Yourefresh: satellite navigation for better-informed food purchases

The Users

Cascina Burattana and Collina del Sole are two Italian cooperatives of farmers, located in Italy’s Northern Lombardy and Southern Calabria regions. The first is a biodynamic urban farm cooperative, located within the Borsano Agricultural Park. It produces vegetables both in open field and in greenhouses by using homeopathic techniques for the prevention and treatment of plant diseases. Collina del Sole also uses strictly biological methods to produce vegetables which respect of the highest food quality standards. The cooperative aims to contribute to the sustainable development of its region, through a tight collaboration with Ecolandia- a technological and environmental park in the region.

The Challenge

Cooperatives, which build their image on their distinctive agricultural methods, need to inform potential customers of the added-value of their products. Customers that buy vegetables within the cooperative’s premises are well-informed of where and how the products were grown. However, once fresh, non-packaged fruits and vegetables arrive on shop shelves, it is difficult for buyers to know their precise origin and how they were cultivated.

The satellite solution

Since October 2016, the Cascina Burattana and the Collina del Sole cooperatives started using the geolocalisation app “Yourefresh” provided by Artin2, a StartUp working on food security. Thanks to satellite navigation, the app records the position and the agricultural techniques of any company that enters the market and wants to be listed on Artin2’s database. A Quick Response (QR) code etiquette is then attached to every product registered into the system. Once in store, the consumer can use the app to read the QR code stickers and access information on the precise origin of the product and how it was cultivated. Since it is not possible to establish a direct contact with the consumers, geolocalisation gives the certainty of the products’ origin.

The results

For local cooperatives, business growth depends on consumer loyalty and product marketing. Thanks to the app, Cascina Burattana and Collina del Sole certified their products and are thus able to inform buyers on their agronomic supply chain. Transparency builds consumer trust, thus increasing sales. Thanks to Yourefresh, the cooperatives improved their image in terms of reliability, and were able to increase their sales outside their territory.

Both cooperatives already envisage future improvements of the app. These include the creation of a consumer community that would allow for a direct contact with producers. By providing customers with more specific data concerning their products, the cooperatives aim to boost quality and product demand.

Geolocalisation allows La Collina del sole to send biological products to the market, granting consumers with access information on the precise origin of the product Maria Calarco, La Collina del Sole 

Satellite data can help organic and biodynamic farms, like ours, to inform buyers on their agronomic supply chain, thus building stronger consumer trust and increasing sales  Staff, La Cascina Burattana