Shelf life sustainability: Peeling back the layers with Apeel

Deborah Williams: How did Apeel Sciences start?

Michelle Masek: While working on his PhD in Materials, Apeel Sciences founder and CEO James Rogers will tell you he spent a few years ‘watching paint dry’ in an effort to develop an energy-harvesting solar paint that would help democratise clean energy. One day, driving through lush farmland on his way home to Santa Barbara from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, he heard a story on the radio about global hunger and wondered, ‘how can so many people be hungry if we’re able to grow such an abundance of food?’

It turns out that there isn’t an issue with growing the food we need — the culprit is spoilage. James wondered if a barrier could be created for food that would slow down the rate of spoilage and discovered that the materials needed already exist in every bite of food we eat. The result was a breakthrough application of materials science to food preservation, and Apeel Sciences was born.

Apeel Sciences was founded in 2012 with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a product to reduce post-harvest food loss in developing countries. Today, Apeel Sciences has developed products for multiple USDA Organic Certified and conventional produce categories, and the company works with partners ranging from smallholder farmers and local organic growers to the world’s largest food brands to make better quality fruits and vegetables available for all.

DW: Take me through the step-by-step process of creating Apeel.

MM: Apeel is made of plant-derived materials — lipids and glycerolipids — that exist in the peels, seeds, and pulp of all the fruits and vegetables we already eat. When creating Apeel, we specifically target these materials. Because the materials needed to make Apeel exist in all fruits and vegetables, it can be made from any kind of fruit or vegetable — although some fruits and vegetables are richer sources of lipids than others. Some of the richest sources include the parts of the plant that typically go unused after harvest, such as the peels and skins and seeds.

Key factors that determine the shelf life of produce, such as water loss and ripening rates, are governed by their surface properties, including native wax composition, wax crystal density and size, roughness, and porosity. We consider all of these factors when we optimise a formulation for a particular category of produce, where, molecularly, we adjust the combination of lipids in the formulation to be best suited to a given produce surface to maintain shelf-life.

Apeel keeps moisture inside produce and oxygen out, which dramatically slows the rate that produce spoils. By maintaining moisture and reducing oxidation, Apeel supports the plant’s natural abilities to protect against environmental stressors.

DW: As mentioned, Apeel is made of plant-derived materials that exist in the peels, seeds, and pulp of fruits and vegetables. But where do you source the fruits and vegetables from?

MM: A variety of plant feedstocks may be used to create our formulations and the feedstock source can vary based on a number of factors. Regardless of the feedstock, our end products are ultimately plant lipids. Our manufacturing process is designed to ensure purity and compliance, with the high safety standards mandated by food safety regulatory authorities, in the markets where Apeel products are sold.

DW: Apeel not only aims to tackle food waste but also aims to improve food quality. Please explain how food waste and food quality go hand-in-hand.

MM: Apeel makes it possible for growers to optimise their practices and avoid harvesting before ripeness, allowing fruits and vegetables to develop full quality – from nutrition and delicious flavor to appearance and texture – before they embark on the journey to the grocery store. Apeel then helps suppliers and retailers maintain produce quality and slow spoilage, which minimises food waste from the farm to the kitchen. Apeel doubles to triples the shelf life of many types of produce, which promotes more sustainable growing practices, better quality food and less food waste for everyone.

DW: What issues or challenges have you faced regarding the creation of Apeel and how did you overcome them?

MM: Like many technology companies, our biggest challenge was creating a market where no market exists. Not only did we need to invent a technology but we also had to present the innovation to and get buy-in from potential partners. The trick to overcoming this was demonstrating the product to customers and quantifying the ROI for live commercial programs.

DW: You’re based in the US with partnerships with retailers, such as exotic fruit and coffee farm Good Land Organics, which are currently using Apeel for caviar limes, and supermarket chain Kroger. But do you have plans to expand internationally?

MM: In February 2019, Apeel announced a partnership with Nature’s Pride, one of Europe’s largest importers of avocados and mangos, to expand the distribution of Apeel avocados into Europe for the first time. Apeel also received its EU regulatory approval in June 2019. You can expect to hear more international news from Apeel soon.

DW: What does the future of Apeel Sciences look like in three to five years?

MM: We hope to be a global company, servicing many more countries around the world.

DW: Do you have any further plans to move into other areas of food technology in the future?

MM: We are really excited about continuing to unlock the potential of plant-derived technology to help solve some of the biggest challenges we are facing right now in the area of food waste and its impact on climate change. Nature is our greatest teacher and we have successfully proven that we can utilise these learnings to improve and prolong the quality of produce, while reducing waste. So much more can be done to ensure an abundant future for our planet.

DW: What is the most important lesson you want the food industry to know about food loss and food waste?

MM: Over 800 kcal (795-840 kcal) were wasted per person per day by US consumers from 2007-2014. Annually, wasted food was grown on the equivalent of over 30 million acres (95% CI: 29.3-30.8 million acres) of cropland, representing 7.7% (7.5-7.9%) of all harvested cropland in the US during 2007-2014 (Conrad, et al.). When you look at the big picture of food waste, it is more than just uneaten and spoiled food lying in the trash. Food waste has major impacts on wasted land, wasted water usage, wasted labor and wasted money. The produce industry and retail stores need to begin to think of ways to reduce this usage to begin seeing an increase in their revenue streams and to also see a happier and healthier earth.

DW: What is the most important lesson you want the food industry to know about food quality?

MM: Food quality is multifaceted. When looking at the quality of produce, we’re looking at not only the nutritional aspect but also the taste and appearance. While on-the-vine produce maintains the perfect balance of sun, water and soil, this all gets disrupted when produce departs on its journey to your countertop. Produce starts to lose its freshness from the moment it has been picked, since the oxidation process kicks in right away. At Apeel, we have created a solution to maintain the quality of produce once it starts moving through the supply chain. By creating a protective barrier, we are able to extend the life of produce so that consumers can benefit from its highest state of quality.