphere Packaging in combination with different sanitation treatments, supported by comprehensive microbiological and organoleptic testing.”
