New initiative compensates growers and storage operators who share digital records from significant past potato spoilage events, building an industry wide early-warning library<div style="float:right;padding:0 0 15px 20px;margin:15px 0 20px 20px;width:300px">
 Potato Storage Facility
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 <img src="https://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/2dc76b02-7f2a-4412-8d57-e1682b73e06b" title="Potato Storage Facility" alt="Potato Storage Facility in Action" />
 <figcaption>Potato Storage Facility in Action</figcaption>
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</div>Calgary, July 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=vqsjMyOzom4QY98yxh_rPChBjSUBWZo72E3KgUFQX3reAdJEhyL5CxGf7GjhvXqedlU5TpFEZdldaD4c4-gQ_wAu-MW0nZYMZ-QYrF-vltk=" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="">Cellar Insights</a> today announced the launch of the Rotten Potato Data Project, a phased initiative designed to help the potato industry learn from past storage losses and improve early-warning tools for spoilage risk across North America. The program’s first phase invites growers and storage operators in Manitoba, Alberta, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick to share digital records from significant past spoilage events, including rot, breakdown, and hot spots, with expansion to the United States, beginning next month. Qualifying submissions receive compensation. “Rotten potatoes are usually something growers want to forget,” said Terry Sydoryk at Cellar Insights. “But the data around those events is incredibly valuable. If we can understand what was happening in the days and weeks before a problem became obvious, we can build better tools that help every operator spot risk earlier.” Storage losses are one of the least visible costs in the potato supply chain. Rot, breakdown, hot spots, and quality deterioration can build quietly inside a storage long before they are detected, creating costly surprises for growers, packers, and processors alike. The Rotten Potato Data Project turns those hard-earned experiences into a labelled library of real storage events matched to the sensor and controller data that preceded them. Cellar Insights will use this library to train and evaluate machine-learning models designed to identify storage risk earlier and more accurately. Participant data is treated as confidential. Submitted records are de-identified before use in model development, and individual operations, storages, and events are never disclosed or published in identifiable form. Participation will not affect a grower’s commercial relationships, and submitted data is used solely for the development and evaluation of storage-risk intelligence.“Growers who participate aren’t just getting compensated for old records — they’re shaping the early-warning tools the whole industry will rely on,” said Courtney Kowk, Customer Success Lead at Cellar. “The operations that have lived through a serious spoilage event know better than anyone what an earlier warning would have been worth.” The first phase focuses on significant historical spoilage events at Canadian potato storages with digital records from eligible storage management systems, including IVI, Techmark, Gorman, and BTU. Cellar Insights reviews each submission to confirm eligibility before compensation is issued; submission does not guarantee acceptance. Later phases are planned to expand participation to major U.S. potato-growing regions, additional systems, and broader storage-risk categories as the company continues to build its early warning capabilities.  The program supports Cellar Insights’ broader work in potato storage monitoring and spoilage-risk analytics. By combining grower experience, storage system data, and machine-learning development, the company aims to help operators make more informed storage decisions. Participation does not guarantee future spoilage prevention, loss reduction, early detection, or financial savings. Growers and storage operators who have experienced a significant spoilage event and have access to digital storage records can learn more at <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=tWN4dz5vK6IFBEjhJeEkLc9tIjxX7ljMElb55pjmtKeuEm0SrAfuKupwCBhUiyIkU1uJrkJidMYEvU88ZBhgEu8fRekKs-dM9yWtYcXs-8t-QnsPNnv4cf56OsuztpN4QMZ5T97iwDjv8iMqj5rpkiEaPDU4Q48-snQYcH4dod3QWRbHhjFVqMO_99Ji5RihpXyFBKs9006H5lAYGPL14Q==" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="">https://www.cellarinsights.com/news/rotten-potato-data-buyback</a> or contact ckowk@cellarinsights.com. <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=hMQW1Fp2K1Tg5Hmny18AOa3H0LaXx7r6HjOeyz0O6ZLaFOGRLYuaQ4bekidvfSwtGPOp1c_mG_9XwUIRzjkV65nQ6E-trzhlI1mAMi8ZuPo=" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="">About Cellar Insights</a> Cellar Insights helps potato growers and storage operators see storage risk earlier through practical monitoring, data visibility, and spoilage-risk intelligence. The company works with growers, packers, and processors across the potato industry to support better storage decisions and build more reliable early-warning tools. 
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<pre>CONTACT: Terry Sydoryk
Cellar Insights
403-681-0934
contact@cellarinsights.com

Dalyce Semko
ExpandCommunication
4038693259
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Cellar Insights Launches “Rotten Potato Data Project” to Improve Early Warning for Storage Spoilage

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