The Best Fresh Produce Software
Fresh produce software helps manage the supply chain, logistics, and operations of perishable goods businesses. Our top picks prioritize features like production forecasting, shelf-life tracking, traceability, and mobile order management.
- Offers real-time data integration
- Features are easily accessible
- Can easily share between desktop and mobile apps
- Optimizes delivery routes and schedules
- Offers flexible pricing strategies and controls to adapt to market changes
- Automates order-to-cash cycle
- Comprehensive food traceability features
- Advanced inventory control and slotting
- Supports one-pass picking methodology
Using our review methodology, we ranked the best solutions for distributors, wholesalers, processors, growers, packers, and shippers.
| Software | Best For | Deployment Options | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Famous ERP | Best Overall | On-Premise | N/A |
| Produce Pro | Packers and Shippers | Cloud | N/A |
| Visual Produce | Wholesalers | Cloud or On-Premise | N/A |
| Food Connex | Processors | Cloud | $10,000 - $14,000/year |
| Acctivate Inventory Management | Distributors | Cloud and On-Premise | $5,000 - $14,000/year |
| Produce Inventory Control System (PICS) | Growers | Cloud | N/A |
- Famous ERP: Best Overall
- Produce Pro: Best for Packers and Shippers
- Visual Produce: Best for Wholesalers
- Food Connex: Best for Processors
- Produce Inventory Control System (PICS): Best for Growers
- Acctivate: Best for Distributors
Famous ERP - Best Overall
Famous Software’s production and yield forecasting feature offers powerful tools for predicting crop yields based on historical data, environmental factors, and trends.
The system analyzes key factors affecting crop performance, including soil conditions and planting schedules, to deliver accurate projections. It also integrates weather data, allowing you to understand how temperature, rainfall, and frost impact growth and yields.
Yield forecasting can identify potential risks such as droughts, frost, pests, or diseases, enabling you to take proactive measures like applying protective treatments such as frost covers. This minimizes crop loss and ensures better overall production.
The system can forecast yield on a per-field basis instead of a general estimate. The software considers irrigation practices and microclimates within different parts of the farm. This level of precision can boost your productivity and enhance sustainability by optimizing resource use.
One potential drawback of Famous ERP is that the system can only be installed on-premise, which may turn away companies looking for a cloud-based solution.
For more information on Famous ERP, read our full review.
Produce Pro - Best for Packers and Shippers
Produce Pro features shelf-life tracking, a critical component that can help you better manage fresh fruits and vegetables. This capability can help you maintain product quality, minimize waste, and ensure compliance with food safety standards.
The system tracks expiration dates in real time, allowing you to monitor your inventory’s freshness continuously. Whenever a new shipment arrives, Produce Pro records the products’ expiration dates and batch numbers and assigns them to specific lots.
The software supports the FEFO method, prioritizing selling produce with the earliest expiration dates first. This helps reduce waste and optimize inventory turnover. As stock moves throughout the warehouse, the system automatically updates each item’s status to prioritize products nearing their shelf-life limits. This proactive approach ensures that your products reach customers while they’re still fresh, enhancing their satisfaction.
For more information on Produce Pro, read our full review.
Visual Produce - Best for Wholesalers
Visual Produce offers a mobile order management feature that streamlines order processing and enhances customer service. The feature operates through dedicated applications compatible with iPads and smartphones, allowing your team to handle transactions from virtually anywhere.
With the mobile app, you can do a variety of tasks, including:
- Enter new orders or modify existing ones
- Check inventory levels in real time to confirm product availability
- Review customer profiles and order histories to tailor sales approaches
- Track order progress, including shipping and delivery statuses
These capabilities ensure you access critical information instantly, facilitating prompt and informed decision-making. For example, if you receive an order for 100 pounds of apples, you can input it directly into the system for immediate processing using your tablet.
Before confirming the order, you can check the current inventory levels on the mobile app to verify if sufficient stock is available. You can also access the client’s purchase history to identify popular items and suggest additional products that align with their preferences. After placement, you can monitor its status through the app to ensure timely delivery and address any issues that may arise quickly.
For more information on Visual Produce, read our full review.
Food Connex - Best for Processors
Food Connex ERP has strong batch tracking capabilities, which can enhance control and visibility throughout the production process. This functionality enables you to trace each batch from its arrival at the facility to processing and distribution.
When produce arrives at your facility, Food Connex assigns a unique lot number to each batch. The lot number links to detailed information, such as supplier details, harvest date, and quality assessments. The system will update the batch’s status and location as the product moves through various stages.
If you discover a batch contaminated with a pesticide residue that exceeds regulatory limits, you can identify the defective product by searching the batch number. The software will show which retailers and customers received the batch, allowing for an immediate targeted recall. You can work with distributors and retailers to retrieve the affected products from the shelves and prevent them from reaching customers. This advanced traceability can help resolve issues and ensure compliance with food safety regulations by providing a clear record of the product’s journey from farm to table.
One drawback of Food Connex is that it may not fully support complex multi-slot storage systems, which may impact you if you have intricate warehouse configurations.
For more information on Food Connex, read our full review.
Produce Inventory Control System (PICS) - Best for Growers
Produce Inventory Control System (PICS) allows you to simultaneously post multiple variables to inventory without manually entering each detail, reducing errors and saving you time.
You can enter treatments and labor for an entire produce batch in one action, including details like treatment type (i.e. fertilizer or pesticide), quantity applied, and labor hours. For example, if a team spends eight hours harvesting, the total labor hours can be logged and distributed across the produce handled.
This capability can be highly beneficial if you manage a large farm that produces various types of fresh produce. It ensures compliance with regulations and provides insights into resource allocation and treatment effectiveness.
For more information on Produce Inventory Control System (PICS), read our full review.
Acctivate - Best for Distributors
Acctivate’s lot number tracking feature with First In, First Out (FIFO) support helps ensure produce freshness and quality. This functionality can help reduce waste and spoilage, increasing your bottom line.
For instance, you might receive a large shipment of tomatoes in various batches. Upon arrival, the tomatoes will be assigned lot numbers based on when they were harvested. Acctivate ensures the oldest lot, like one expiring on September 10 instead of September 16, is selected first when fulfilling orders, reducing the risk of spoiled products.
Acctivate alerts you a few days before the lot expires, allowing you to prioritize orders for that lot. This ensures product quality and safety and enhances customer satisfaction and regulatory compliance. The system also utilizes Last In, First Out (LIFO), for managing perishable products, ensuring customers receive fresh items.
You can integrate Acctivate with QuickBooks for full ERP functionality, syncing financials with inventory management. However, QuickBooks is the only accounting system that can be integrated, so companies using other accounting systems may find this restrictive.
For more information on Acctivate’s, read our full review.
What Is Fresh Produce Software?
Fresh produce software is a food distribution software tailored for the fresh fruit and vegetable sector. It integrates various functions like quality control, sales, and logistics, focusing on real-time perishable food inventory management and traceability. This software aids in handling complex costs and operations in the produce industry, including production, transportation, and handling fees.
These systems offer accounting, buying, selling, processing, packing, growing, and brokerage modules, ensuring efficient supply chain management and quick response in recall situations. It caters to industry growers, packers, shippers, wholesalers, and distributors.
Key Features and Primary Benefits
- Inventory Rotation: Reduce spoilage by using the FIFO and LIFO methods to ensure that older stock is used first, prioritizing distributing products with shorter shelf lives.
- Cold Chain Management: Fresh produce must be set at specific temperatures to maintain freshness; this tool can help monitor and control temperature during storage and transportation.
- Traceability: Track your produce from the farm to customers’ tables, recall products quickly if necessary, and provide full transparency throughout the supply chain.
- Shelf Life Management: Track expiration dates for perishable products and send out alerts when stock nears expiration, reducing spoilage risk.
- Demand Forecasting: Predict consumption patterns, seasonal fluctuations, and market trends to help you optimize sales and purchases and decrease your risk of overstocking or understocking.
- Supply Chain Visibility: Monitor and report shipments, deliveries, and inventory status to reduce bottlenecks and inform customers about product availability.
- Quality Control: Perform inspections at different stages, including harvesting, receiving docks, and before shipping to ensure compliance with food safety regulations.
Pricing Guide
Fresh produce systems pricing can vary drastically, with the average of most systems ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 annually. These are just yearly subscription costs; some products may also include additional implementation charges that can lead to a higher price point.
Acctivate’s pricing starts at $5,000/year but can extend to $14,000/year. On the other hand, Food Connex is a little higher in price, starting at $10,000, and can increase to $14,000/year. Pricing will depend on variables such as the number of users and total employees.
On-premise deployment will have a higher initial cost as businesses purchase the software outright. Most businesses can expect locally installed options to have licensing, implementation, and training fees rolled together. Services such as support and data migration will usually be billed separately.
