Helios Blog

Stay in the know with the latest updates, discussions, and more from Helios AI.

The Thanksgiving Table Meets Climate Risk: Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries in 2025
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

The Thanksgiving Table Meets Climate Risk: Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries in 2025

This Thanksgiving, two of the season’s most recognizable ingredients—sweet potatoes and cranberries—tell a deeper story about climate, supply, and resilience. What appears to be a year of relative abundance at the retail level masks growing pressure beneath the surface. Our Helios Horizon data indicate that both crops are navigating climate-driven volatility, although the impacts manifest differently across regions and supply chains.

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🎃 From Treats to Trade Winds: What Helios Horizon Predicts for Coffee, Cocoa, and Climate This Holiday Season
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

🎃 From Treats to Trade Winds: What Helios Horizon Predicts for Coffee, Cocoa, and Climate This Holiday Season

As pumpkin spice fills the air and Halloween candy lines the shelves, the season of comfort is here, and with it, a reminder of how global our small pleasures really are. The chocolate in your trick-or-treat bowl and the coffee in your Thanksgiving mug travel through some of the most climate-sensitive supply chains in the world.

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Helios AI at World Agri-Tech 2025: Predicting Prices, Climate Risks, and Supply Chain Disruptions
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Helios AI at World Agri-Tech 2025: Predicting Prices, Climate Risks, and Supply Chain Disruptions

At World Agri-Tech 2025 in London, Helios AI CEO Francisco Martin-Rayo joined other global leaders to discuss climate-proof agriculture. The panel highlighted how AI, collaboration, and finance can transform global food supply chains. With climate volatility and disruptions rising, Helios Horizon empowers businesses to forecast prices, manage risks, and build resilience.

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Plenty of Pumpkins This Season… But What About Later?
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Plenty of Pumpkins This Season… But What About Later?

Fall is synonymous with pumpkins– from lattes to pies, or hayrides and Halloween displays. The Pacific Northwest pumpkin harvest of 2025 is off to a strong start, with growers optimistic about both the quality and supply of the vegetable. Yet, behind all the success lies a growing concern: the later part of the season doesn’t look nearly as stable.

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Indonesia’s Wet Season Surprise: What It Means for the Season Ahead
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Indonesia’s Wet Season Surprise: What It Means for the Season Ahead

In June 2025, Indonesia’s weather authority (BMKG) revised its seasonal forecast in a way that caught many in the agriculture sector by surprise. Instead of entering a long, dry stretch, the country has experienced higher-than-normal rainfall, delaying the onset of the dry season across most of the archipelago.

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Tariffs, Trade Wars, and the Rise of Brazil’s Soybean Empire
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Tariffs, Trade Wars, and the Rise of Brazil’s Soybean Empire

China’s retaliatory 34% tariff on U.S. farm goods stripped the U.S. soybean market of most of its competitiveness overnight. The market was devastated, and China quickly turned to a new supplier: Brazil. China's shift from the U.S. to Brazil for soybeans is increasingly looking less like a temporary substitution and more like a realignment in soybean trade, making Brazil China’s go-to producer for soybeans permanently.

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Florida’s Oranges Are in Crisis - You Can Thank Climate Change for That
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Florida’s Oranges Are in Crisis - You Can Thank Climate Change for That

Orange juice used to be a breakfast staple. Now, it’s starting to look more like champagne—a luxury item for special occasions. As climate change intensifies, Florida's orange market is caught in the turmoil thanks to citrus greening disease: a bacterial disease spread by tiny, sap-sucking insects called psyllids (pronounced sill-ids).

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Fruit, Vegetable… or Political Football? How Tariffs Are Squeezing the Tomato Trade
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Fruit, Vegetable… or Political Football? How Tariffs Are Squeezing the Tomato Trade

Tomatoes may be botanically a fruit, but in the U.S.–Mexico supply chain, they are a critical “vegetable” for procurement teams, and this summer, they’ve become a political flashpoint. In mid-July 2025, the collapse of the Tomato Suspension Agreement ended nearly thirty years of price stability in the import market and brought back a 17% U.S. tariff on fresh Mexican tomatoes.

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The Climate Behind Your Limes: Why Stable Prices Can’t Be Taken for Granted 
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

The Climate Behind Your Limes: Why Stable Prices Can’t Be Taken for Granted 

Limes—the lemon's little brother—are a staple in many diets worldwide. Colombia is the 10th largest supplier in the world, producing about 2.29% of fresh limes globally. Colombia is prone to experiencing rainy and dry seasons; its rainy seasons are typically from March to May and September to November, but this year, the country’s rainy season is beginning earlier and more intensely, creating a riskier environment and potentially disrupting the growth and price of the fruit we all know and love.

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Podcast Feature - FoodTech Stories
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Podcast Feature - FoodTech Stories

Francisco Martin-Rayo, Co-Founder and CEO of AgTech startup Helios joins host Megan Thomas to discuss how his firm uses AI and large data sets to predict field, country, and global production of agricultural crops. This episode will break down how the team at Helios has built its tech stack, how it delivers meaningful insights, including predicted future pricing, to customers, and the surprising ways it is building buy-in with seasoned buyers and traders.

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Climate Pressures Leave Cherry Harvest Well Below Average
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Climate Pressures Leave Cherry Harvest Well Below Average

Turkey, the world’s leading cherry exporter, is closing out one of its most difficult seasons in recent memory. Severe frost in spring wiped out large portions of the crop, and persistent drought has devastated many of the surviving orchards. With only a short time left in the season, yields are already well below average, fruit quality is inconsistent, and buyers are paying higher prices to secure a limited supply.

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Guatemala’s Avocado Ambition: America’s New Alternative Supplier?
Ruzana Ileuova Ruzana Ileuova

Guatemala’s Avocado Ambition: America’s New Alternative Supplier?

Let's face it: Americans love avocados. But with the United States heavily reliant on Mexico for avocado imports, a new player is entering the game: Guatemala. The relatively small Central American country produced only about 50,000 tons of avocados in 2024, prompting the question: Could Guatemala become America's next major alternative exporter?

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