AN EFFICIENT GREENS SPINNER FOR IMPROVING FOOD SAFETY AND INCREASING PROFITABILITY FOR SMALL TO MID-SIZE FARMS

The overall goal of our Phase I project is to develop a mid-capacity greens spinner prototype to improve the handling efficiency of small farms, enabling them to increase output and potentially expand operations to generate large, consistent quantities of greens needed to satisfy demand for local foods. To accomplish this we will successfuly complete six tasks within two separate technical objectives:Technical Objective #1: Technical feasibility of an electric greens spinner. This objective will result in the design and development of a commercial scale, electric greens spinner for small farms. This objective includes determining prototype design criteria, fabrication and testing of the prototype, and an assessment of third-party logistics.Task 1: Determine Prototype Design CriteriaTask 2: Component Design and Testing ProtocolTask 3: Prototype Development and TestingTask 4: Logistics AssessmentTechnical Objective #2: Market feasibility. This objective is to assess the short-term feasibility and long-term sustainability of the commercialized product. The research questions in this technical objective will be used to inform pricing strategy and sales projections critical to the development of a successful commercialization plan.Task 5: Preliminary Value Chain AnalysisTask 6: Customer Survery