PepsiCo Uses VR Potato Harvester Training to Improve Harvest Quality

Quotes

“Training operators at scale has long been an issue for the industry but can result in a costly impact if harvesting equipment is not used effectively”

“This digital approach dramatically expands our ability to support growers globally and improve the amount of quality crop that a farmer can sell”

“We aim to find solutions to challenges that farmers face every growing season while ensuring we get a sustainable supply of quality potatoes. By pairing Grimme’s engineering expertise with PepsiCo’s agronomy insights, we’ve created a scalable tool that can help improve both crop quality and farmer livelihoods and reduce waste that can impact land use and carbon emissions”

“Adapting to local realities is often more important to driving adoption at scale. As we expand into new markets, we’re continuing to refine the experience, including language support and training content. The goal isn’t to introduce complexity. It’s to make proven expertise available to more operators, in more places, before they enter the field”

“One of agriculture’s biggest challenges is delivering consistent, high-quality training to operators who may be seasonal, geographically dispersed or working in different languages and markets. The opportunity with digital tools is their ability to make expert training more accessible and scalable. Of course, cost is always an important consideration for the adoption of any technology. The loss of revenue for a farmer due to bruising can be very high, and the VR technology costs are only a fraction of this risk”

“The primary value demonstrated so far is improved operator capability, reduced bruising, better harvest quality and helping growers protect more marketable crops. “Reducing crop loss could also improve resource efficiency because fewer potatoes may need to be grown to produce the same amount of food. “This creates the potential to avoid some of the water, energy and fertiliser associated with crops that would otherwise be lost, but we will continue to evaluate those impacts as the technology expands into additional markets.”