Born in Piedmont, in the city of Cuneo, JOINFRUIT FRESH, the first Italian project of Short food supply chain “farmer–consumer” through the use of Smart Locker of the latest generation, proposed by RICOH ITALY.
The project, co-funded by the European Union, it is an initiative of the Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisation JOINFRUIT in Verzuolo (CN), which travels within an already felt trend and which the last year of the pandemic has made more pressing: the need for producers to cover even the last link in the supply chain, creating the closest possible contact with the final consumer.
It is a sales model never before experienced in Italy not from any Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisation, created thanks to the meeting between JOINFRUIT, RICOH and its technological partner WIB. A cutting-edge commercial channel, which combining technological innovation, sustainability and consumer peace of mind, because it offers the opportunity to buy directly from farmers high-quality, fresh fruit, vegetables and local produce, packaged in strictly recyclable packaging at the time of order and delivered to the refrigerated Smart Locker without intermediate steps. All the consumer has to do is book the desired products via an e-commerce portal (shop.joinfruit.comby choosing the delivery date. Once the order has been placed in the Smart Locker, the recipient can retrieve it independently – within 24 hours – using a QR code they will receive on the web app.
“The ”JOINFRUIT FRESH" project, explains Bruno Sacchi, Director of Joinfruit, “was born thanks to the contribution and support of UNAPROA with a triple objective: to satisfy the growing need of fruit and vegetable producers to reach final consumers by experimenting with new sales and marketing models for their products, to remain within the e-commerce boom and a philosophy of increasingly innovative and smart purchasing, and to target that ever-increasing segment of “eco-active” consumers, i.e. those oriented towards purchasing out of concern for health, the environment, and climate change. Finally, being co-financed by the European Union, it can be considered a virtuous example of the use of public funding for sustainable economic development projects.”
JOINFRUIT FRESH’s product range reflects the marketing organisation’s strong regional identity and its commitment to promoting the best of local and national produce: the web app’s basket always features seasonal and local produce from member farms, such as blueberries and raspberries from the Cuneo valleys, kiwi berries grown at the foot of Monviso, as well as Gala apples, Santa Clara plums, Cuore di Bue tomatoes, Valle Gesso potatoes and 100% cold-pressed apple juice, as well as fine produce from other Italian regions, such as Verdello lemons from Calabria.
The next steps include to replicate this first Cuneo experience in other Italian cities (expanding the project as far as its full sustainability can be guaranteed) and also to give the initiative an educational value for new generations: the future goal is to use the packaging as a means of education for children, transforming it into a game that entertains and offers important information about the properties of fruit and vegetables, at the same time increasing the sustainability of the packaging, which will thus have a second life.
English 
Italian