By Kenny Lund, ALC Logistics
This past November, the United States stopped the production of the penny. It will take years for the penny to be flushed out of the system, as there are billions in circulation, but slowly, it will end up just a memory of an era gone by.
“Back in the day,” watermelon could be sold for as low as two pennies a pound when there was an oversupply. Changes in produce production and supply chain can be measured in pennies, but they can and should be measured in so many other ways. Likewise, availability, color, size, travel costs, packaging, shelf life, nutrition, and sugar content are just some of the many ways to measure the value of a watermelon. Anyone who has produced, purchased, or sold watermelon over a lifetime will tell you the dramatic complexities in the business compared to “yesteryear.” Like pennies in a jar, over time those changes add up. “Nowadays,” a watermelon’s price might reach 87 cents per pound, but it reflects the cost of delivering a sweeter and higher-quality fruit.
Multiply that complexity by the number of fruits and vegetables in the marketplace today. Some of which did not even exist when our company was founded 50 years ago. Today’s sophisticated shopper wants great produce year-round at a reasonable price. The complexity is managed by the growers, transportation companies, wholesalers, and retailers. These complex processes add pennies to the cost, but more importantly, they add quality and availability of the best produce in the world.
Complex growing systems, sales systems, transportation management systems, monitoring systems, appointment systems, and inventory management systems are working through the process to make things “easier.” AI is being injected into all these systems to make the complex even simpler. While I have my doubts on how seamless this transition will be, the goal is clear: a connected world that delivers fresh produce 365 days a year. Ideally, these advancements won’t just streamline logistics; they will give us the freedom to pause and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Time will tell if AI will free us up to have more time to relax and enjoy a slice of watermelon, purchased for just a few hundred pennies. The copper penny and the produce stand may both be fading into history, but the future of fresh produce is brighter than ever—evolving from a destination down the road to a seamless experience delivered right to our door, wherever we may be.
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Kenny Lund graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Business Administration. He managed the Los Angeles refrigerated transportation division of the Allen Lund Company for eight years, before shifting full-time into managing the Information and Technology Department in 1997, becoming the Vice President of the department in 2002. Lund was promoted to Vice President – Support Operations in 2005. In 2014, Kenny, in the position of VP of ALC Logistics, began working with that division of ALC to sell their AlchemyTMS software solutions. In 2019, Lund was promoted to Executive Vice President of ALC and ALC Logistics.
ken.lund@allenlund.com
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ALLEN LUND COMPANY, TRANSPORTATION BROKERS, LOOKING FOR REEFER CARRIERS: 1-800-404-5863.