Climate-tech · Cold chain · Agriculture

Better in every way that matters to farmers.

Most small and mid-sized farmers move perishable goods daily with no viable cooling option below $35,000. Frutecho's passive-cooling retrofit installs on any existing truck fleet — no refrigerant, no grid connection, no permanent modification. We are building the hardware infrastructure for the next generation of agricultural logistics.

About Us

Born from the fields.
Built for the market.

Frutecho's founder, Carolina Aguayo, was born and raised in Puerto Rico — where 43% of the population lives below the poverty line, and where she has seen firsthand how fresh imported produce has become an unattainable luxury for many.

That firsthand experience sharpened a professional observation: the link between food waste and the high cost of fresh produce is not a natural market condition. It is a supply chain failure — one that technology and better transportation logistics can fix.

Frutecho exists to reduce waste and improve access to fresh produce by integrating passive-cooling technology directly into existing transportation infrastructure.

Before drawing a single blueprint, Carolina conducted over 180 in-person interviews across six states and Puerto Rico — at farmers' markets, food co-ops, and agricultural associations — to validate the problem from every side of the supply chain. The customer discovery is done. The thermodynamics are validated. The market is real and waiting.

Hardware First

Real constraints, real materials, real field conditions. The thermodynamics are already done.

Accessible by Design

Every design decision starts from the constraints farmers actually have — not the ones the industry assumes.

Built to Scale

Agriculture is the entry point. Beverage, pharma, logistics — anywhere traditional refrigeration is impractical but a cooling solution would be beneficial, Frutecho fits.

The problem

Farmers deserve tools
built for their scale.
Not someone else's.

Small and artisanal farmers across the U.S. and globally face a cold-chain access gap — one that drives produce loss, locks them out of premium buyers, and represents an untapped commercial opportunity at scale.

Revenue Loss

Income lost in transit

Produce spoils before it reaches buyers. Quality degrades. Grades drop. The revenue gap between what was harvested and what was sold is measured in livelihoods.

Market Access

Locked out of premium buyers

Retailers, distributors, and institutional buyers demand freshness standards that are impossible to meet without reliable temperature control during transport.

Cost Barrier

Reefers are out of reach

Refrigerated trucks cost $35,000–$150,000+, plus fuel and maintenance. The only alternatives are improvised DIY methods that fail to regulate temperature effectively.

Our Product

Passive cooling.
Zero infrastructure.

Compatible with Sprinter vans, box trucks, and trailers — whatever farmers already drive. No compressors. No refrigerants. No added fuel cost.

Fast deployment

The Frutecho unit mounts onto existing truck beds and cargo spaces. No permanent modification. No special tools. No downtime.

Phase-change thermal core

Proprietary materials absorb heat and maintain interior temperatures in the 60–70°F range throughout the route. No grid. No fuel. No moving parts.

Reload and repeat

Capital efficient by design.

The team

We know the farms.
We know the physics.

Founder & CEO

Carolina Aguayo

UC Berkeley SCET · Syracuse University

Applied Data Science & Finance. UC Berkeley SCET alum. 180+ in-person farmer interviews across six states and Puerto Rico. From Puerto Rico — this isn't a market she discovered. It's one she lived.

Founding Engineer

Javier Santos

Senior Mechanical Engineer · Puerto Rico

26+ years in thermodynamics, refrigeration systems, and Port of Puerto Rico cargo logistics.