The College Group

Food Freshness Technology (FFT, www.foodfreshnesstechnology.com) has hired the specialist food industry experts of College Hill’s Corporate team, to manage the wider launch of its revolutionary freshness preservation technology for fruit and vegetables.

FFT’s technology, It'sFresh! is based on a £10m investment in state-of-art materials science, that traps the ethylene gas produced naturally as produce ripens. By doing this it slows down ripening and limits decay caused by transit damage, thereby reducing waste and increasing food quality for end consumers.

UK and international customers, including growers, distributors and retailers, are showing keen interest. FFT has already inked deals with Marks & Spencer and Tesco, and many more are in the pipeline.

Marketing & Strategic Development Director Simon Lee says: “Reducing food waste and increasing food safety are mandatory in a world where one billion of us are still undernourished. With It'sFresh! we are tackling both of these issues at source.

“It'sFresh! is both simple and effective, and can benefit every stage of the global fresh-produce supply chain.

“We now have plenty of stakeholders to reach out to, and we felt that College Hill’s food specialists were ideally experienced to do this job for us on an international scale.”

Chris Woodcock, Managing Partner at College Hill, comments: “This is a rare opportunity to support food industry technology that could well prove to be transformational.”

Lee and fellow directors Laurence Kayson, Greg Pavett & Lawrence Matthews will roll out the technology across UK, Europe & USA this spring. College Hill will also co-ordinate a parallel US programme, in a campaign worth six figures during the first 12 months.