Carbon trading is an emerging and innovative weapon in the fight against climate change. It is a market-based solution that allows industries to balance their carbon footprint by trading emission allowances. Using this solution, companies can sell their surplus allowances to others struggling to stay within their emission limits, thus creating a financial incentive for organizations to reduce their emissions.
The beauty of carbon trading lies in its cost-effectiveness. It encourages those capable of making substantial reductions in emissions to do so, as they stand to gain economically by selling their excess allowances. Conversely, companies that find it expensive to curb their emissions can purchase extra allowances, thus balancing their carbon output. This market-driven approach promotes efficient use of resources and encourages the development and adoption of green technologies.
Furthermore, carbon trading allows for flexibility. Instead of a uniform, one-size-fits-all solution like a carbon tax, this system acknowledges that companies are at different stages of environmental adaptation and provides multiple routes to achieve emission reduction targets.
The Challenge of Transparency and Traceability in Carbon Trading
However, the effectiveness of carbon trading is threatened by the potential of mistrust within the market. Participants must be confident that the carbon credits they purchase represent real, quantifiable, and permanent reductions in emissions.
Today, there is significant scepticism especially in the voluntary, unregulated, offset market – present carbon offset initiatives are plagued by double-counting and vague standards. In a report published on Jan 18, The Guardian asserted that more than 90% of carbon credits generated by avoided deforestation projects and accredited by Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard for the rapidly growing $2bn voluntary offsets market, do not represent genuine carbon reductions.
How can carbon trading create both scale and real positive climate impact at the same time? This can be achieved by accessing transparent, traceable, and accurate data about projects and their supply chains. Without efficient and accessible mechanisms to monitor emissions accurately, these issues are hard to address. Accurate data is fundamental to carbon trading, but its collection and verification remain significant challenges, calling for a reliable solution that ensures transparency and traceability.
DiMuto’s Trade Management System: A Game-Changer for Carbon Trading in the Agrifood Industry
DiMuto’s ESG Dashboard on Desktop
Designed to provide unassailable traceability for Agrifood supply chains, DiMuto’s technology is a powerful tool in solving many of the issues plaguing carbon trading within the industry.
DiMuto offers a farm-to-fork solution that captures critical data points with our solutions, that can eliminate data silos to form an accurate picture of sustainability levels. Our blockchain-powered solution helps to ensure immutability, showing the who, what and when of data inputs and creating foundation of trust. This level of traceability allows companies and regulatory bodies to confidently trade carbon credits based on real, quantifiable data.
Additionally, this data is then aggregated automatically on DiMuto’s ESG Dashboard, which helps Agrifood business owners to easily see the environmental impact of their operations and follow product lifecycles in real-time with useful analytics. These analytics can then be immediately generated into a report for it to be shared with relevant parties.
Capturing and analysing this data regularly and reliably empowers Agrifood business owners to identify opportunities for sustainable improvements, assess their progress, and determine new targets, helping to fuel a data-driven movement of food sustainability.
In conclusion, while carbon trading presents an effective, flexible, and economically attractive solution to emission reduction, it’s not without its challenges. However, with the advent of technology solutions like DiMuto’s Trade Management Solution, these hurdles can be overcome, paving the way for more effective and transparent carbon trading and, ultimately, a more sustainable future.
If you are interested to learn more about how DiMuto helps improve sustainability of food systems for global AgriFood trade, reach us at sales@dimuto.io.
A Need For Digital Transformation of Agrifood Supply Chain
In the face of a growing global population and the intricacies of the agrifood supply chain, digital transformation has become a necessity rather than a luxury. The shift from traditional methods to digitalization and automation is vital to enhance efficiency, transparency, and sustainability. By digitizing operations and breaking down data silos, real-time communication and collaboration among stakeholders can be achieved. QR code labels and digital twins, exemplified by DiMuto, facilitate supply chain visibility and data capture from production to distribution. Incorporating technologies like IoT, sensors, and blockchain enables informed decision-making, waste reduction, and increased efficiency. AI and data analytics further contribute by predicting yields, optimizing routes, and tailoring production. Sustainability is a driving force behind this transformation, allowing resource conservation and waste reduction, ultimately leading to a more sustainable food system with environmental and social benefits.
Colombia, 24 April 2023 – DiMuto, a global Agri-FinTech company, strengthens its presence in Latin America with the latest financing of Colombian fresh produce exporter Montana Fruits. The deal will first see DiMuto leverage its AI-powered financing solution to finance Montana Fruits’ exports to Europe, before expanding to its other export markets such as United States and Asia.
DiMuto Financial Services provides data-backed, AI-powered trade financing solutions to AgriFood companies conducting international trade. The solution uses live, transactional data regarding product quality, payment timeliness and status, and disputes all tracked on the DiMuto Platform to accurately assess creditworthiness of applicants.
Montana Fruits is a Colombian packer and exporter of high-quality fresh produce items including avocados, as well as tropical items such as passionfruit and Tahiti limes. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Montana Fruits work with bees in its crop pollination process to support bee populations, and the diversity of food crops. Montana Fruits also supports the well-being of their farmers and provides training and fair market rates for harvests. The company holds a wide range of industry standards and certifications that include Global Good Agricultural Practices (G.A.P), Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA), Rainforest Alliance Certification. The company’s main market is in Europe, with up-and-coming markets including United States and Asia. Montana Fruits processes around 400 containers a year, and exports over US$7 million worth of fresh produce.
“We are grateful to have DiMuto as our financing partner. Their expertise, experience, and commitment to providing financing for the AgriFood trade is invaluable to our business. With their support, we can continue to grow our export operations and reach new markets,” said Mauricio Moranth Zuluaga, General Manager of Montana Fruits and Board Member of Colombia Avocado Board (CAB).
DiMuto Financial Services utilizes a two-tier AI algorithm to determine financing risks for each trade. The company’s proprietary Product Quality AI will be applied on every single carton of fresh produce tracked with DiMuto QR labels to get visibility on overall pre-shipment and post shipment product quality. In addition, DiMuto Trade Health AI will execute financial health scoring based on not just historical financial statements, credit reports, business performance data but also the real-time trade information and documents uploaded on the DiMuto Platform.
This helps financiers to gain deeper visibility on the operational and financial profile of borrowers, as well as allow financing applicants to have more accurate risks assessments and more flexible terms. DiMuto Financial Services can be a game-changer for AgriFood companies looking to improve cash flow and unlock capital to further support business growth.
The data-driven supply chain visibility created by DiMuto also provides significant sustainability insights via the DiMuto Sustainability Management dashboard. With its ability to track every single carton of products from farm to fork, DiMuto can accurately estimate the carbon footprint of AgriFood companies. Such data regarding sustainability metrics can also be made readily available to financiers, who can now conduct due diligence with data visibility and ensure funds invested fulfill sustainability objectives.
“Data-backed sustainable financing is a key focus in DiMuto’s mission to redefine global trade. We want to make sure that we have on-the-ground visibility of the companies we finance as they put in the good work on their sustainability journey. That is why we are very pleased to announce the financing deal with Montana Fruits,” said Gary Loh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DiMuto. “We look forward to supporting the growth of Colombian agricultural exports with our financial services.”
In Colombia, the fresh agricultural export sector continues to perform strongly with exports of Colombian produce expected to grow despite the global economic slowdown. For instance, exports of passionfruit grew 25.8% during the first seven months of 2022 while Colombia’s exports of Hass avocados to Europe grew 41% between 2016 to 2021 and 58% in the US just last year.
Montana Fruits is also working with DiMuto via the DiMuto Marketplace, a B2B AgriFood marketplace, to tap on the company’s strong network in Asia and grow their export business. The innovate DiMuto Marketplace connects traceable buyers and sellers in the AgriFood industry, providing access to high quality products with supply chain visibility. The marketplace offers a wide range of fresh produce, manufactured foods, and seafood products for potential buyers, enabling quick and efficient sourcing.
DiMuto’s financing deal with Montana fruits follows closely after the announcement of their financing deal with Grupo Paisano, a Mexican grower-exporter of fresh produce items ranging from avocados, berries, mangoes, limes and more. The move is part of the company’s efforts to bolster its presence in Latin America as it works to power global AgriFood trade with data visibility and finance for a more sustainable food system.
DiMuto DACKY device and DID labels implemented on Montana avocados in Montana’s packing facilities.
DiMuto and Montana team (L to R: Miguel Giraldo (Regional Account Manager, DiMuto), Natalia Moranth (Co-founder & Sales Manager, Montana), Gary Loh (Founder & CEO, DiMuto), José Aristizabal (CEO, Montana), & Mauricio Moranth (Co-founder & Production Manager, Montana), Julie Escobar (CCO, DiMuto))
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About Montana Fruits
Montana Fruits was established in August 2018. We are a Colombian company dedicated to the export of carefully selected passionfruit, avocado, and lime, always offering the best quality products to meet the highest standards. Our team is made up of an interdisciplinary group of experts, in different areas of the supply chain, from planting crops, through supply, selection and packaging, logistics, until the final commercialization.
We differentiate ourselves in the market due to our high-quality standards, as well as offering technical support and accompaniment to our producers and clients.
Our goal is to be recognized nationally and internationally for our quality standards, rigorous certification process, secure supply chain, and trust in our customers and suppliers.
DiMuto is an AgriFood Trade Solutions that powers global AgriFood Trade with Visibility and Financing. With its three pillars of Marketplace, Trade Management, and Trade Financing, DiMuto simplifies every step of global trade. From produce, trade to market, DiMuto provide sales, marketing, operations, financing, and insurance tools so agribusinesses can get the data visibility they need to trade better and grow greater.
With Visible Trade, DiMuto powers companies and the world forward with confidence as we help create a more efficient, transparent, and measurable ecosystem of sustainable global AgriFood trade.
Since 2019, DiMuto has successfully tracked and traced over millions of pieces in produce and millions in dollars of trade value on our platform, working with a global portfolio of clients in over ten countries and five continents. DiMuto is founded by Chief Executive Officer Mr Gary Loh, who is also the Executive Chairman of First Alverstone Group.
Singapore, 28 February 2023 – DiMuto, a global Agri-FinTech company, has expanded its AI-powered Financial Services to the US and Mexico through its latest financing deal with Grupo Paisano, a large international grower-exporter of fresh produce items based in Mexico. Financing Grupo Paisano’s fresh exports to the United States, the deal will leverage live trade transactional data tracked on DiMuto’s trade platform and utilize DiMuto’s proprietary trade health and financial AI to effectively mitigate systemic and transaction risks.
Grupo Paisano is a grower-exporter collective that works together with smallholder farmers to build scalable, transparent, integrated supply chains connecting field to export markets. The company organizes farmers from three different regions in Mexico into Society of Rural Production (SPRs) and provides them with training, technology and support to improve production yield.
Grupo Paisano exports more than ten product categories such as avocados, mangoes, and limes to the United States, where it is working with leading produce distributors with presence in top nationwide supermarkets. Annually, the company exports over 1,000 containers of fresh produce with over US$17 million in trade value.
“We are excited to work with DiMuto’s technology-enabled financing solutions. Working with large retailers and distributors typically means payment terms that can span upwards of 30 days upon arrival. DiMuto’s trade finance is extremely helpful to effectively manage our cash flow and scale our business,” said Miguel Gallo Reynoso, General Director of Grupo Paisano.
DiMuto Financial Services provides AI-powered trade financing to AgriFood companies. The DiMuto platform unifies critical documents, products and payments in one place, gathering an accurate depository of live trade data between the borrower and respective business partners. To ensure data visibility of the supply chain, borrowers are required to digitalize their trades, tracking every single carton for each order from packhouse to export markets.
DiMuto leverages proprietary AI to assess trade health and product quality for every trade transaction, creating a complete and accurate image of financial and operational strength of companies. The added data visibility creates lower risks for financiers and more favourable financing rates for AgriFood SMEs. This means AgriFood companies can now better manage cash flows, maintain working capital liquidity, and have greater access to essential resources for economic growth.
The data-driven supply chain visibility created by DiMuto also provides significant sustainability insights via the DiMuto Sustainability Management dashboard. With its ability to track every single carton of products from farm to fork, DiMuto can accurately estimate the carbon footprint of AgriFood companies. Companies can now identify opportunities for optimization and efficiency, such as reducing food waste and energy consumption. This helps reduce costs and support sustainable practices, which can be leveraged to secure financing.
Such data regarding sustainability metrics can also be made readily available to financiers, who traditionally face challenges in sustainability financing due to the lack of transparency and visibility into supply chains. Now, they can easily conduct due diligence with DiMuto’s data visibility and AI, ensuring funds invested fulfil sustainability objectives.
“Grupo Paisano continues to lead the market with its commitment to smallholder farmers and promotion of sustainable agriculture supply chains. We are proud to support Grupo Paisano in this important work with our data-driven financing and help them grow their business and communities together,” said Julie Escobar, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer of DiMuto.
The Mexican fresh produce industry has consistently seen positive growth and produces US$17.5 billion worth of fresh produce every year. While Mexican exports dominate the US market, there is plenty of untapped opportunities for Mexico to grow its exports in both established and newer markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region.
Grupo Paisano is also working with DiMuto via the DiMuto Marketplace, a B2B AgriFood marketplace, to tap on the company’s strong network in Asia and grow their export business. The innovate DiMuto Marketplace connects traceable buyers and sellers in the AgriFood industry, providing access to high quality products with supply chain visibility. The marketplace offers a wide range of fresh produce, manufactured foods, and seafood products for potential buyers, enabling quick and efficient sourcing. The DiMuto Marketplace is also committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility, working with growers and suppliers who use eco-friendly farming and packaging practices.
DiMuto continues to deepen its presence in US and Latin America, and is working towards strengthening its financial offerings. The company plans to launch a loan fund targeted at institutional and accredited investors and broaden its financing facilities for AgriFood SMEs around the world. The move emphasizes DiMuto’s commitment to power global AgriFood trade with data visibility and finance for a more sustainable food system.
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About Grupo Paisano
Founded in 2013 by Carlos Alvarez Figueroa, Grupo Paisano was created to improve the rural life of Mexican growers. We promote socio-economic sustainability and growth of small farmer communities to ensure long-term profitability of their small business operations. We believe we can change the world one small farmer at a time. That’s why we focus on better the lives of those who need it most. By transforming the way food is being grown, we are creating a healthier and more sustainable world.
About DiMuto
DiMuto is an AgriFood Trade Solutions that powers global AgriFood Trade with Visibility and Financing. With its three pillars of Marketplace, Trade Management, and Trade Financing, DiMuto simplifies every step of global trade. From produce, trade to market, DiMuto provide sales, marketing, operations, financing, and insurance tools so agribusinesses can get the data visibility they need to trade better and grow greater.
With Visible Trade, DiMuto powers companies and the world forward with confidence as we help create a more efficient, transparent, and measurable ecosystem of sustainable global AgriFood trade.
Since 2019, DiMuto has successfully tracked and traced over millions of pieces in produce and millions in dollars of trade value on our platform, working with a global portfolio of clients in over ten countries and five continents. DiMuto is founded by Chief Executive Officer Mr Gary Loh, who is also the Executive Chairman of First Alverstone Group.
AgriFood businesses face significant challenges when it comes to accessing the funding they need to grow and succeed. According to a report by the International Finance Corporation, there is an estimated US$4.7 trillion funding gap for SMEs globally. This gap is particularly acute in developing countries, where businesses often lack access to traditional sources of financing such as bank loans. The lack of access to funding can significantly hinder the growth of these businesses and limit their ability to contribute to their local economies.
Such issues are further exacerbated in the AgriFood industry due to the unpredictable nature of agriculture and food production. Factors such as weather, disease, and market fluctuations can significantly impact crop yields and food prices, leading to potential losses for businesses that rely on these products. Additionally, the AgriFood industry is often subject to strict regulations and safety standards, which can increase the cost of production and reduce profit margins. This can make it difficult for businesses to generate sufficient revenue to pay back loans and financing, increasing the risk for lenders.
To assess these risk, banks and other financing platforms tend to rely on a business’ historical financial documents. However, assessing such documents may not be a reliable way to judge the risk of financing a company as they may be altered, forged, or irrelevant to their current operations. However, with the right financial solutions and risk management strategies in place, it is possible to minimize these risks and support the growth and success of AgriFood businesses.
Minimising Financing Risks with DiMuto’s AI Generated Trade Health Assessment
Image: View of Trade Health & Financial AI Screen on DiMuto Platform
DiMuto Financial Services leverages AI to assess trade health and product quality for every trade transaction on our platform, providing Agrifood business and financiers with:
Visibility of day-to-day operations
A complete & accurate image of the financial & operational strength of the company
Low-risk lending for financiers, opportunities for buyers/suppliers
Such analyses can be made not only based on the real-time trade data of each trade that is captured on the DiMuto Platform, but also the collection of such granular data over time per trade relation. In combination with DiMuto’s Product Quality AI, DiMuto can generate a financial risk score for each trade and company that can be used for financing opportunities. Thus, DiMuto’s Trade Health & Financing AI allows for financiers to enjoy deeper visibility and more robust assurance and for borrowers gain more accurate risk assessments and more flexible terms.
Accessing Trade Financing Opportunities with DiMuto
Image: View of Trade Health & Financial AI Homepage on DiMuto Platform
DiMuto’s Financial Services can be a game-changer for businesses looking to improve their cash flow and grow their operations. With post-shipment financing, purchase order financing, and invoice financing, businesses can access the necessary resources to continue their operations, pay their suppliers, and invest in their growth. By providing businesses with 20-30 days of improved cash flow, DiMuto can help them take advantage of growth opportunities and achieve their full potential in the competitive global market.
Post-shipment financing enables businesses to obtain financing for the goods that have been shipped to their customers but have not yet been paid for. This service provides businesses with the necessary cash flow to continue their operations while waiting for payment from their customers, which can take anywhere from 30 days to 60 days, depending on payment terms and customer type. Typically, larger retailers offer payment terms of weeks upon product arrival. By offering post-shipment financing, DiMuto enables AgriFood businesses to pay their suppliers, cover their production costs, and invest in their growth.
Purchase order financing assists businesses in fulfilling their purchase orders, helping them improve their cash flow and meet the demands of their customers. This, in turn, can help businesses build better relationships with their customers and grow their businesses over time. With DiMuto’s purchase order financing, businesses can also get the necessary resources to invest in their growth and development.
DiMuto’s invoice financing service provides businesses with financing based on their outstanding invoices, allowing them to obtain working capital without having to wait for payment from their customers. With invoice financing, businesses can access the funds they need to cover their expenses and invest in their growth, even if their customers take longer than usual to pay their invoices.
DiMuto Financial Services are designed to support the growth and development of businesses within the supply chain. By providing businesses with the necessary financing solutions, DiMuto helps to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the supply chain, ultimately benefiting all participants within it. If you’re a business looking to improve your cash flow, DiMuto Financial Services could be an excellent solution for you.
A Need For Digital Transformation of Agrifood Supply Chain
In the face of a growing global population and the intricacies of the agrifood supply chain, digital transformation has become a necessity rather than a luxury. The shift from traditional methods to digitalization and automation is vital to enhance efficiency, transparency, and sustainability. By digitizing operations and breaking down data silos, real-time communication and collaboration among stakeholders can be achieved. QR code labels and digital twins, exemplified by DiMuto, facilitate supply chain visibility and data capture from production to distribution. Incorporating technologies like IoT, sensors, and blockchain enables informed decision-making, waste reduction, and increased efficiency. AI and data analytics further contribute by predicting yields, optimizing routes, and tailoring production. Sustainability is a driving force behind this transformation, allowing resource conservation and waste reduction, ultimately leading to a more sustainable food system with environmental and social benefits.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the AgriFood industry has been greatly increasing recent years. According to Markets&Markets, the Agriculture industry’s spending on AI technology is predicted to increase from $1bn in 2020 to $4bn in 2026.AI-based solutions have great potential to help Agrifood businesses become more efficient in their operations, make better trade decisions, and provide higher quality products faster.In lieu of such benefits,DiMuto has developed and incorporated AI technology into our Global Trade Solutionsto help our customers scale greater heights.
Product Quality AI
Image: View of Product Quality AI on the DiMuto Platform
Firstly, DiMuto has created a Product Quality AI that helps suppliers deliver a consistent high quality product to their buyers. Agrifood businesses very familiar with carrying out thorough QC inspections on their products to determine the quality of the goods and the presence of any defects. However, this important process can be extremely time consuming within a business’ operations and the quality of the goods may be subjective across different audiences.
Using AI, QC Inspections can now be more efficiently and objectively done. DiMuto’s Product Quality AI is currently able to analyse fruit products in three critical aspects:
Detecting ripeness based on surface colour of fruit
Confirming fruit size based on length and width direction
Number of products in a carton
This AI analysis is able to be instantly generated on the DiMuto platform when users capture and digitise images of their product onto the DiMuto system. Furthermore, it can also be applied onto a moving conveyer line that utilises the DiMuto Digital Asset Creation devices (DACKY).
Trade Health & Financing AI
Image: View of Trade Health & Financial AI Homepage on DiMuto Platform
Secondly, DiMuto Financial Services leverages AI to assess trade health and product quality for every trade transaction on our platform. Working with perishables in a digitally disconnected and data-opaque AgriFood industry is typically regarded as fraught with risks by financiers. In order to access this risk, banks and other financing platforms tend to rely on a business’ historical financial documents. However, assessing such documents may not be a reliable way to judge the risk of financing a company as they may be altered, forged, or irrelevant to their current operations.
DiMuto uses AI to avoid such issues by providing Agrifood business and financiers with:
Visibility of day-to-day operations
A complete & accurate image of the financial & operational strength of the company
Low-risk lending for financiers, opportunities for buyers/suppliers
Such analyses can be made from the real-time trade data of each trade that is captured on the DiMuto Platform. In combination with the Product Quality AI, DiMuto can generate a financial risk score for each trade and company that can be used for post-shipment financing opportunities. Thus, DiMuto’s Trade Health & Financing AI allows for financiers to enjoy deeper visibility and more robust assurance and for borrowers gain more accurate risk assessments and more flexible terms.
Image: View of Trade Health & Financial AI Screen on DiMuto Platform
At DiMuto, we understand the utility AI can have in empowering Agrifood business make better informed trade decisions to improve their operational efficiency, product quality, and business growth. With such seamless integration with other DiMuto features, we hope to make AI technology accessible and approachable to our customers to help foster a more resilient global Agrifood supply chain.
A Need For Digital Transformation of Agrifood Supply Chain
In the face of a growing global population and the intricacies of the agrifood supply chain, digital transformation has become a necessity rather than a luxury. The shift from traditional methods to digitalization and automation is vital to enhance efficiency, transparency, and sustainability. By digitizing operations and breaking down data silos, real-time communication and collaboration among stakeholders can be achieved. QR code labels and digital twins, exemplified by DiMuto, facilitate supply chain visibility and data capture from production to distribution. Incorporating technologies like IoT, sensors, and blockchain enables informed decision-making, waste reduction, and increased efficiency. AI and data analytics further contribute by predicting yields, optimizing routes, and tailoring production. Sustainability is a driving force behind this transformation, allowing resource conservation and waste reduction, ultimately leading to a more sustainable food system with environmental and social benefits.
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