May 4, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Imagine the ability to keep organic blueberries in perfect condition for eight weeks after harvest, or being able to keep hops fresh for an additional six weeks until they are used. This is the exact achievement that RipeLocker is bringing to food production supply chains.

In support of this work, RipeLocker announced it has raised a $5 million Series B backed by a roster of existing investors in the company that includes leading agriculture executives, academics, along with growers, packers, and shippers.

Founded in 2016 in Seattle, Washington, by a father-son team of George and Kyle Lobisser, RipeLocker’s patented, dynamic, low-atmosphere storing and shipping containers have the ability to extend the post-harvest life of perishable foods and flowers by weeks, or in many cases, months.

About the size of a pallet, the company’s containers are made from recycled materials, are reusable, and precisely manage the oxygen, pressure, CO2, and humidity within the containers by creating a low-oxygen vacuum through saturating air with water vapor. RipeLocker can tailor these parameters based on the requirements of each type of fresh produce or flower to optimize the longevity and freshness for each, and each container can respond to changes in its storage and shipping environment by making precise adjustments to reduce decay and prevent damage.

Produced via injection molds, RipeLocker has designed their containers to be stackable, and to be easily deployed within existing cold supply chains, with 40 fitting into an ocean or truck reefer (refrigerated container).

The company has patents on both the design of their containers and the method of operation, and presents the technology as the first solution that can be delivered in a cost-efficient manner at scale.

RipeLocker has already completed efficacy trials across multiple high-value crops including berries, pomegranates, cherries, papayas, fresh hops, and flowers, and the funds raised through this Series B will help the company turn the data from these trials into action.

The capital secured through this round will be used by the company to enhance its RipeLocker containers, to utilize the precise operating data it has accumulated following years of trials, and to manufacture its containers to ensure commercial availability for select clients this summer.

“Over the past few years, we have been actively working with some of the largest growers in the world to test our RipeLocker containers. We are the only company with the data as to how perishables respond under low-pressure vacuum over long periods of time to delay senescence (aging) and decay,” said George Lobisser, founder and CEO, RipeLocker. “This infusion of significant new capital enables us to leverage this data, begin manufacturing the commercial product and scale the company to meet the increasing demand from global and national produce and flower growers.”

Over the past six months the company has announced multiple achievements through its field trials.

~ Working with Queen’s Flowers, a leading breeder, grower, importer, and bouquet manufacturer. RipeLocker’s containers were able to keep cut roses fresh for four weeks.

~ Using six of its containers, RipeLocker was able to keep freshly harvested organic blueberries from Blueberry Hill in perfect condition for eight weeks.

~ And during trials conducted in collaboration with CLS Farms, RipeLocker was able to keep Comet and El Dorado® hops fresh for six weeks. These hops went on to be used by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company to brew “Cultivate” beer. 

In addition, the USDA has begun trials to determine the potential for RipeLocker’s containers to be considered a chemical-free means of quarantining fresh foods. 

All the companies that participated in these trials state they plan to use RipeLocker’s containers when they are commercially available this summer.

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.