Company Continues to Invest in Collaboration with Growers to Solve Industry Challenges

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zest LabsTM, a subsidiary of Ecoark Holdings, Inc. ("Ecoark") (OTCQX: ZEST), today announced that it has become a member of the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT) in Salinas, Calif., operated by Western Growers.

The WGCIT was created to help identify priorities in the agriculture industry, discover technologies to address those priorities, set up testing, facilitate industry feedback and communicate progress to fresh produce farmers in California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

"The goal of the Center of Innovation and Technology is to help identify and accelerate innovative technology solutions that will benefit growers and handlers and their customers," said Hank Giclas, Western Growers Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Science and Technology. "We are excited to welcome Zest Labs to the WGCIT and look forward to the value the company will bring to the Center and Western Growers members, as well as providing our insights to Zest Labs."

Zest Labs Zest Fresh™ solution is the only freshness management solution proven to significantly improve freshness consistency for consumers and reduce waste for retailers by leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) to autonomously track and report in real time on the freshness of products from harvest to retail.

Zest Labs is at the forefront of modernizing the fresh food supply chain through real-time monitoring at the pallet level, and is committed to driving industry innovation. Of note, Zest Labs recently announced integrated blockchain support at no additional cost or labor for growers and shippers using Zest Fresh, as well as launching its Produce Advisory Board to gather insight and perspective from the produce grower community.

By joining the WGCIT, Zest Labs will be able to collaborate with other members and gain input from growers on the industry problems theyre facing. In turn, Zest Labs can support growers and fresh produce farmers in understanding and implementing technology solutions that directly address their challenges.

"The agriculture industry is facing a multitude of challenges, but only through collective efforts will we be able to solve them," said Peter Mehring, CEO of Zest Labs. "The Zest Labs team is looking forward to joining the WGCIT, expanding our footprint with growers across California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, and sharing our knowledge of the fresh food supply chain."

About Zest Labs
Zest Labs, a subsidiary of Ecoark Holdings, Inc., provides a growing suite of freshness management solutions that substantially improve quality consistency and drive sustainability for a wide range of clients. Zest Labs provides solutions to modernize the existing food distribution and delivery system by significantly increasing efficiency through continuous condition monitoring and real-time prescriptive analytics.


About Ecoark Holdings Inc.
Founded in 2011, Ecoark is an AgTech company modernizing the post-harvest fresh food supply chain for a wide range of organizations including growers, distributors and retailers. The company's Zest Fresh™ solution, a breakthrough approach to quality management of post-harvest fresh food, is specifically designed to help substantially reduce the $161 billion amount of food loss the U.S. experiences each year. Through item-level monitoring and real-time predictive analytics, Zest Fresh enables customers to improve the freshness and quality of produce, realize substantial cost savings and reduce food waste.