Elevated Foods Brings Nutrient-Density Data to Fresh Produce Shoppers

Elevated Foods is partnering with food-testing company Edacious to make independently tested nutritional information available for its fresh fruits and vegetables, an effort that could give retailers and consumers a new way to compare produce beyond price, appearance and variety.

The company has begun publishing laboratory results through the public Edacious FoodData platform. Initial testing includes two avocado entries, heirloom tomatoes, cantaloupe, plums and tomatoes.

The platform provides measurements of vitamins, minerals, macronutrients and other food components from samples of specific products rather than relying solely on generalized nutritional reference data.

“Retailers need fundamentals like reliable supply, competitive pricing, and consistent quality,” said Paul Kneeland, vice president of sales at Elevated Foods. “We’re exploring how verified nutritional information can add another layer of understanding.”

Elevated Foods works with a network of more than 150 farms, with a focus on helping small- and mid-sized growers reach larger markets while adopting soil-health and regenerative agriculture practices.

The company sees nutrient testing as one way to measure whether differences in growing practices can eventually be connected with measurable differences in food quality.

That is a significant distinction.

Nutritional values for fresh produce are generally presented as standardized averages, even though actual nutrient levels can vary because of genetics, growing conditions, soil, maturity and postharvest handling.

Edacious FoodData is designed to make some of that variability visible. The platform combines independent laboratory results with existing nutritional information and allows participating growers and food companies to publicly share their results.

Elevated Foods plans to continue adding test results over time, creating a larger body of information that can potentially be compared with farming practices and soil-health data.

For growers, that could provide another way to demonstrate the value of investments made in the field.

“Small and mid-sized growers are being asked to provide more detail on their farming practices and the products they bring to market,” said Brittany Gallahan, director of sustainability at Elevated Foods.

Retailers could eventually use independently tested nutritional information alongside traditional considerations such as quality, consistency, supply and price when evaluating products or developing merchandising programs.

The concept also raises an interesting question for the produce department.

Fresh fruits and vegetables have traditionally been marketed largely by commodity, variety, brand, origin or production method. Verified nutrient data could potentially add another point of differentiation.

Elevated Foods is not claiming that regenerative practices automatically produce more nutritious food. Instead, the company says the testing is intended to establish benchmarks and build data that can help growers better understand the relationship between farming practices and crop quality.

For produce shoppers, it represents something relatively new: the ability to see laboratory-tested nutritional information tied to the actual fruit or vegetable they are buying.