Time Magazine has called them Fruit Tattoos and stated that they are one of the Best Inventions of 2005. The invention, which brands produce with a laser label, has found its way on to NBC’s “Today Show,” CBS’ “The Early Show,” and a program on the Discovery Channel.

Word is spreading rapidly about the tattooed fruit and inventor and Peachtree City resident Greg Drouillard has been very busy since his invention gained world-wide attention.

Drouillard, who stated that he has always been a scientist at heart, got degrees at the University of Alberta in Canada, the University of South Florida and the University of Florida.

When Drouillard was a research scientist at the University of Florida studying machine vision and robotics in the early 1990s, he sat in on a seminar where people complained about the adhesive labels on produce. The panel did not draw any conclusions that day but Drouillard had a few ideas and got to work.

“I’ve always wanted to continue learning and solving real problems in my field of physics,” said Drouillard. “This was just a perfect application.”

He started by putting together some theories, one of which was using a laser to put the pertinent information that an adhesive label has directly on the fruit. The question was, if he put it on the surface of the produce, would it hurt it?

The answer was no. The University of Florida did testing on the product and found that it did not lessen the item’s shelf-life, did no damage and caused no pathological problems.

It took nine years to develop the device and afterwards, in a sealed bid process, Durand-Wayland, Inc. of LaGrange, bought the patent.

“It was important for me that this was a sealed bid because I didn’t want companies trying to outbid each other for the product,” said Drouillard. “I wanted the idea to get out there.”

Mission accomplished.

The idea is called Natural Light Labeling and it basically emits a laser into the top two layers of produce, removing pigment from that section of the item and etching information into it. Drouillard was also able to do this on all forms of produce, regardless of the texture and surface.

The device sends out a signal, gets the information of the surface that it will be writing on and does the etching. It can react to changes in the surface texture and the topography very quickly and makes the letters uniform and not distorted.

“This works where stickers won’t. It gives the consumer certified traceability and is tamper-proof and non-transferrable,” said Drouillard. “It guarantees where the produce has been and the process its been through to get there.”

Among the information that is typically on the produce are the PLU number (price look-up number) and the country of origin. The buyer can also choose to put on graphics and any other information they want.

In addition to having the information they want, companies have also found that their accounting is more accurate.

Since the invention was completed and purchased, Drouillard has been developing an expert system that can commercially integrate the product with other systems and has been traveling the world implementing the program.

“This just launched over the summer,” said Drouillard, who added that the technology is already in use in some western states, as well as New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Drouillard stated that local consumers will likely see produce with the laser labels within the next year.

Attention came to the product over the summer when an editor at the New York Times wanted to write a piece on adhesive labels on produce and came across Drouillard and his invention. It grew from there as television came calling and more people around the world started seeing the natural light labeling on their produce.

Before Christmas, Drouillard, who has been married to his wife, Diana for 20 years, will return to New Zealand with plans for trips to Europe in the beginning of next year. The Drouillards have three children, Bradley, Alex and Ryan.

Drouillard sees big things in the future both personally and in the industry. He is hoping to develop technology to regulate the internal quality of produce.

While he sees this as a major part of the future, Drouillard also thinks that the future will feature automated picking equipment, which will eliminate human error and possible contamination and will allow for real-time decision-making on the produce itself.

While he has one eye on the future, Drouillard is very pleased with the consumer response to the “fruit tattoos.” “Their enthusiasm really keeps me going,” he said.

While local consumers may have seen the natural light labeling on onions, he added that there should be examples of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and avocado in local stores soon.

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