How Greenswell Growers Avoids Food Contamination and Boosts ROI with Automation
October 11, 2024 Food contamination is a hot topic in controlled environment agriculture (CEA), especially where automation is concerned. While hands-free production doesn’t eliminate all risk of contamination, it often makes being food safety compliant less of a challenge. That’s the main reason why Greenswell Growers, a hydroponic greenhouse operation in Goochland County, Virginia, uses automated equipment to grow and package their lettuce.
Giving Back to the Community While Building a Business
Greenswell Growers established itself as a commercial greenhouse operation in 2022. However, the dream to feed the hungry by donating produce to a local food pantry was what spurred the company’s founders Chuck Metzger, John May, and Doug Pick to start growing and selling their greens. The company needed to make a profit if it wanted to fund its philanthropic endeavors long term. Why not grow food for a good cause while making money at the same time?
All Greenswell Growers needed was the right equipment to set their plan into motion. “When [our founders] were looking at the different tech, they considered the best return on investment and [what would] allow us to operate long into the future,” said Grower Ben Sword.
Finding the Right Tech for the Job
The automated harvesting system is the heart of Greenswell Growers’ greenhouse operation. When the founders built their 1.5-acre facility around the technology because of the benefits it offered.
“When our founders found the green automation system, it really stood out to them as being the best business case,” said Sword. “It has the most automation and is easy to operate with the least amount of labor.”
The lettuce grown at Greenswell Growers isn’t touched by human hands throughout its entire growing cycle, which helps cut down on labor costs. In fact, the crop isn’t touched until customers open the resealable package it comes in. “This is a huge benefit in terms of food safety, and also labor,” said Sword.
Automation in Action at Greenswell Growers | Photo: Ben Sword
Looking at Labor
Greenswell Growers doesn’t have a high demand for labor, as only 12 employees work for the company. Most of the labor is needed in the packaging room of the greenhouse; additional growers would be needed if an automated system wasn’t in place. Not only does automation simplify tasks on-site, but it helps make the business more profitable.
“If we didn’t have all of this automation, there would be so many more employees,” said Sword. “Probably triple the amount we have now. So that gives us really good numbers on our profit margins.
Putting Food Safety First
While keeping their lettuce away from human touchpoints reduces the risk of food contamination, safety precautions still have to be taken at the greenhouse. Each day, growers at Greenswell Growers deep clean their equipment, particularly in the packaging room. From there, they test adenosine triphosphate (ATP) swabs to measure how clean each piece of equipment actually is.
“We’re just always making sure that whenever a piece of equipment is used, we clean it afterwards and sanitize it,” said Sword. “You know the name of the game is to stay on top of that and trust, but also verify, with the testing program we have.”
In addition to testing equipment used in the facility, growers periodically test for human pathogens sometimes found on produce. By having both of these safety practices in place, Greenswell Growers can prevent contamination issues before they turn into complicated, costly problems or serious health concerns.
Prioritizing Sanitation Into the Future
When the company expands in the future, they will look into more ways to sanitize their lettuce without washing it. They expect to add another three acres of greenhouse production space, and they would use funds from investment capital to purchase additional sanitization equipment.
“With this equipment, anything that was growing on the leaves would be killed without washing the product,” said Sword. “You wouldn’t damage the product, mouthfeel, or shelf life. None of that would be affected except for the lives of those pesky little bacteria and fungi.” And that means an even better quality product for their customers.
Ben Sword in Greenswell Growers’ Greenhouse Facility | Photo: Ben Sword
How Consumers Can Protect Themselves
Greenswell Growers prides themselves on growing lettuce that doesn’t need to be washed after it hits grocery store shelves. But regardless of where you purchase your produce from or how it’s grown, it doesn’t hurt to give your veggies a quick rinse before eating them. “It’s always a good idea to wash your produce,” said Sword.