Agrifresh: Fresh-cut & Dehydrated Vegetables
Oct 07 2022
Agrifresh is a Lebanese agricultural and agri-food company that produces fresh-cut vegetables under international standards. Established in 2015 by Georges Doummar, an established farmer and vegetable producer, deeply versed in the business, Agrifresh grows most of its own produce (75%) on community farms stretching over 100 hectares all over the Lebanese territory, through contract farming whenever possible.
Agrifresh sorts vegetables, shredding, sanitizing, cutting, and packing them using the Modified Atmosphere Packaging, which extends the shelf life of products. The company offers around 250 products, sourced from 50 different types of vegetables to over 250 businesses including major restaurant chains, namely KFC, Domino’s, Crepaway, Zaatar w Zeit, Roadster, and over 15,000 direct-to-client accounts, through 25 retailers, with country-wide footprint.
Agrifresh’s estimated minimum daily aggregate vegetable production is 20 tons.
Agrifresh applied to the Food System Challenge with the project of establishing a dehydration line to produce dehydrated herbs and vegetables. Through this project, Agrifresh will be able to increase its dehydrated production to reach 1,200 Kgs/month, providing an estimate of more than $500K extra income for the company.
The project will increase the affordability and availability of dehydrated products to Lebanese end consumers, and establish the product as a solid import replacement while increasing the activity of farming partners and improving their income, with an indirect impact on around 132 persons
The Food System Challenge is implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Berytech through support from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The program’s main outcomes are enhanced food security, a well-functioning local food system, enhanced efficiency and resilience of cooperatives and SMEs working across different streams of the food systems, and to increased employment opportunities especially for women and vulnerable individuals.
