In collaboration with Virgil Gamache Farms (VGF) in Yakima, Washington, 360 pounds of their unique brand of fresh hops called Amarillo^® were harvested and immediately stored in RipeLockers for over a week.  These fresh hops were then shipped via refrigerated truck to Barebottle Brewing Company in San Francisco, California to brew their annual Amarillo^® Fresh Hop IPA.

“Seeing the vivid, emerald-green depth of the RipeLocker ‘fresh’ hops was astounding. Despite being picked 7 days earlier, they looked – and smelled – better than fresh hops we received within 12 hours of being harvested,” exclaimed Lester Koga, Co-Founder of Barebottle Brewing Company.

Growers can significantly increase their margins by shifting volume from dry to fresh markets. Micro-brewers can drastically reduce delivery costs and have extended access to fresh hops after harvest periods. By using RipeLockers to store hops immediately after harvest, fresh hop growers can maintain the high quality for up to six weeks.  With this technology, the period to purchase fresh hops is lengthened, and brewers have more time to obtain fresh hops well after the harvest stage and avoid costly overnight air freight.

“Our technology simply works on all perishables as it’s based on the science of slowing respiration, transpiration, and suppressing decay. The opportunity to prove it on fresh hops was an exciting challenge as to-date fresh hops shelf-life has been defined in hours not weeks,” says George Lobisser, CEO/Co-Founder of RipeLocker.

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Investment Round Entirely from Previous Investors in the Company; Funds to be Used Primarily to Manufacture RipeLocker Containers for Commercial Availability

Seattle, WA—April 21, 2021— RipeLocker, a leader in extending the post-harvest life of perishables, today announced it has raised $5 million in series B capital from angel investors. The investment round is all from previous investors in the company, many of whom are renowned in the agriculture industry, including academics, agriculture executives and growers/packers/shippers. The new funds will be used to continue to enhance the company’s RipeLocker containers, utilize the precise operating data the company has accumulated after years of trials, and manufacture the containers for commercial availability for select clients this summer.

RipeLocker’s patented, dynamic, low-atmosphere RipeLocker containers are used for storing and shipping fresh produce and flowers, and extend the post-harvest life by weeks, often months. They are pallet-size, made from recycled materials and are reusable. The company has already completed efficacy trials with several high-value commodities such as berries, pomegranates, cherries, papayas, fresh hops and flowers.

“Over the past few years, we have been actively working with some of the largest growers in the world to test our RipeLocker containers. We are the only company with the data as to how perishables respond under low-pressure vacuum over long periods of time to delay senescence (aging) and decay.” said George Lobisser, founder and CEO of RipeLocker. “This infusion of significant new capital enables us to leverage this data, begin manufacturing the commercial product and scale the company to meet the increasing demand from global and national produce and flower growers.”

RipeLocker also announced today that the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) has started trials using the RipeLocker container as a chemical-free quarantine replacement.

The Technology Behind RipeLocker Containers  

RipeLocker containers offer a unique, patented system to precisely manage the atmosphere (oxygen, pressure, CO2 and humidity) within the containers to extend the life of perishables. Based on the specific needs of each type of fresh produce or flower, RipeLocker tailors these operating parameters to optimize the longevity and freshness. The system also responds to changes in the storage or shipping environment, making precise adjustments to prevent damage and reduce decay.

The company designed its containers so that they can easily be deployed and used in the existing cold chain. They are pallet-size, stackable and 40 of them fit into an ocean or truck reefer (refrigerated container). Produced via injection molds, the RipeLocker container is the first solution that can be delivered cost effectively in mass volume. RipeLocker has patents on both the container design and method of operation.

Selected Recently Announced Trials of the RipeLocker Container

RipeLocker made the following public announcements in the last six months about successful trials of its RipeLocker containers:

• Flowers. RipeLocker containers held freshly harvested roses in beautiful condition for four weeks. The trials were with Queen’s Flowers, the premier breeder, grower, importer and bouquet manufacturer in the floral industry.
• Blueberries. RipeLocker containers held freshly harvested organic blueberries in pristine condition for eight weeks. The company used six of its pallet-size RipeLocker containers to store fresh organic blueberries from Blueberry Hill in the trial.
• Fresh Hops. RipeLocker containers extended the life of fresh hops by six weeks. Trials were conducted in collaboration with CLS Farms, which provided 240 pounds of its fresh Comet and El Dorado® hops, and Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, which ultimately brewed “Cultivate” beer with the fresh hops. Yakima Quality Hops, a well-known hop dealer, helped facilitate the collaboration.

All harvesting companies in the above trials plan to use RipeLocker containers when they become commercially available this summer. RipeLocker is also actively taking additional orders for use of its RipeLocker containers with produce and flower categories on which it has conducted significant efficacy trials.

About RipeLocker
RipeLocker is a leader in extending the post-harvest life of perishables. The company’s patented, dynamic, low-atmosphere containers are used for storing and shipping fresh produce and flowers, and extend the post-harvest life by weeks, often months. When RipeLocker containers are used, consumers benefit from better taste and shelf-life, and retailers experience less waste at their stores. RipeLocker, founded in 2016 and based in Seattle, WA, US, is a science-based and data-driven company. It has been testing the efficacy of its RipeLocker containers for several years with many of the largest growers in the world. For more information, go to www.ripelocker.com

Websites of companies mentioned in this news release:

RipeLocker:  https://ripelocker.com
Queen’s Flowers: https://www.queensflowers.com
Blueberry Hill: https://www.bhberries.com/
CLS Farms: https://clsfarms.com
Thomas Hooker Brewing Company: https://hookerbeer.com
Yakima Quality Hops:  https://www.yakhops.com

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RipeLocker Technology Extends the Life of Fresh Hops, Lengthens the Fresh Hop Season and Helps Breweries Avoid Costly Air Freight Costs

Seattle, WA—November 10, 2020—RipeLocker, a leader in extending the post-harvest life of perishables, today announced its RipeLocker technology had extended the life of fresh hops by six weeks. Tests were conducted this fall in collaboration with CLS Farms, which provided 240 pounds of its fresh Comet and El Dorado^® hops, and Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, which ultimately brewed “Cultivate” beer with the fresh hops. A valuable and highly perishable flower, fresh hops in the past needed to be used within a day of harvesting. When using RipeLocker managed-atmosphere containers to store the hops, the fresh hops retained their original form, color and aroma six weeks later. This is significant for hop growers, hop dealers, breweries and consumers.

With RipeLocker technology, hop growers and packers can now sell more fresh hops, at higher margins than dry hops, and supply distant markets such as Asia. Hop dealers, who often facilitate deals between hop growers and brewers, can now have more fresh hops to sell. Brewers can source more fresh hops for longer lengths of time and avoid costly, and environmentally unfriendly, overnight air freight. Consumers, moreover, are able to enjoy fresh hop craft beers for longer seasons.

At a global level, fresh hops grown in the Southern Hemisphere can now be much more readily available to brewers in the Northern Hemisphere, and vice versa. The new six-week lifespan, and possibly longer, enabled by RipeLocker technology also means that fresh hops can now be shipped via conventional methods such as cargo ships, railways and trucks. This has relevant cost benefits and is better for the environment than air freight.

“If RipeLocker technology can do this for fresh hops, an item that has never been preserved in its fresh form before, we trust it can do this for any produce or cut flower,” said George Lobisser, CEO and co-founder of RipeLocker. “We are very pleased with the outcome of the fresh hop test and believe RipeLocker technology will be a real game-changer for the hop industry as well as the perishable business in general.”

“With RipeLocker, we can now provide brewers with our various coveted fresh CLS Farms hops at a good price for up to six weeks. This means they can extend their brewing seasons even into the holidays,” said Claire Desmarais, fresh hop director at CLS Farms, which is based in the Yakima Valley of Washington state. “The Yakima Valley is a hotbed of hop growers, providing about 75% of the hops in the US. RipeLocker maintains the quality of the fresh hops, enabling CLS Farms to better serve its fresh hop customers, not only in the US, but around the world.”

Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is a local brewery with a national reputation. They recently received shipment of the fresh hops that had been stored six weeks and Andrew Blakeslee, the lead brewer, commented, “The fresh hops look beautiful and smell incredible!” He then proceeded to mix them all into a new IPA called “Cultivate,” which he says has “a fresh, wet, hoppy character with flavors of grapefruit and candied stone fruit, backed up with some pine and resin.”

Yakima Quality Hops, a hop dealer that provides high-quality hops to breweries throughout the United States and abroad, helped facilitate the collaboration between RipeLocker, CLS Farms and Thomas Hooker Brewing Company.

RipeLocker Technology in More Detail

The RipeLocker is a cost-effective, pallet-sized, managed-atmosphere container. The ultra-low oxygen containers suppress pathogen growth, resulting in significantly less decay. The company tailors operating parameters, such as internal pressure, CO2 and oxygen levels, to optimize longevity and freshness for the specific needs of each perishable stored inside. In addition, the company can monitor and change holding parameters real-time to prevent damage from occurring. The RipeLocker is engineered from the ground up using recycled materials and is reusable.

The company is currently in late stage trials with industry leading grower/packers and hopes to announce adoption for blueberries, cherries, papayas, pomegranates and fresh-cut flowers soon.

About RipeLocker
RipeLocker is a leader in extending the post-harvest life of perishables. The company offers a cost-effective, pallet-sized, dynamic, low-atmosphere container, which is made from recycled materials and is reusable. With RipeLocker, consumers benefit from better taste and shelf-life, and retailers experience less waste at their stores. RipeLocker, founded in 2016 and based in Seattle, WA, US, is a science-based and data-driven company. It has been testing the efficacy of its RipeLocker containers for several years with many of the largest growers in the world. For more information, go to www.ripelocker.com

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