DUETTE, FL - As the Florida strawberry season concludes, Harvest CROO is pleased to announce that its automated harvest field trials have successfully demonstrated commercial viability. Having reached performance rates on par with human harvesting in a commercial picking operation, this achievement represents a major milestone for the company and the future of American agriculture.

Harvest CROO was initially founded to alleviate labor shortages. The machine in its current iteration has unlocked worlds of new possibilities by converging AI machine learning, innovative food safety technology, and advanced breeding techniques, a press release stated.

“We are at the cutting edge of a new AI agricultural revolution and this technology is ready to scale,” said Gary Wishnatzki, Co-Founder and Wish Farms Owner. “Strawberries are picked the same way they were over one-hundred years ago. Harvest CROO is primed to disrupt the multibillion-dollar U.S. strawberry market. The benefits are game changing for strawberries, but its transferability to other specialty crops as well as other industries is very promising.”

Processing power experienced a major leap forward in just the past year. With the use of the latest generation of NVIDIA chips, the platform’s vision processing capability is now a staggering 200x more powerful. This exponential jump, bundled with Harvest CROO’s thirteen patents, Artificial Intelligence, and advanced robotic technology has allowed them to attain harvesting on par with humans.

Farmers, investors, and others were on hand to witness a recent field trial. Among them was Jorge Heraud, the Co-Founder of Blue River Technology, and Past Vice President of Autonomy & Automation at John Deere: “This machine is a technological wonder. It is complex, yet productive and efficient. I was extremely impressed by the integration of different technologies. It is a shining example of where robotics in farming is headed.”

Besides providing surety of harvest with the lowest landed cost to growers, the platform has a host of other benefits that bring with it radically improved outcomes for the nation’s economy and food supply. Among other advantages, the machine employs deep data analytic elements that eliminate pathogens, increase yield, improve quality, and extend shelf life. This will ultimately make healthy produce more affordable and widely available to the public.

The machine and its technology are developed and manufactured in America. By onshoring this tech, the U.S. will benefit by having a self-sufficient labor force that will provide better, higher paying jobs at the farms. It will also greatly reduce growers’ dependence on guest workers, facilitating a food supply independent of foreign nations.

“We started as strawberry picking company, but now we have evolved into an AI machine learning and robotics driven technology company that will enable the transformation of industries far beyond agriculture. The market potential is virtually limitless,” said Harvest CROO CEO Joe McGee. “Our proprietary tech has already demonstrated its effectiveness by picking the most complicated crop in agriculture. Now, everything else will just be an engineering problem.”

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - After the success of the sales campaign in Europe and North America, the development of Kissabel® continues with the new harvest in the southern hemisphere. The striking range of apples with flesh that varies from pink to intense red continues its development in Australia, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa thanks to the IFORED programme partners in these countries.

“Kissabel® is fortunate to be able to count on high-calibre international partners,” commented Emmanuel de Lapparent, head of the IFORED programme. “Producers in the southern hemisphere are focused on testing the different varieties in their respective climates and markets. In terms of increasing the availability of our range on the global market, we are definitely heading in the right direction.”

Australia is at the most advanced stage of development. Here, the growers of Montague Farms have begun the harvest, which will involve yellow skin and pink flesh varieties, and varieties with both red skin and flesh. The harvest will be supplemented with new varieties which have been tested over the last few years to guarantee their excellent flavour and increasingly eye-catching, red-coloured flesh.

Though marketing is still at the early stages in terms of volumes, Montague Farms is investing in the growth of the brand. Kissabel® made an appearance on Sunrise, one of Australia’s most popular morning television shows, and was a phenomenal hit at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, where the apple was sampled to over 50,000 people and TV presenter and author Alice Zaslavsky hosted a sold-out Kissabel® cooking demonstration. There will also be sampling events involving influencers and food outlets.

“The goal is to construct a strong brand, so we are ready to increase volumes in the next few years,” explains Michelle Hau, Marketing Manager of Montague Farms. “We are particularly interested in young foodies, the perfect target audience for an innovation product like Kissabel®!”

Kissabel® is also making progress in South America thanks to the work of partners Moño Azul in Argentina and Unifrutti in Chile. “The main objective this season is to confirm which varieties adapt best to our land so we can open new commercial plantations,” explains Marcelo Galardini, Sales Director of Moño Azul. “In the meantime, we will begin promoting Kissabel® apples on the local market to raise their profile among our customers.” Argentinean production is mainly focused on the varieties with red flesh and skin, a press release noted.

This is also the main variety in Chile, where different cultivars are currently being tested. “This season we will send product samples to one of our customers in Brazil with the aim of expanding commercial production,” comments Cristian Matte, Commercial Manager of Unifrutti Chile.

Dutoit Group (South Africa) began planting its first semi-commercial orchards in 2023, focusing on red skin and red flesh varieties and achieved this year its first harvest of Kissabel® apples. “We are very excited about the quality of the harvest: the apples developed an intense and vibrant red colour, especially in warmer regions. A pleasant surprise was the change in texture when apples reached maturity, also allowing the flavour to fully develop. This result was met with great enthusiasm by both our marketing team and local retailers,” says Willie Kotze, Technical Manager at Dutoit. “We will be introducing Kissabel® apples to a group of local media, influencers and retail customers to test the visual and tasting experience of this unique product.”

The testing phase is also currently underway in New Zealand with the partner Yummy Fruit.

WENATCHEE, WA - CMI Orchards recently announced that Sarah Barkley, Sales Manager, has officially qualified for the 2025 CrossFit Games, as shared in a recent press release.

We are thrilled to announce that CMI Sales Manager, Sarah Barkley, has officially qualified for the 2025 CrossFit Games, ranking #8 in the world in her division. This is an exceptional achievement and a powerful testament to Sarah’s grit, dedication, and unmatched skill in the sport of CrossFit. 

Each year, hundreds of thousands of athletes from around the globe compete in the CrossFit Open, the first stage in the road to the Games. In Sarah’s age group alone, over 9,000 athletes participated worldwide.

The CrossFit Semifinals serve as the second qualifying stage on the road to the 2025 CrossFit Games. The top 125 athletes in Sarah’s division advanced to the Semifinals—and Sarah delivered a dominant performance, securing her place among the world’s elite.

As a result, Sarah will be competing at the 2025 CrossFit Games, taking place August 21–24, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio, where she’ll go head-to-head with the top 30 women in her age group worldwide.

“This accomplishment is beyond my wildest dreams,” says Barkley. “I'm so grateful to have the support of CMI and to be able to share this accomplishment with the whole team. I truly couldn't have done it without their support. Though this is a huge accomplishment, the best is yet to come and I look forward to seeing what we can do at the Games!!”

Qualifying for the CrossFit Games is no small feat, and it’s a true reflection of the hard work, discipline, and relentless determination Sarahs poured into this journey,” states CMI CEO, Bob Mast. “We’re all so proud and can’t wait to cheer her on this August!”

Please join us in celebrating this massive milestone and cheering her on as she prepares to compete against the very best on the global stage. Congratulations, Sarah!

MEXICO/CALIFORNIA/PERU - With light supplies out of both California and Mexico, reports tell us that the current avocado market is trending on the high side.

PRO*ACT’s The Source report, published on April 16, states that size structure remains the same as it did in our previous coverage, peaking on 60ct and smaller sizes with 48ct and larger being priced higher. Harvest out of Mexico has been a bit lighter due to Holy Week celebrations. Although the California season is now in full swing, peaking this week through June, supplies remain light out of this region as well. Peruvian supplies are also coming online now, expected to ramp up in May.

The USDA’s most recent market report out of California’s Los Angeles Terminal also states that supplies are light out of California. The report lists CA Hass 32s of fair quality at 54.00-55.00; lower 36s of fair quality at 53.00-55.00; 40s of fair quality at 62.00-64.00; and 60s of fair quality at 58.00-60.00, occasional higher/lower fine appearance of 65.00-68.00. Though the high market is expected to continue, an industry source reports excellent supplies of 48s and larger from both California and Mexico.

Mexico Hass, according to USDA, is represented by the following numbers:

• 32s 77.00-80.00 mostly 78.00-79.00 occasional higher/lower
• 36s 77.00-80.00 mostly 78.00-79.00 occasional higher
• 40s 71.00-74.00 mostly 72.00-73.00 occasional higher/lower
• 48s 72.00-75.00 mostly 73.00-74.00 occasional lower
• 60s 57.00-60.00 mostly 58.00-59.00 occasional higher
• 70s 46.00-49.00 mostly 47.00-48.00 occasional higher
• 84s 31.00-34.00 mostly 32.00-33.00 occasional higher/lower

With the California season peaking and Peru season ramping up, we will keep you in the loop on how the avocado market performs.