Vertical farming company 26 Seasons is one of just a handful of companies worldwide that has successfully grown strawberries year-round, in an indoor vertical farm.
An industrial site in Foxton houses vertically stacked beds, with optimal conditions for growing strawberries 24 hours a day, year-round.
The controlled indoor environment removes external factors that can affect growth such as weather, seasons, pests and disease.
Strawberries were the Holy Grail in CE agriculture Grant Leach, chief executive of 26 Seasons tells Kathryn Ryan.
Photo: 26 Seasons
“In terms of controlled environment agriculture in the fruit sector, one of the biggest issues with strawberries is what we're trying to do is flatten the peak seasonal curves so that you can grow them a year-round,
“We'll be aiming for nine to 10 months because we don't want to necessarily compete with that New Zealand growers at this stage.”
The vertical farm, or garden, has a proprietary lighting system and uses a nutrient film technique, to feed the plants Leach says.
The system is also clean, he says.
“We have zero pesticides, zero herbicides, we are spray free. It's as clean as you can possibly get without organic certification.”
The farm uses 95 percent less water than growing outdoors, because the water is recycled. Energy, however, is a significant cost, he says.
“Any controlled agricultural environment is going to be using energy as an input cost, and probably the highest cost.”
26 Seasons uses certified renewable energy and is working on generating more of its own power, he says.
“Were working with a German company on a collaborative trial for photovoltaic panels, which is a very advanced solar usage.”
The concept also scores well on food miles, he says
“The feedback we've got is that people would love to have strawberries in the offseason, as long as they were of the quality of the in season without the imported issues that we currently face.
“Our food miles are as low as you can possibly get. We're an hour's drive from wherever our market will be. So, we're much more sustainable than an imported product.”
In terms of lad use the vertical farm is 10 times more efficient in with a yield five times higher, Leach says.
The plan is to establish similar farms overseas, he says.
“I think what you're seeing is a heightened awareness of food security, for a number of nations that are susceptible to an ongoing issue with supply chain.
“Singapore being one of those where they have a mandate of 30 percent of their food grown locally by 2030.”
