Optimising nutrition to produce highquality tomatoes

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Agriculture

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Inventory Management
Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Data Science Services

The Challenge

Gillieston Fresh Produce, a tomato grower for wholesalers on the East Coast of Australia, was facing challenges in accurately tracking nutrition and other inputs applied to each field. They were also unable to record the cost of production and profit for a specific field. The lack of detailed records was affecting their ability to optimize their production process and maximize profitability. The company needed a solution that would allow them to plan and budget their whole season, record every single field operation as the season progresses, and have accurate historic records available per individual field.

About The Customer

Gillieston Fresh Produce (GFP) is a family-owned business that grows 160 acres of Entice tomatoes annually on their farm just west of Shepparton, VIC. The company supplies first grade tomatoes to supermarkets and other outlets, while second grade tomatoes end up in the supply chain for food service companies and the rest gets made into tomato paste. GFP has to be Freshcare accredited, which focuses on food safety, quality and the traceability of inputs utilised in the growing process, in order to supply these retailers. The company uses a lot of different style fertilisers and tracks their nutrition in Agworld. They also run 3 of their own refrigerated trucks that can carry 22 pallets of tomatoes each, making 2 trips per day to Melbourne and 1 trip to Sydney.

The Solution

GFP decided to use Agworld, a platform that allows them to plan and budget their whole season and record every single field operation as the season progresses. Before the season starts, their agronomist creates a plan for the whole season together with the Borzillo family in Agworld. They go through their soil tests per field and create a nutritional plan per field in Agworld. They also work out which fields will be planted early and which ones later in the season. They then record every input they apply with great detail, even down to individual batch numbers of chemicals, in Agworld for traceability and certification purposes. By recording everything they do on their fields in Agworld, from plastic to drip-tape, pre-emergents and every single soil working, they get an accurate cost per hectare from the field all the way to the packing shed.

Operational Impact

GFP now has accurate historic records available in Agworld, per individual field, of which nutritional inputs were used and what yield they achieved.
They also know the exact cost per field and whether the field was profitable.
By creating accurate records in Agworld, GFP is also Freshcare compliant and is able to easily create every report needed for audits.

Quantitative Benefit

Around 80% of the harvest is classified as first grade, which is key in order to remain profitable.
GFP is able to generate the farm performance report in Agworld which is as accurate as possible for them.