On the heels of its $3.5 million funding round, geolocation startup Hoopo has announced a new partnership with Polymer Logistics, a provider of “retail returnable” packaging products such as pallets and containers.
The purpose of the partnership is to increase product freshness, reduce food waste and cut costs along the supply chain.
An initial trial of the technology by a PL customer, a U.K.-based food products producer, has been ongoing since 2018.
The Hoopo partnership will help Polymer Logistics provide visibility for hundreds of thousands of foodstuff assets, from fruit and vegetable boxes to pallets, cages and more by digitizing delivery, said Ohad Perry, CTO of Polymer Logistics, in a press release.
“The combination of our offering with Hoopo’s will enable perishable goods producers and retail companies to make much smarter, data-driven decisions that can help reduce cycle times as well as loss-rates of both assets and goods,” Perry said.
Hoopo’s geolocation technology measures the parameters of intercepted signals to calculate accurate geolocation both indoors and outdoors. This maintains the device’s low-power consumption and enables years of battery life, while providing useful intelligence and data on the assets in real-time.
The Polymer Logistics trial is in its first phase but has already enabled the producer to better understand the delivery routes of its produce as well as any temperature deviations during delivery.
Ittay Hayut, Hoopo’s CEO, said in the release: “This digital transformation of the supply chain is providing Polymer Logistics’ customers with ROI right now. However, our hope is that the business intelligence gleaned by connecting plastic pallets to the internet will also provide data insights that will positively transform the operations of many more businesses in the years to come.”
Looking ahead, Polymer Logistics and Hoopo are improving the functionality of the device to extend its range. This includes ensuring that the device can provide information following periods when it is offline, as well as adding cellular connectivity to offer full supply-chain visibility for high-value assets.