Custom software development for fresh produce brokerage
A trade intermediary in vegetables, fruit, fish or other fresh produce brings grower and buyer together, often without buying the goods themselves. Per consignment, things move fast: offer, price agreement, transport, quality on arrival, sometimes a claim, and the commission. With perishable goods, every hour counts. Appfront builds software that follows every consignment from offer to settlement, so the intermediary knows what is where and the settlement is correct.
What is software for trade intermediation in fresh produce?
Trading brokerage in fresh produce is all about consignments. A grower or producer makes an offer, a buyer is looking, and the broker brings them together at an agreed price and terms. The consignment then has to be transported, documents follow, and on arrival the quality is checked. If it falls short, a claim follows, and that affects the price for the grower, the buyer and the broker's commission.
Many brokers work with phone calls, messages and spreadsheets. That works fine as long as you're dealing with a handful of consignments a day. With dozens of consignments, you lose track: which consignment is in transit, which price was agreed, where is the photo of the rejected pallets, and will next month's commission match what was actually delivered? A claim that comes in weeks later is then hard to trace back to the consignment.
We build custom software because brokers differ: which products, which markets and countries, whether you work on commission or trade on your own account as well, and which systems you already have. Which documents belong with which consignment depends on the product and destination; the software follows your own agreements and the requirements that apply to your trade.
Every consignment in view
From offer to settlement, with a status per consignment.
Quality recorded
Photos and findings on arrival, attached to the consignment.
Commission that adds up
Calculated from what was actually delivered and settled.
How we build your software for fresh produce brokerage
We start with your trade: which products, which growers and buyers, how offers and price agreements work today, and where things go wrong. We often start with the consignment as a file, with offer, agreement and status, because everything else builds on it. Quality on arrival, claims and commission settlement follow. Integrations with your accounting or with the systems of growers and buyers come once the foundation is in place. That way you quickly see what it delivers, and we then keep building on what you need in practice.
Products, consignments and agreements.
Offer, price and status.
Findings and resolution.
Commission and integrations.
What fresh produce brokerage software actually does
The components below appear in almost every piece of brokerage software for fresh produce. Which ones you need depends on your trade.
Listings
From growers, per product.
Lots
Price, terms, status.
Transport
In transit and documents.
Quality
Findings with photos.
Claims
Resolution per consignment.
Commission
Per consignment and relationship.
Who we build fresh produce brokerage software for
The software is intended for brokers in perishable goods. The more consignments you handle, the more it delivers.
Fruit and vegetables
Many consignments a day. Overview matters most.
Fish
Short shelf life. Speed is key.
Import and export
Multiple countries. Documents matter.
Trading houses
Brokerage alongside your own trade. Separation matters.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we make your idea tangible in a single day for €1,150, so you know whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we deduct the cost in full.
View OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about the broker in fresh produce. For a wholesaler that buys and sells on its own account, see our page on the fruit and vegetable wholesale app; for commission in general, our page on agency administration and commission; and for consignment sales, our page on the consignment sales app. You can read about our approach at building software.
Why Appfront for your fresh produce brokerage software?
A consignment that disappears in messages, a claim that can no longer be traced, and commission that turns out wrong afterwards cost a broker margin and trust. That's what we build on: every consignment in view, quality recorded, and commission that matches what was delivered.
Overview
Every consignment with its status.
Proof
Quality with photos.
The right commission
Based on the actual delivery.
Security and privacy in fresh produce brokerage software
The software holds trade data: prices, margins and agreements with growers and buyers. Access is set up per role, so a relation only sees what belongs to them, and every change to a price or claim is recorded with a timestamp and a name.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. We document the processing in a data processing agreement.
Frequently asked questions about brokerage software for fresh produce
Questions brokers ask before getting started.
The software follows every lot from offer to settlement: who offers it, who buys it, at what price and terms, where the lot is, what the quality was on arrival, and what the commission is. That way everything that belongs to a lot is in one place.
Yes, that is what it is built for. The software records between whom the lot was traded and what your role is, and calculates the commission based on the agreement. If you also trade on your own account, the software keeps that separate.
On arrival, findings and photos are recorded against the lot. If a claim follows, it is stored with the same lot, along with how it was settled and the effect on the price for grower and buyer. Even a claim that comes in weeks later can be traced back.
Yes. The commission is calculated per lot, based on the agreement and what was actually delivered and settled, including claims. You can see what was earned per grower, buyer and period, and the settlement goes to your accounting system.
If you want them to. Growers can enter their offers and see the status of their lots; buyers can see their orders and findings. Everyone sees only their own lots and prices.
That depends on the product, origin and destination, for example consignment notes, inspection documents or certificates. The software records for each lot which documents are required and which are already in, so nothing is missing when the lot departs.
Check that first. Wholesale packages often assume your own purchasing, stock and sales. Custom software makes sense if you mainly broker, work on commission, or if claims and quality per lot don't fit an off-the-shelf package.
Every lot in view, from offer to settlement?
Tell us which products and relations you work with, how lots and commission are currently tracked and where it goes wrong. We'll show you what the software looks like.