ProduceIQ, a new fresh produce supply market data offering, had me intrigued with “Cherries: The Immortal One.” This is a title of one of the articles written by Flavia Garcia, Econometric Analyst for ProduceIQ. It is a rarity to read such interesting and descriptive writing on commodities of any type while at the same time being educated on the (more dry) supply data that buyers rely on to understand fluctuating supply markets and prices. For example, check out this lead sentence for Cherries: The Immortal One:
I’m starting a rumor. Cherries are the next fad food for sleep-deprived millennials looking to catch some extra Zzz’s. All poorly executed humor aside, not only are these stone-fruits purported to be a sleep aid, they are among the most expensive commodity in the ProduceIQ index.
The reference to “Immortal One” is based on a sentence in the tease: “In folklore, cherries have been associated with immortality, the ephemerality of life (contradiction dually noted), resilience, and harmony.”
ProduceIQ Index
ProduceIQ provides the ProduceIQ Index, which is a shipping point price index for fresh produce using 40 top commodities, grouped into 11 categories and further aggregated to a Dollar per Pound that represents the industry. The open access Index allows you to track prices starting from the year 2005 and designate a time-frame within each year (week to week). You can do this for each commodity and as a composite as well.
ProduceIQ Marketplace
ProduceIQ is creating an anonymous digital marketplace for growers and produce buyers to directly negotiate, easily allowing participants “to test the market and buy or sell at different prices without recourse.” ProduceIQ states the produce industry is “ripe to benefit from a digital transformation” and “buyers need the ability to quickly access new growers and greater inventory.”
Started in 2020, Mark Campbell is Founder/CEO of ProduceIQ, which is out of North Palm Beach, Florida.
