Industry Data Project
As technology has exponentially improved, intelligent business systems are now being used to drive data based decision-making on orchard and in the pack house, reducing reliance on intuition or gut feel alone.
APAL is seeking feedback and undertaking feasibility research for a new Industry Data Project utilising an online database to provide live business updates sourced from growers and cool stores.
Unlike other fresh fruit industries with a defined harvest season followed by a period of no supply, apples and pears can be held in cold storage and released for distribution over the next 8 – 10 months, keeping Australian consumers in fresh supply year-round.
This Industry Data project is an evolution of Infopome, the apple and pear industry’s stock tracking system, initially funded through Hort Innovation.
Cool store data, however, is only a small portion of the information that growers, packers and marketers of apples and pears require in order to make better business decisions.
APAL will broaden the spectrum of data collected and made available to industry stakeholders.
While collection of some data points will be highly dependent on the willingness of stakeholders to share information, APAL is currently investigating the feasibility of broadening the data project to include aspects such as:
- Tree numbers
- Production forecasting
- Product grading through cool stores
- Consumer data
- New varieties
Whilst Infopome has been in existence in one form or another for over a decade, APAL has now completed the latest 3-year iteration of the project (AP15008) which built on, and achieved tangible improvements over, previous Infopome projects.
APAL will release an update when the project commences.
Read more apple and pear industry statistics
