ICYMI: Highlights From Our 2024 Grower Outlook Series
May 20, 2024 In our 2024 Grower Outlook series, we spoke to four growers about their biggest challenges, achievements and plans for the year. Here are a few highlights from our conversations with Paul Sellew, Chuck Tryon, Chris Veillon and Renato Zardo.
Paul Sellew, Little Leaf Farms
While technology and efficient production are key in CEA, Paul Sellew explained how Little Leaf Farms focuses on produce quality more than anything else:
“The market is continuing to accept high quality, CEA-grown lettuce, and it’s great to see,” he says. “I think ultimately, the quality of the product is going to drive continued CEA expansion. We’re in the food business. People have to love to eat. It’s the taste, it’s the eating experience, it’s everything. That’s what it’s all about. The notion that we are a tech company — or others have said that — to me, is not the way to look at this business. If you’re a business that is a grower or packer and marketer of a branded food product, technology enables us to do that. But we are not a tech company. We’re food companies.“
Chuck Tryon, Bushel Boy Farms
Similarly, Chuck Tryon emphasized how keeping customers and employees happy is critical to staying successful in the CEA industry:
“We’re really focused on producing the best-quality products and then being a reliable supplier for our best customers,” he says. “That’s the one big piece there. The second is to invest in our people. This is, at the end of the day—and we’ll talk a little bit about innovation—there are a lot of cool things happening technology-wise, but this is a people business. This is work that requires talented workers at all levels—happy, productive workers at all levels—and investing and focusing on all that is a key for us this year.”
Chris Veillon, Pure Flavor
When asked what he’s most excited for in 2024, Chris Veillon said he looks forward to expanding his operation and making certain produce available all year-round:
“Growth. There is a significant amount of excitement company-wide about the significant industry strides that Pure Flavor has made in the last 18 months, evolving into an even larger industry player, not only on acquisitions but product assortment as well,” he says. “The launch of the produce industry’s first commercially available greenhouse-grown melon program is yet another example of how Pure Flavor is thinking forward to removing seasonality of produce. R&D is prompting the opportunity to take crops that have been traditionally grown in a field and trial them in a controlled environment atmosphere.”
Renato Zardo, Great Lakes Growers
When discussing his biggest accomplishments in 2023, Renato Zardo explained how he was more successful when he was selective of his crops:
“We were more selective of our crops in 2023,” he says. “We reduced our portfolio, so the focus on higher quality and profitability heightened. We also added a couple new technologies, so it was an interesting year. We measured those outcomes which took longer than expected—there was a lot of turning on, watching results, turning off, comparing results, turning on again—because every time you do that, you have a lot of outside influence.”
What do you think of these growers’ outlooks? Let us know in the comments.