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MUNICH, GERMANY and CARTAGENA, SPAIN – May 12th, 2026 – JimboFresh, a leading Spanish watermelon producer selling under the Jimbee brand, is partnering with Orbem to deploy AI-powered Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in commercial fresh produce. Having marketed over 38,000 tonnes of watermelon in 2025 alone, JimboFresh is deploying the technology, marketed as the Genus Echo for watermelons, as a significant upgrade to its quality control starting in 2026. This move signals a new approach to quality management across the industry, shifting away from destructive sampling toward 100% non-destructive internal inspection to ensure consistency for retailers and consumers.
The problem AI-powered MRI is solving
For decades, the agricultural sector has had to rely on external appearance or the destructive testing of samples to estimate the quality of a harvest. This traditional approach often fails to identify hidden defects such as over-maturation, under-maturation, or internal impact damage. Relying on sampling and statistics forces producers to discard large volumes of perfectly good fruit, with no guarantee that hidden defects won't slip through to retailers anyway. By implementing the Genus Echo for watermelons, JimboFresh leads in a new era of quality management, using granular internal data to inform supply chain decisions, reduce the cost of claims, and ensure consistent quality.
Proven at scale, now available in produce
The technology, though novel to the fresh produce sector, has an established track record in the poultry industry. The German deep-tech company Orbem first industrialized AI-powered MRI to determine the sex of a poultry embryo inside the egg. Now, it has successfully transitioned that proven capability to fresh produce. The Genus Echo for watermelons provides an unprecedented view from skin to core without damaging the fruit, allowing the detection of internal defects in Jimbee melons while keeping every watermelon intact for sale. This shift creates a more sustainable supply chain that ensures consistently exceptional produce while significantly reducing the volume of fruit discarded due to uncertainty.
"It's in our DNA to ensure that consumers always make the right choice, and that means guaranteeing total quality every time," said Miguel Ángel J., CEO of JimboFresh. "The Genus Echo project with Orbem is the definitive answer that will allow us to make a flawless selection without any shadow of a doubt. For generations, we've relied on the traditional method of judging watermelons by sight and sound; tapping the fruit and listening. It served us well, but it was never infallible. With Orbem's technology, we move from skilled guesswork to near-perfect precision — and that's exactly what we want to deliver to our consumers.”
Pedro Gómez, CEO of Orbem, stated: "For too long, the agricultural industry has had to make quality decisions based on guesswork and surface-level inspections. The Genus Echo turns the invisible into actionable insight. JimboFresh is exactly the kind of operator that moves an entire sector. When a company at their scale commits to non-destructive internal inspection, it changes what retailers and consumers will expect from everyone else.”
About Orbem - The Inside Out Company
Orbem uses AI to industrialize MRI, enabling non-destructive insight into everything from fruits to eggs to the human body. Translating what is becoming the world’s largest biological dataset into actionable intelligence, the company helps food producers make better decisions. By providing previously inaccessible information — the sex of an embryo inside an egg or the quality of a watermelon — Orbem reduces waste and increases transparency. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, with offices in Houston, Texas, Orbem’s team scales its inside-out intelligence to transform how humanity sees and understands biological matter.
Media contact: Barbara Jilek, barbara.jilek@orbem.ai
About JimboFresh
JimboFresh is on a mission to transform the fresh produce sector through a model built on quality, innovation, and a return to authentic flavor. What began as a single venture has grown into a fully integrated agricultural group operating across the entire value chain — from the field to international markets. Sustained growth, supported by in-house production that guarantees end-to-end quality control, and continuous investment in agricultural innovation and sustainability have defined the company's journey. Today, JimboFresh combines tradition with technology to deliver an efficient, scalable business built for the long term.
Media contact: Andres Conesa, andres@jimbofresh.com
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