Mike Knowles, managing director of Fruitnet Europe, has written the foreword to an in-depth, 40-page report on the world of AI and automation. The report looks at how these technologies will affect areas such as production, post-harvest, distribution, and new product development. The question? How can they make fresh produce supply chains more resilient and more profitable.

“All the way through this report, you can feel the tension surrounding those existential questions which AI's emergence continues to raise,” writes Knowles. “As it is granted more control, companies will need to decide what tasks remain inherently human – relationship management, ethical judgment, or sensory evaluation, for example – and redefine their corporate structures accordingly. We might revisit the impact of AI from that altogether more human standpoint in a future report.”

The report is a forerunner to seeing these technologies in person at Fruit Logistica in Berlin on February 4-6, 2026.

For the entire report, link here: https://messe-berlinprod-media.e-spirit.cloud/a1df0db7-5587-490f-b68d-2d8767a5500f/FRUIT-LOGISTICA/Downloads-Alle-Sprachen/fruit_logistica_Trendreport_2025.pdf

Source: Fruit Logistica November 13, 2025 newsletter