Majority of Produce Stakeholders Say Weather Unpredictability and Input Costs are Negatively Impacting Business Worse Than Last Year

Second Annual ProducePay Survey Reveals that Commodity Pricing Volatility Affects 83% of Produce Growers, Suppliers and Buyers; Over Half of Growers Struggle with Business Stability

LOS ANGELES, October 16, 2023 – ProducePay, the agtech company on a mission to transform the global fresh produce industry into a more predictable, connected and sustainable supply chain, today released findings of an industry-wide survey that explored business stability for produce stakeholders, including growers, packers, distributors, integrated suppliers, and end buyers in the United States and Latin America. As the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) annual Global Produce and Floral Show is set to kick off this week, these results spotlight the many challenges – cost of inputs, commodity pricing volatility, weather unpredictability and more – that demonstrate an urgent need to improve predictability for a more efficient, resilient and sustainable produce supply chain. 

With growers, producers and packers comprising a majority of survey respondents (55%), the data underscores how increasing volatility and unpredictability limit the fresh produce sector as a vital industry for feeding a growing global population sustainably. 

Highlights from the survey include: 

• Commodity pricing volatility: Commodity pricing volatility, a top concern revealed by last year’s survey results, affects the greatest proportion of respondents (83%).
• Business stability: A majority of growers (52%), and 30% of respondents overall, rated the stability of their current business climate less positive (5 or lower, on a scale of 1-10), compared to last year.
• Business impact: More than half of respondents rated the following concerns as “extremely significant” in impacting their business negatively: cost of inputs (55%), ability to grow and deliver quality produce (53%), commodity pricing volatility (52%), weather unpredictability (52%), and reaching fair pricing terms (50%).
• Worsening challenges: These issues were rated worse this year compared to last year: weather unpredictability (54%), cost of inputs (53%), cost or access to labor (46%), commodity pricing volatility (44%), and cost or access to capital (40%).
• Concerns about the future: More respondents expect all these challenges to get even worse in the next five years, compared to those who expect things to improve.
• Produce waste: 60% of respondents estimate that greater than 10% of their produce is wasted, degraded or damaged due to supply chain inefficiencies.

“The fresh poduce industry is critical to feeding a growing world with sustainable and healthy food, and an economic engine for many rural communities across the globe,” said Patrick McCullough, ProducePay CEO. “Given the importance of this industry, it’s essential that we support the entire vertical – from grower to retailer – by eliminating the volatility and unpredictability that limits economic growth and investments in sustainable practices, and that results in inefficient forms of waste throughout the supply chain. This requires developing tools and new ways of doing business that give growers and buyers greater control of their business by providing unprecedented access to each other, capital, trading, insights and greater supply chain visibility.” 

ProducePay’s vision has started to demonstrate impact at scale. Earlier this year, the company collaborated with one of the world’s largest growers and distributors of table grapes, Four Star Fruit, to launch a first-of-its kind, direct-to-retail program that enables a stable supply of high-quality produce to consumers while driving financial sustainability and fostering investments in sustainable agricultural practices. When Hurricane Hillary damaged nearly 25 million boxes of California table grapes – a recent example of the devastating impact of weather unpredictability – Four Star Fruit and ProducePay took proactive steps to secure table grape supplies from Peru and Chile to bridge the supply gap. 

Since its founding, ProducePay has facilitated the trade of more than $4 billion worth of fresh produce across 64 commodities and 17 countries in North America, Central and South America and Europe. In 2023 alone, the company is expected to finance more than $1B in fresh produce transactions alone. For its impact, the company has been added as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Innovator Communities, was named one of Fast Company’s 2023 World’s Most Innovative Companies, placed on Inc. 5000 and Forward Fooding’s FoodTech 500, and has received World Finance magazine’s AgTech Sustainability Award.

For more information about ProducePay, please visit ProducePay.com.

*ProducePay Fresh Produce Industry Survey, October 2023. N = 310; 55% growers/producers/shippers, 20% integrated suppliers, 7% end customer buyers/retailers/foodservice operators, 18% other

ABOUT PRODUCEPAY

Founded by Pablo Borquez Schwarzbeck, a fourth-generation farmer, ProducePay is transforming the fragmented produce industry into a more connected and sustainable supply chain. ProducePay gives farmers unprecedented access to the market, financial solutions, supply chain visibility and insights they need. Buyers and consumers receive fresher produce more efficiently, knowing it is grown and delivered in responsible ways. This simplified and empowering approach is helping to eliminate over 60% of economic and food waste, while creating value for everyone involved. To learn more about ProducePay, please visit ProducePay.com.