AgroSustain
Fresh fruit for longer
Two days before finishing her PhD in plant biology at the University of Lausanne, Olga Dubey discovered a promising organic anti-fungicide. Faced with the choice of either staying in academia or joining a large company, Olga decided to take the third path – she became an entrepreneur. Courses in business development offered by EPFL spurred the decision, as did the support of her husband, Sylvain Dubey. Trained in evolutionary biology, he already had experience in a start-up and was therefore happy to join the venture. This is how AgroSustain was born in 2018.
It soon became apparent that a new fungicide takes 7-8 years to be approved by the Food Safety Authority and to reach the market, requiring minimal investments of 10-15 million Swiss francs. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Therefore, the founders decided to change course for the time being. They aimed to develop a product that could reach the market faster and still offer unique advantages. Some customers wanted a coating that would keep fruit fresh longer and better after harvest. The development of such a product became the stated goal of AgroSustain’s development team, which now consists of eleven people.
The first product came to market in 2022. A new production plant will come on stream in March 2023. It will be able to produce 700 kg of coating agent in four hours, which will noticeably accelerate sales. The coating is based on emulsified vegetable oils. It is sprayed onto crops, either vegetables or fruits, with one kilo of the solution being enough to cover one ton of goods. The coating forms a thin physical barrier that keeps germs at bay and also regulates the water content of the crops, leaving them in a dormant state, so to speak, where they stay fresh longer. Comparable principles of preservation of natural products have existed since at least the 13th century. At that time, animal fats were used for the same purpose in China. Such coatings have been used more and more frequently in recent decades, and when new suppliers entered the market about five years ago, demand increased noticeably.
The unique selling proposition of AgroSustain’s coating is that it contains no substances to which people might be allergic. Moreover, it can be applied at any point in the supply chain. Some competitors today use waxes derived from shrimp, for example, which then trigger allergic reactions in some consumers. When consumers notice such allergic reactions, they often look for the cause in the fruit they ate. However, it may have been the surface treatment that triggered the reaction. Some other coatings already available on the market also completely block the respiration of the crop, which prevents it from ripening. Furthermore, AgroSustain is the only company offering a coating for bananas. This in itself extends their yellow life by 4-5 days.
Thanks to AgroSustain, the majority of currently used post-harvest treatments can be eliminated. The water-regulating function of the coating makes sure that the crops lose significantly less water, bringing noticeable savings to retailers. Other products are already in the pipeline at AgroSustain, including bio-stimulants that act like fertilizers and help plants be more resilient in particularly demanding conditions, such as drought or high salinity. In addition to expanding production, the company also aims to grow its customer base. Sales cycles typically involve first a small and then a larger pilot phase, which can take a total of two years. A start-up funding campaign currently underway will determine the future pace of growth.
