Rejection rates of 6–12% in Australia’s leafy greens sector continue to show a deeper issue than product quality itself: the absence of a shared, objective standard. Dr Sivam Krish, CEO and Founder of GoMicro, shares that with losses of up to $47,000 per rejected load, growers face ongoing uncertainty at the point of sale. “Manual inspection, which is still the dominant method, varies by inspector, timing, and market conditions, leaving both growers and buyers without a consistent reference point.”

According to AUSVEG, 68% of supermarket rejections are based on appearance, showing the role of subjective judgement in commercial outcomes. “Subjective assessment leaves room for price negotiations, and seasonality compounds the problem. When there is ample supply, and it becomes a buyer’s market, QC standards are strictly and sometimes unfairly enforced.”

Moving toward objective, shared records
To address this, GoMicro has developed Exceed, a portable AI-based quality control system capable of assessing produce and generating timestamped, verifiable QC records in seconds. The system evaluates a range of parameters, including physical damage, pest presence, and size characteristics, producing a digital certificate that can be referenced by all parties.

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Designed for deployment at multiple points, from farm gate to packhouse to dispatch, the system introduces a consistent dataset across the supply chain. “If both sides can QC objectively and proper sampling is used, quality-related rejections can be greatly reduced, though not eliminated,” says Dr Krish. “Objective QC can reduce quality disagreements that are factually based, disconnecting them from commercial imperatives.”

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Implications for greenhouse production
“In environments where production variables are already tightly regulated, the value of objective QC lies in precision feedback rather than defect detection alone. Even under controlled conditions, factors such as harvest timing, handling practices, and worker decisions influence final quality,” he shares.

“Controlled environments certainly have less pest pressure but this does not mean it is defect-free. QC results can also be used to incentivise farm workers to handle produce without damaging it, and to improve their picking decisions.” The ability to link QC outcomes to specific processes or personnel creates a detailed feedback loop, supporting continuous improvement in high-value production systems.

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Data-driven decision making
Dr Krish shares that the introduction of QC data at multiple handover points also enables growers to access insights previously unavailable. “Without objective measurement at receival, growers have traditionally relied on buyer feedback, limiting their ability to assess transport-related damage or downstream quality shifts.”

“Currently, the grower has no insight into the quality of his produce at receipt,” Dr. Krish explains. “Over time, the data reveals patterns: which varieties hold better in transit, which harvest blocks produce more consistent quality, which seasons correlate with specific defect types.” This transition from intuition-based to evidence-based decision-making has cumulative benefits across seasons.

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Separating measurement from market standards
Rather than enforcing a universal definition of quality, GoMicro’s approach focuses on replicating existing human assessments with greater consistency. “Exceed does not define quality,” says Dr Krish. “It replicates quality judgements based on the decisions of QC officers, and the commercial definition of what is acceptable remains with the humans who set the standard.”

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This distinction is particularly relevant in fresh produce, where biological variability and consumer preferences resist rigid standardisation. “AI assessment can create methods that are a lot more sympathetic to the nature of natural produce and the diversity of consumer preferences,” he adds.

The Exceed system will be demonstrated at VicVID 2026, where live assessments will illustrate its application in commercial environments.

For more information:
AusVegVic
www.ausvegvic.com.au

GoMicro
Kristie Dutt, Business Development
[email protected]
https://gomicro.ai/