COMPANY NAME Agreenet
COUNTRY Italy
SECTOR Agri-food
CIRCULAR BUSINESS MODEL Product life extension, Circular supply chain
CHALLENGE
The fresh food supply chain faces a critical inefficiency: a significant portion of fruits and vegetables is lost due to limited shelf life and inadequate preservation methods.
Fresh produce distributors and exporters typically experience losses ranging from 5% to 10% due to spoilage, with even higher impacts in long-distance logistics. These losses translate into reduced margins, rejected shipments, and increased operational costs.
At the same time, existing preservation solutions, such as chemical treatments or controlled atmosphere systems, are often complex, costly, or not aligned with the growing demand for sustainable and clean-label alternatives.
This creates a clear need for a solution that can extend shelf life in a simple, scalable, and sustainable way, without requiring changes to existing infrastructure or workflows
SOLUTION
Agreenet developed PìFresc®, a plant-based active device designed to extend the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables in a simple and scalable way.
The device is placed directly inside existing packaging (e.g. trays, boxes, or pallets), where it gradually releases natural compounds that slow down the growth of fungi and bacteria, one of the main causes of spoilage. This allows fresh produce to maintain quality for longer, reducing waste and increasing the time available for distribution and sale.
Unlike traditional solutions, PìFresc® requires no changes in infrastructure or processing, making it easy to integrate into current supply chains. It also avoids the use of synthetic preservatives, aligning with the growing demand for sustainable and clean-label solutions.
By combining ease of use, plant-based materials, and proven shelf-life extension, PìFresc® offers a practical solution to reduce food waste and improve efficiency across the fresh food sector.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY STRATEGIES/BUSINESS MODEL IMPLEMENTED
The circular business model implemented by Agreenet is primarily based on product life extension, supported by a circular supply chain approach and a service-oriented model.
The core strategy is product life extension: the PìFresc® device increases the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables by slowing down microbial spoilage. This reduces food waste across the supply chain, extending the usability of resources that have already been produced, harvested, and transported.
This is complemented by a circular supply chain approach, as the solution improves efficiency along the distribution process. By reducing spoilage during storage and transport, it minimizes losses, optimizes resource use, and enhances overall system performance without requiring additional inputs or infrastructure.
In addition, Agreenet is developing a product-as-a-service model, allowing customers to adopt the solution without significant upfront investment. This approach lowers barriers to adoption and supports wider scalability, making circular solutions more accessible to different actors in the supply chain.
Overall, the business model focuses on reducing inefficiencies and waste within existing systems, enabling a more resource-efficient and sustainable approach to fresh food distribution.
IMPACT
The PìFresc® device generates a measurable impact both at environmental and operational level, by addressing one of the main inefficiencies in the fresh food supply chain: spoilage.
From an environmental perspective, the solution contributes to:
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Food waste reduction: estimated decrease of 10–12% across the supply chain
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CO₂ emissions reduction: approximately 50 tons/year avoided in a medium-scale scenario
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Energy savings: around 4.5 kWh/year/m³ thanks to reduced reliance on cold storage
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Shelf-life extension: up to 25–30%, directly lowering spoilage rates
These improvements translate into a more efficient use of resources, reducing the environmental footprint associated with food production, storage, and distribution.
From a business perspective, the impact is equally significant. By extending shelf life and reducing losses, the PìFresc® device enables distributors and exporters to recover margins, reduce rejected shipments, and improve inventory management.
Overall, the solution contributes to a more efficient, resilient, and sustainable food system, where fewer resources are wasted and more value is preserved along the supply chain.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Reducing food waste is one of the most effective ways to improve sustainability in the food system, And it must be done through solutions that are simple, scalable, and easy to adopt. PìFresc® demonstrates that combining performance, usability, and sustainability can turn circular innovation into a real business opportunity.