ProducePay has added a virtual storefront feature to its marketplace for the global produce industry.
With the new Storefront, growers can create a personalized online destination through which they can market directly to global buyers, ProducePay said in a Tuesday (Jan. 31) press release.
“The introduction of this new feature allows growers to market directly to buyers and share real-time information in a transparent way,” ProducePay CEO Patrick McCullough said in the release. “This level of openness breaks down previous barriers, building a foundation of trust required to create resilient and more efficient supply chains.”
The produce industry is inherently uncertain, because Mother Nature has a lot to say when it comes to growing fruits and vegetables, ProducePay Founder Pablo Borquez told PYMNTS in an interview posted in March 2022.
ProducePay has been working to add certainty and efficiency to the industry by providing trade protection, capital, market insights and a financing service for members of the produce supply chain, Borquez said at the time.
“So, in our minds, this is the most important time to be making these investments — because ultimately securing safe sourcing of food will become much more important as the world continues to look at those things that really matter in a world full of uncertainty,” Borquez said.
Because the quality of perishable goods is always questionable, the industry also must deal with the subjectivity of quality evaluations and the risk of nonpayment, DiMuto CEO Gary Loh told PYMNTS in an interview posted in August 2022.
With ProducePay’s new Storefront feature, growers can attract new trading partners by sharing details about their farming practices, trading history, sustainability commitments and other characteristics, according to the press release.
Growers can also unlock additional Storefront benefits — including verification badges and elevated visibility on the marketplace — by undergoing a vetting and verification process and becoming Verified Members, the release said.
“The convenience of ProducePay’s Storefront will enhance the online trading experience for produce buyers globally as well,” the company said in the release. “Through this new feature, buyers have the ability to easily browse a grower’s specs for designated commodities, acceptance rate of deliveries, punctuality of shipments and the number of successful shipments the grower has made.”
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