Fruitnet

What does ‘managing your data better’ actually mean? For Nico Broersen Junior of Dutch startup AgriPlace, it can be something as simple as reducing the volume of emails you send and receive, or minimising the number of times you enter information into a spreadsheet. Even for tech-savvy people in the fruit and veg business, it can be hard to really understand what data management really involves in practice. But as Broersen warns in the latest episode of Fruitnet’s conversation series Fruitbox, fresh produce companies are storing up trouble for themselves by hoarding crucial information in “dangerously large spreadsheets”, “endless folders” and increasingly large email databases. “This makes it really hard to see what is going on in your supply chain, and also to identify risks,” he explains. “When a risk occurs – for example a producers loses its certification – you want to be able to see through which packhouses and suppliers a product has arrived, to avoid risk now or later on.” And with retailers askin