Vodafone is deploying IoT technology to ensure 1.5 million strawberries make it to Wimbledon, the world’s oldest tennis tournament.
Wimbledon simply wouldn’t be the same without strawberries and cream. Hughe Lowe Farms has supplied Wimbledon’s strawberries for almost 30 years and will remain the tournament’s exclusive supplier this year.
Vodafone has partnered with Hughe Lowe Farms to ensure the strawberries reach their destination, The All England Lawn Tennis Club, in peak condition.
A new tracker will enable the farm to monitor each load of strawberries that are heading to Wimbledon. The tracker will report detailed information like temperature, collisions, and vibrations in the packaging.
Marion Regan, MD of Hugh Lowe Farms, said:
“We are excited to be working with Vodafone and their support is helping us optimise the growing conditions of our strawberries.
It is a great privilege to be the sole provider of strawberries to Wimbledon, and that’s a role we’ve had for nearly 30 years.
Now we’re using Vodafone’s cutting-edge technology to be able to deliver the best ever quality strawberries, all produced in a more sustainable way, for fans to enjoy.”
Hughe Lowe Farms is also harnessing the benefits of the IoT during the growing process.
The company is using MyFarmWeb – Vodafone’s cloud-based platform for storing, visualising and comparing all types of maps, geographic, and IoT-generated agricultural data – to increase operational insights.
Using the data from MyFarmWeb, Hugh Lowe Farms is able to improve soil and crop health, water use, and enable precise fertiliser and pesticide application. This ultimately increases output while reducing waste and carbon emissions.
Nick Gliddon, Business Director at Vodafone UK, commented:
“Technology has the power to change society for the better and we can see it in action at Hugh Lowe Farms.
Not only does our IoT technology help the team make their operations more efficient and produce the best strawberries, it also helps them be as environmentally friendly as possible by reducing excess water usage and minimising greenhouse gas emissions.”
A paper released last year by Vodafone and WPI Economics found that introducing IoT technology could help the agriculture industries save 2.4-4.8 million tonnes of CO2e annually.
Overall, the report found that emerging technologies like the IoT and 5G have the potential to help the UK cut 17.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
(Image Credit: Vodafone)
Related: Juniper Research: Vodafone Business leads IoT roaming vendors
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