Today’s state-of-the-art ripening rooms allow you to consistently ripen truckload after truckload of bananas with unparalleled uniformity and precision. Yet all too often we continue to see inconsistencies in quality from DC to DC and store to store. This can take a surprising toll on sales and profit.
To give us a better understanding about how and why these differences occur and what’s being done about it, we spoke with Gary Campisi, one of the industry’s foremost experts in commercial banana ripening. As former senior director of quality control for produce, floral, meat and seafood at Walmart and Sam’s Club, Campisi consults for some of the largest retailers, wholesalers and growers in the industry as well as leading technology stakeholders.
Q: What are the main challenges large retailers face today when it comes to standardizing banana quality across multiple store locations?
“Having high-quality bananas on display is, or should be, the goal of every retail produce department. The importance to overall sales and profit are well documented. But being able to achieve that on a consistent, daily basis across multiple store locations has always posed a challenge.
That’s because ripening is an organic and not a mechanical process. So sometimes even minor differences like time spent in transit, on the dock, differences in warehouse environments and personnel, even season and country of origin can impact the quality of bananas arriving at the DC. That’s where commercial ripening rooms come in.
Typically, an experienced, knowledgeable ripener can assess the condition of the fruit received then use ripening rooms to adjust the cycle as needed to achieve the desired results. But the industry is changing. There’s more turnover, less time to train and as a result less knowledge about exactly how the ripening process works.
This makes it much more challenging to have an experienced ripener at every DC. Without these key people in place there’s a much greater chance of having quality issues from DC to DC and store to store. I see examples of this almost every day. And if you’re using different regional wholesalers instead of having your own rooms, these differences can be magnified.”
Q: So what’s the solution?
“For those who have their own ripening rooms, we’re beginning to see a convergence of digital and data-driven technologies that are, with increasing success, able to do the work of a highly trained ripener. First by providing a detailed snapshot of the condition of the bananas received. Then using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to process this data so that the ripening rooms themselves make the needed adjustments.
Even without using AI, today’s ripening rooms are so efficient, we’re seeing technologies that will soon make it possible to monitor rooms at multiple DCs from a central location. This will allow someone with experience and expertise to oversee and monitor ripening operations at every DC from a central location using cloud-based technologies.
Eventually, this should allow Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs for banana ripening as well as other fruit to be programmed into the ripening rooms at every DC with centralized monitoring and oversight at the corporate level. Leading to a day where the ripening process itself is fully automated, producing consistent, uniform quality from store to store.”
Q: Why does that sound like science fiction?
“Haha, well mostly because it would have been science fiction just a few years ago. But the advent of AI has put things into high gear. Variations of this technology have already been commercialized with more on the way. Strella Biotech, for example, is rolling out their AI based ripening platform at the DC’s of several major retailers, which is capable of being fully integrated with Thermal Tech’s Tarpless ripening room operating system.
According to VP of Sales Aaron Sumption, things are going well and the number of DCs being managed by Strella continues to climb. Using AI, the system collects data from each load of bananas, becoming more intelligent, more efficient in determining what the bananas need in order to achieve the desired outcome with every load. Over time, this will generate the data necessary to automate the banana ripening process.
Thermal Technologies is also on the cutting edge having just rolled out their new RipeScan optical gas analyzer, which allows you to control the ripening process based on real-time gas levels in the room with pinpoint accuracy. And they are working on initiatives that will enable some of their large retail clients to monitor ripening rooms at different DCs from a central location using ultra-secure cloud technology.”
Q: This all sounds amazing, but where does that leave us today?
“We’re definitely approaching a time when technology will take over and automate the entire commercial banana ripening process. Exactly when and how that occurs is going to depend on some of the initiatives and programs currently underway. But it’s going to be sooner rather than later.
In the meantime I still believe that now and for the foreseeable future, having your own ripening rooms will continue to be the best way to achieve uniform banana quality across multiple store locations. That’s how we did it at Walmart and that’s how most successful retailers continue to do it today.
But even with your own ripening rooms, it’s important to remember that they are simply a tool. So until these technologies fully mature, doubling down to make sure you have the best possible ripening protocols in place at every DC is critical. The stronger the protocols, the faster and easier it is to train people to use the rooms properly and the greater your chances of success.
As the process becomes increasingly automated, quality, color, consistency and shelf-life will continue to be the determining factors when it comes to maximizing sales and profit. So having the best and most flexible ripening room technology today, backed by the strongest ripening protocols, will keep you on the path of success tomorrow as these technologies continue to advance.
How automated banana ripening is going to impact the industry over the long haul? That’s a discussion for another day.”
Gary Campisi can be reached at [email protected]