Anacafé President José Tulio González and ProfilePrint Founder Alan Lai in Guatemala. Courtesy photo.
Singapore-based AI-driven ingredient profiling company ProfilePrint and the Guatemalan national coffee association Anacafé have signed a strategic-partnership deal.
The partnership is expected to result in the first major practical application of ProfilePrint technology in the Latin American coffee sector.
It follows at least three fundraising rounds for the startup company, which was co-founded by Alan Lai and Rehan Amarasuriya in 2018. Those included a “seven-figure” round in January 2021, a round of an undisclosed amount involving numerous multinational coffee companies in February 2022 and, most recently, another undisclosed round led by United States-based food giant Cargill.
A ProfilePrint analyzer.
ProfilePrint is built around an AI-driven digital system for the physical analysis of raw food ingredients — notably to this point, coffee.
According to ProfilePrint, the solution “allows sellers and buyers to ascertain the agreed quality of food ingredients digitally, expediting existing assessment processes and facilitating trade.”
A primary selling point put forth by the company is that the system can potentially cut down on shipping and other costs related to the the analysis of green coffee samples between exporters and buyers, such as roasters or traders. Additionally, the company says the analyzers may be a useful tool for farmers or producer groups seeking to better ascertain the quality of their coffees.
In Guatemala, ProfilePrint’s A.I. technology will be used by Anacafé in a multi-phase project to enhance the scope and services of its in-house cupping lab, among other uses.
“This partnership with ProfilePrint enables us to continue revolutionizing services with innovative technology to provide coffee farmers with efficient solutions to better understand their crop and make informed decisions to produce and sell their coffee.” Anacafé President José Tulio González said in an announcement from ProfilePrint.
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