AI-Based Harvest and Quality Forecasting: GIMAT Liquid Monitoring Seeks Partners from Agriculture and Food Retail
For a joint AgTech pilot project, GIMAT Liquid Monitoring is looking for agricultural producers, grower cooperatives, and food retail companies to co-develop a digital quality and supply chain for fresh fruit.
The perfect taste experience of fresh fruit determines success at the point of sale. To digitally bridge the gap between agricultural production and retail logistics, GIMAT GmbH Liquid Monitoring is launching a forward-looking development partnership to build an AI-based harvest and quality forecasting system.
For this hands-on pilot phase, the company is seeking close collaboration with innovative partners from the food retail sector as well as progressive farms and producer cooperatives. While growers act as active data providers directly in the field, retail partners validate logistics and goods-inbound processes in real-world operations. Both sides benefit from an exclusive technological and knowledge advantage within a data-driven supply chain.
The Challenge in Food Retail: Waste Due to Reactive Quality Control
Bisher erfolgt die Qualitätsprüfung im Lebensmitteleinzelhandel meist reaktiv beim Wareneingang im Zentrallager. Currently, quality control in food retail is largely reactive, typically performed at goods receipt in central distribution centers. Late insights into the actual ripeness level lead to logistical inefficiencies, unpredictable quality deviations, and avoidable spoilage (food waste). GIMAT breaks with this paradigm through a predictive, data-driven “farm-to-fork” approach.
The Blind Spot: Continuous Ripening Along the Supply Chain
The sensitive balance between sweetness (Brix value) and acidity continuously changes during transport from the field to the supermarket shelf due to natural ripening processes. A single-point inspection is therefore insufficient. The pilot project establishes measurable control points along the entire chain—from determining optimal harvest maturity, to goods receipt at the distribution center, and finally to consumption ripeness at the retail shelf. Development partners contribute their operational data to train the AI with real-world logistics and ripening scenarios.
The Foundation: Non-Destructive, Real-Time Quality Measurement at Every Stage
Using mobile, non-destructive infrared and digital measurement technology from ATAGO—such as the innovative ATAGO HIKARi infrared refractometers or the digital PAL-BX|ACID series—growers can capture key quality parameters directly on the plant, completely contactless. The system measures the critical interaction between Brix value and acidity holistically. Since measurements with these handheld refractometers are completed within seconds, the same method can be applied easily and rapidly at all downstream stages of the supply chain. All devices are fully digital and equipped with integrated NFC (Near Field Communication): measurement data can be transferred directly from the ATAGO device to a smartphone app and then uploaded to the cloud—fully digitized and without manual effort.
The Vision: A Shared Cloud for Maximum Planning Reliability
On the software side, GIMAT leverages a proven network and a long-standing technology partner that has already delivered successful large-scale projects in other industries. Field data is seamlessly uploaded to a smart cloud platform. This is where the key value for supply chain transparency is created: both growers and retail partners have equal access to the same real-time ripening curves. This end-to-end digital transparency significantly improves planning reliability for both sides:
- For agricultural producers & cooperatives: Continuous proof of product quality, reduced claims through objective data, and positioning as digitally advanced premium suppliers with reliable delivery commitments.
- For food retailers: Buyers and logistics teams can precisely manage shipments just-in-time before spoilage occurs. This drastically reduces write-offs, improves shelf freshness, and ensures consistent fruit quality for consumers.
A Strong Technology Alliance as the Foundation
This innovation project successfully connects field data to the cloud through a combination of expertise: GIMAT GmbH is the only authorized and certified ATAGO service center in Germany as well as across Central and Northern Europe. The company is not merely a distributor—it possesses deep process and technical expertise in the high-precision optical and digital measurement systems of ATAGO (Japan), a global market leader. This engineering know-how forms the foundation for developing advanced data interfaces.
Together with the proven software and cloud architecture expertise of its long-standing development partner, data streams are consolidated into an AI-based prediction model that combines field measurements with climate data.
Call for Development Partners: Shape the Future of AgTech Supply Chains
To develop this connected, AI-driven supply chain in a practical and demand-oriented way from the ground up, GIMAT is now seeking true development partnerships with forward-thinking retail companies and ambitious producers. Selected partners will contribute their real-world application expertise, actively shaping the digital supply chain of the future while securing exclusive market advantages.
Contact for Project and Partnership Inquiries
Interested retail companies (innovation teams/purchasing departments) and producer cooperatives are invited to contact Managing Director Dr.-Ing. Volker Koschay directly at: volker.koschay@gimat.de
