'In the name of God, boss, what -'
In the name of Zeus, Voice!
'Sorry. In the name of Zeus, what on earth is this?!'
It's a PR email.
'What ... about fruit with brains, but it's not really real?'
Well ... let's find out ...
Morning Michael, and Voice,
Please find below a press release about groundbreaking new AI technology for soft fruit growers. The sector is currently under significant pressure from costs, labour and extremes in weather which is impacting profitability and viability.
'Oh, okay.' Ha!
FruitCast will help improve efficiency and profit margins by more precisely forecasting fruit growth and has been endorsed by major businesses in the sector for its practical approach.
If you are planning any pieces on AI making a difference in the agricultural sector or food production, or investment opportunities in this, and would like further insights or an interview, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Sorry, Susannah, I don't give interviews.
'You're going to be a poet now.'
That's right, Voice. A mysterious poet, like Prince.
"I took another bubble bath with my pants on ..."
Anyway ...
Let's go straight to the voices ...
'Yippee!'
FruitCast CEO, Richard Williamson, formerly Managing Director of Dyson Farming and a consultant in bold strategic change, says:
"Raising this capital is testament to the developer Raymond Martin and the team who have created a cutting-edge tool that is immensely valuable to growers. It could be a gamechanger for an industry plagued by challenges that are persistently squeezing margins.
"The AI capability is driven by one of the largest databases in the world, which gives it a firm foundation for accurate forecasting ahead of other competitors. This combined with the depth of understanding of practical agriculture and proven capability has made FruitCast attractive to agritech investors in what is a competitive and noisy marketplace."
Noisy?! Christ! Just tell them to keep the noise down, man!
Anyway ...
Ray? Come on, son!
Chief Technical Officer, Dr Raymond Martin, developed FruitCast on the back of his PhD on optimising soft fruit processes, when growers asked him not to leave his research "on the shelf". He says yield forecasting is the holy grail for soft fruit growers:
Holy grail!
"It's a time sensitive crop, and too much fruit in any week means waste and loss, and too little, you lose business. We're delighted to have attracted the funding and industry support to bring FruitCast to launch. We want all growers to be able to precisely forecast their season to give them the leverage to take back the power in managing their costs and customer contracts."
"Planning our labour needs and availability for our customers is wholly dependent on accurate estimation. There's a lot of -"
Okay, okay. / Actually -
"We are not looking to replace people. Automation goes hand-in-hand with the skills of workers on site and allows us to use our varied resources when and where they are most needed for greatest efficiency and our business' sustainability."
That remains to be seen.
Right, Louise. You're up next. Make it good. No pressure, like.
Louise Sutherland from Ceres Agritech says:
"FruitCast has huge potential to make transformational change in the industry. Predicting the timing and yield of strawberries is critical but extremely difficult to do accurately resulting in significant lost sales. Precise forecasting will help to increase growers' annual margins. We are delighted to see that a Ceres Agritech-backed technology is going to market."
Strawberries, all right.
Thanks, guys.
ENDS
ENDS
ENDS
...
Anything else, kooks?
I hope to write a poem in blank verse this week. I just fancy it, you know?
Laters.
