Opportunities and Trends Gaining Traction in CEA
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The CEA industry has unquestionably experienced some turbulent times in the last few years. But one healthy byproduct of the challenges has been a renewed appreciation for the greenhouse segment of the industry. As Chris Veillon, Pure Flavor‘s Chief Marketing Officer, pointed out in a recent CEAg World “Grower Outlook” interview, the established greenhouse produce industry is thriving, with significant investment and expansion underway. Veillon highlights several significant factors influencing CEA as the industry moves forward.
Innovation and Automation
Providing consumers with healthy produce has always been at the core of the greenhouse produce industry. CEA has made that reality more attainable than ever before. Veillon points to continued innovation as a key factor in removing the seasonality of products to meet the unprecedented consumer demand — and addressing other industry challenges such as labor.
“Automation continues to be one of the hottest topics regarding technology,” Veillon says. “With challenges of finding people to work, investment in packing automation continues to increase as it reduces the reliance on actual people to complete the work.”
Veillon also points to the increased investment by growers in supplemental lighting to support their crops, from HPS (high-pressure sodium) to LED (light-emitting diodes) and hybrid systems that combine lighting solutions to meet grower needs. With supplemental lighting, greenhouse growers are able to not only grow year-round but produce at consistent levels even in winter months.
Growth Opportunities
Along with the increased production technology offers, Veillon sees other growth areas for CEA as well. “As consumers become savvier about who grows their products and where, there will continue to be significant uptick in consumption,” he notes. “Greater assortment of product is also a growth opportunity, regardless of the season.”
He expects more retailers will expand their greenhouse-grown fruits and vegetables as seasonality fades and consistent supplies of previously limited products help drive repeat sales.
Consumer education offers another major growth opportunity in Veillon’s eyes: “As a vertically integrated greenhouse fruit and vegetable company, we invest significant resources focused on storytelling; our value proposition to the food supply chain is growing exponentially, year over year. In amplifying our message to appropriate audiences, we are further educating customers on the consistency of what we grow: quality, size, availability, and most importantly, flavor.
Agricultural Sustainability
As CEA and greenhouse produce continue advancing, the opportunity exists for significant contributions toward the larger agricultural industry’s sustainability goals. Pure Flavor hasn’t left that opportunity to chance.
“As a vertically integrated greenhouse fruit and vegetable grower, our business process is 100% built on a sustainable platform,” Veillon says. “The consistency in production is one of the biggest pros for greenhouse-grown vegetables.”
He describes a robust greenhouse-grown value proposition, including the following 100% automated systems at Pure Flavor:
- Irrigation – Closed loop, recycled leachate, precision watering
- Plant Nutrition – Zone-and variety-specific, precision nutrient delivery
- Heat – Controlled growing environment temperatures, energy screens, radiant heat distribution (including HPS-generated heat)
- Lighting – Supplemental lighting, shade screens, diffused glass for natural light distribution
“By controlling nearly all aspects of the greenhouse growing environment, growers can produce an optimal growing climate for plants to thrive,” Veillon adds. “By removing the seasonality aspect and using technology to grow through the winter — months with negative light — we can grow year-round in a controlled environment and deliver fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, berries, and lettuce that are locally grown, in the dead of winter!”
And that may be the biggest value proposition of all.