Dyson will test LiVA’s prebiotic bio-protection technology during the 2026 winter British strawberry season
Israeli startup LiVA Biotechnology and Dyson Farming have announced a commercial-scale pilot of LiVA’s prebiotic bio-protection technology in partnership with one of the leading retailers in the UK. The move follows the successful completion of a trial conducted in winter 2025/26 across Dyson Farming’s premium British strawberry operation.
According to the biotech company, the trial programme demonstrated that LiVA-treated strawberries maintained Dyson Farming’s premium quality standard through every stage of the supply chain – from field dispatch through retail arrival and into the consumer’s home.
“Within two days of reaching the shelf, LiVA-treated fruit avoided the markdowns that typically erode grower returns as fruit begins to deteriorate – significantly reducing the food waste and delivering more premium British berries to the market,” LiVA said.
By day six post-harvest, LiVA-treated punnets delivered twice the proportion of harvest-fresh fruit compared to untreated controls, preserving the eating experience that Dyson Farming’s growing standards are built to deliver.
Oskar Szymanski, senior technical manager at Dyson Farming, commented: “Strawberries are inherently delicate, making traditional picking and packing heavily reliant on manual handling. Our focus is shifting toward robotic harvesting and advanced automation to reduce this dependency, improving consistency, efficiency, and handling precision across the supply chain.
“However, even with highly controlled growing conditions and automated systems, minor surface bruising remains almost unavoidable. Historically, this has required slowing production lines to allow for manual re-inspection – impacting output and increasing the food waste.
“With the integration of LiVA alongside automated processes, we can introduce a new level of confidence. Robotics and automation will eventually enable faster, more consistent handling, while LiVA provides an added layer of protection at the fruit level. This combination significantly reduces the need for intervention, maintains packing line efficiency, and – critically – helps prevent the food waste significantly.”
Dyson said the result has a dual benefit: preserving product quality through automation and actively reducing food waste by extending the resilience of the fruit, even where minor bruising to the berry surface may occur. Importantly, this is achieved using a natural, pre-biotic solution rather than chemical treatments – supporting both sustainability goals and consumer expectations.
How it works
LiVA’s patented prebiotic formulation activates the beneficial microbiome already present on the fruit’s surface – outcompeting spoilage organisms, suppressing humidity-mediated decay, and stabilising the fruit through the physical stresses of modern logistics. The format is a drop-in sticker, which eventually will move into in printed solution applied at packing, requiring zero capital expenditure and no major changes to existing packing process. It is fully compatible with Dyson Farming’s premium, low-intervention growing practices.
Ifat Peled Dinstag, CEO and co-founder of LiVA Biotechnology, said: “Dyson Farming is exactly the kind of partner you want when you are bringing a new technology to market. They combine world-class growing standards with a genuine commitment to testing what works – and a willingness to back innovation that serves their long-term vision.
“LiVA is designed to complement that approach: to make it possible to produce more, maintain the highest standards, and never compromise on taste or quality. The UK is a market that takes both premium produce and sustainability seriously, and this collaboration reflects that.”
Commercial pilot
The commercial pilot will run across Dyson Farming’s strawberry operation during the 2026 British winter strawberry season. Further details on scale and scope will be announced in due course.
LiVA currently operates active pilots across five markets and four continents, spanning strawberries and bell peppers. The UK represents a strategic priority market for LiVA — a country where high-quality growing practices, retailer standards, and sustainability ambition are setting the pace for the global fresh produce industry.
