What They Do:

Xtend provides an organic, food grade patch that can be added to the packaging material of fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers to help extend their shelf life. Customers of Xtend will also benefit from decreasing their waste, new market opportunities, and increase their profits by exporting. Xtend founders understand the severity of short shelf life, on a professional and personal level, since they are agriculture engineers working in an agriculture company. They state that globally and locally, farmers are losing between 25-30% of their fresh produce due to short shelf life and this issue also affects exporters, supermarkets, retail shops and the everyday consumer. 

Startup Experience:

“We applied to the Agrytech Accelerator program in hopes of getting support on many levels including the financial and technical, as Berytech connects many experts in different fields. We hope that with the help of these experts along with the workshops and clinics provided, we would be able to bring our vision to life and create a successful business. 

Berytech gave us the opportunity to think outside the box especially with their beneficial workshops. We were also able to have contacts with experts in each field and create and build our business from the ground up, growing, and working on each aspect till it all came together, from finances to marketing to branding etc. We have reached the stage of almost being market ready, having a completed and fully functional production line and secured potential clients.

An achievement that we are very proud of and wouldn’t have been possible this early on, if not for Berytech’s help, is that we are almost market ready. This step would have taken at least a few years on our own but was achieved in months thanks to the support, encouragement, and guidance provided. Having reached this step means that we have finalized other important aspects of the company and we will be able to continue to grow and reach farther markets once we are done with the program. 

As a company, we only became more than a vision once we started with Berytech. As for the economic crisis and covid-19, Berytech did their best to keep our progress going as much as possible and thus our progress and work was not hindered as much, however our spirits were crushed a few times, but we persevered and kept going. The economic crisis gave us an advantage as our product allows produce to last longer which decreases the need and amount of purchasing. It also made us think of how we can make our product the most affordable while still providing high quality to be accessible to the highest number of people. It also helped us secure a local market since due to the fast fluctuation in the rate of the Lebanese Lira, clients who used to import a similar technology were either forced to stop importing this solution or look for a local alternative as it was not profitable for them. However, with a local, organic, and affordable solution, they were able to resume their work. This solution will also open up market opportunities for a wide range of clients. 

By the end of the program, we hope to secure the relationships with our clients, find investors that will help us to continue, and be a strong, well-established business that is able to penetrate the market and make a name for itself as a local solution.”

Learn more about Berytech’s Agrytech Accelerator program, this startup will be pitching during the Agri-Food Innovation Day 2022.