Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/401644
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER NOVEMBER 2014 19 to be on the increase. "We became involved because we saw all the effort the farmers go to, to produce a really good product, and want to help them protect that brand," he said. In the case of tree fruits, the company takes samples of water, soil, and fruit from the client's orchard and analyzes the trace elements and stable isotopes. Iso- topes are forms of an element that differ in the number of neutrons they contain. The test results, which form a fi ngerprint unique to that specifi c location, are kept in its database. Oritain can later test fruit in the marketplace to see if it matches the fi ngerprint in the database. Borton Borton and Sons in Yakima, Washing- ton, is one of Oritain's clients and one of the first U.S. apple shippers to use the technology. Sky Johnson, with Bor- ton's sales and marketing team, said the company sees it as a way to protect the identity of its fruit. Particularly in international markets that the company exports to, there is a risk of fraudulent misrepresentation of apples. Johnson collected fruit samples from 14 of the company's orchard sites in Washington using a Global Positioning System, and sent them to New Zealand for Oritain to test in its labs. Many special permits were required to get the apples into New Zealand, where they were held in controlled facilities. When Borton received results of the analyses from Oritain, Johnson was sur- prised how much the apples' chemical fi ngerprint differed from one location to another, depending partly on whether the soil was volcanic ash or silicone sand, and what was in the soils. "It was absolutely amazing to see the contents on an atomic level in our apples," he said. "It was an eye-opening experience. Recognizing what actually makes up an apple is really cool. Each location was drastically different." Borton and Sons plans to have all its Honeycrisp blocks put in the database, as well as two new apple brands it is pro- ducing, Koru and Rocket, so they can be traced back to the farm. Johnson sees potential for using the technology on a regional basis as a risk mitigation tool so that apples in the market place could be distinguished as being from Washington. "It's about protecting your market space," he said. "I encourage every shipper to explore this technology simply because it helps protect the Washington apple industry." Over time, there will be an increasing need for shippers to do this in order to reassure buyers and consumers about the product's origin and to protect themselves in the event there's a misrepresentation in the market place, Johnson said. "We're hopeful it will catch on in the United States and help protect our industry." • "We saw all the effort the farmers go to, to produce a really good product, and want to help them protect that brand." —Grant Cochran Josh Wakefi eld, a scientist with Oritain in New Zealand, collects apple samples that will be analyzed for trace elements and stable isotopes, which are specifi c to where the apples are grown. PHOTO COURTESY OF ORITAIN GLOBAL LLC