Indoor farming operations are expanding rapidly to meet and capitalize on increased consumer demand for fresh, locally grown fruits, vegetables and herbs. Keep in mind that expansion in this market comes in multiple forms, not just from adding on a new greenhouse range or vertical farming canopy square footage. It can also mean expanding production capacity by adding new technologies like LEDs or environmental controllers that enable a grower to produce more today with less inputs than yesterday, or the addition of a new crop to the mix.

Or, a vertical farming operation could expand it’s reach or product lineup by the mergers and acquisitions route, as we witnessed recently when grower-shipper Tanimura & Antle took ownership of the Boston-based Green City Growers.

To help you stay up to date on all the recent movement in the industry, here’s a quick roundup of some of the latest expansion developments in the indoor CEA produce market.

Gotham Greens building facility in California, partnering with UC Davis

New York's Gotham Greens — the subject of our April Produce Grower cover story — recently announced a West Coast expansion and partnership.

A 10-acre facility, including a new production greenhouse, will be located in Solano County, California, and is expected to open this year, per a press release from the company. “We are proud to bring Gotham Greens to the West Coast and partner with one of the highest-ranked agricultural research centers in the world to advance the entire agriculture system,” said Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of Gotham Greens, per the release. “California is responsible for growing one-third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of the nation’s fruits, yet in recent years, issues surrounding drought, food safety and worker welfare have demonstrated the need for continued innovation. Gotham Greens offers consumers clean, safe and sustainably-grown leafy greens, herbs and versatile, time-saving plant-based dressings, dips and cooking sauces.”

The location near UC Davis also comes with a new partnership between the university and Gotham Greens.

Living Greens Farm expands retail presence, product reach

Living Greens Farm (LGF), a vertical, indoor aeroponic farm in the U.S. that provides year-round fresh salads, salad kits, microgreens and herbs, announced the addition of new retail distribution of its products in the upper Midwest to independent, specialty, and co-op retailers.

Starting February 2021, LGF’s full line of products featuring ready-to-eat bagged salad products (Caesar Salad Kit, Southwest Salad Kit, Harvest Salad Kit, Chopped Romaine and Chopped Butter Lettuce) are being carried by UNFI Produce Prescott (formerly Alberts Fresh Produce). UNFI Produce Prescott is a division of UNFI, which distributes food products to thousands of stores nationwide. Their focus is on independent, specialty and co-op retailers.

UNFI has eight warehouses nationwide. LGF’s products will be carried by their upper Midwest location. This distribution center services hundreds of retailers throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

Red Sun Farms to add 35 acres of growing space in 2021

Red Sun Farms, a greenhouse grower with locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, announced that it is in the process of adding 35 acres of growing space for the 2021 winter grower season.

This new addition comes on the heels of a 63.8 acre, three-phase projected in Kingsville, Ontario, that was completed in 2020. Red Sun’s Mexico branch also completed a 25-acre expansion last year.

“The Red Sun Farms team continues to build its business on sustainable growth across Mexico, USA and Canada. This announcement supports our commitment to deliver the very best produce to our customers throughout the year,” states Carlos Visconti, CEO of Red Sun Farms Canada & the USA.

Red Sun now has 476 acres of growing space in Mexico and 211 in Canada. In the U.S., Red Sun has already announced plans to expand its distribution center in Pharr, Texas, increasing the facility’s size to 106,000 square feet. Kingsville will also add 22,500 square feet of cold storage in 2021, pushing its total to 62,500 square feet.

Shenandoah Growers launching living potted herbs program in April

According to a press release, ‘That’s Tasty’, a Shenandoah Growers brand, will begin rolling out a living potted herbs program beginning in April 2021.

“Quality and freshness are critical to this product line,” says Steven Wright, Chief Customer Officer, “so we have committed our resources to ensure we harvest, pack and deliver the plants within 24 hours. That’s as fresh as you can get.”

Shenandoah Growers sells USDA-certified living organic herbs including basil, mint, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and other popular varieties in addition to fresh-cut herbs and stir-in purées.

GoodLeaf Farms expands product reach in 2021

In a press release, Ontario-based GoodLeaf Farms has announced that its leafy greens will now be sold at Longo’s and Whole Foods Market stores across Ontario.

“It’s exciting for us to make more Ontario-grown food available to Ontario consumers through Loblaw Companies, Longo’s and Whole Foods Market stores,” says Jacquie Needham, account manager for GoodLeaf Farms. “Local food is fresher, packed with nutrients and tastes better.”

Tanimura & Antle picks up Green City Growers

Employee-owned grower-shipper, Tanimura & Antle announced today the acquisition of Boston, Massachusetts, based Green City Growers, according to a press release.

The merger of the two companies is based on a common commitment and passion to provide communities, organizations and individuals with a hands-on educational experience to increase awareness, build engagement and provide education about where food comes from.

Green City Growers are perhaps most notable for stewarding New England’s largest roof top farm on top of Whole Foods Market in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, and maintaining the rooftop farm at Fenway Park since 2015.

Each year, Produce Grower magazine takes the pulse of the market in its State of the Industry Report. Growers are surveyed in July, and this is a small portion of the 2020 survey results. Survey respondents included just over 100 produce growers located in the U.S. and Canada.

See bit.ly/2020producesoi for more.

The process of divesting a proven division from a giant global company started when Bayer announced its intention to sell its Environmental Science business. The move affects numerous agriculture-facing industries, including the commercial greenhouse space.

With a large portfolio of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides supported by an experienced and respected team of professionals, Bayer exerts significant influence in the horticulture markets. Multiply those attributes across various other markets, including lawn and landscape, pest control, golf course agronomy, production ornamentals and vegetation management, and an attractive company is poised to emerge from the Environmental Science business.

Bayer veteran Gilles Galliou will lead the divestment. Galliou had been serving as the head of commercial operations for Bayer Vegetable Seeds Americas.

In an interview with Golf Course Industry and its sister publication Pest Control Technology (Editor’s Note: both publications are Greenhouse Management magazine sister publications as well) shortly after Bayer announced its decision to divest the Environmental Science business to focus on expanding its Crop Science division, Galliou explained the next steps for the business he now oversees.

“I’m going to be the CEO of this new company and the first role of that CEO is to separate the business and build a new structure,” he says. “We are fully integrated with Bayer today and the first step is to look at it as a separation. My role won’t only be on the focus and the separation, but also leading the organization as CEO when we are ready to be independent.”

The company developing from the divestment of Bayer’s Environmental Science division will be a big one. The business accounted for about $725 million in sales in 2019, according to a Bayer news release. Bayer intends to divest the professional business into one buyer, Galliou says. The commercial lawn and garden business, which includes products sold to consumers at big-box retailers, is part of a different Bayer division, thus not included in the divestment. The decision to divest Environmental Science, which was publicly announced to employees and customers Feb. 24, will begin a lengthy separation process.

“It’s just the beginning of the evaluation of Environmental Science being an independent company and it’s a process that is going to bring us to mid-2022 before it’s finalized,” Galliou says. “So it’s a marathon, it’s a long process. It’s not easy to separate a fully integrated division.”

The Environmental Science business will be based in Cary, North Carolina, effective June 1. The division conducts business on multiple continents and Bayer devoted significant time following the announcement communicating with employees about how the divestment will affect current operations and interactions with customers.

“This is not going to affect our employees and it’s not going to affect our relationship with our customers,” Galliou says. “This case is based on growth and it’s not based on cost management and, therefore, we will continue to fully engage our customers with the team that we have today. During the whole process our No. 1 focus will be to maintain the service and the product and the engagement we have toward our customers. It’s not going to affect that relationship. Our expectation is that it will maybe bring additional opportunities in the short and mid-term to those customers and employees.”

“The company we intend to build will be built on innovation. There will be a commitment of Bayer to continue investing in innovation in our markets."

Neither the COVID-19 pandemic nor lawsuits involving Roundup, an herbicide Bayer absorbed in its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto, are behind the decision to divest, according to Galliou. Bayer’s desire to bolster its presence in agricultural markets ultimately led to the move.

“It’s about being focused on the transformation and investment that Bayer Crop Science wants in the ag world and the fairness to Environmental Science that also needs investments,” Galliou says. “Maybe those investments are better placed outside. It’s not related to glyphosate or the pandemic.”

While the divestment represents a dramatic shift change for the German-owned agriculture multinational, Galliou says the companies’ long-standing tradition of embracing and driving innovation in all of the product channels it works withing will not be changing anytime soon.

“The company we intend to build will be built on innovation,” Galliou says. “There will be a commitment of Bayer to continue investing in innovation in our markets and this new company will be the outlet. The framework of working together with Bayer on innovation is still to be defined, but that’s going to be a major part of the organization going forward.”

Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s editor-in-chief.

As COVID-19 caused many to shelter in place, it also drove a trend for more homeowners to turn to their backyards as an escape.

Traven Pelletier, owner and designer of Lotus Gardenscapes, based in Dexter, Michigan, says the goal is to create a place where a person can feel at peace outside.

“Since everybody’s been sheltering in place and their travel budgets are basically sitting in their accounts, and they’re stuck at home a lot more people are investing in their own residential space and trying to create some sort of outdoor sanctuary for themselves,” Pelletier says.

Different landscape professionals call this design concept various names: a nook, a sanctuary, a cocoon, a sheltered corner. Yet the simple desire that drives the design remains the same.

What is driving the demand?

Jan Johnsen, co-owner of Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, based in Mount Kisco, New York, says the demand for these sanctuaries increased incredibly starting mid-spring 2020.

“The trend started because all vacations and kids’ camp stays were canceled,” she says. “The enforced stay-at-home rule made everyone look around at their backyards and ponder what they could do.”

"... you look for that spot that can become that space. Just like in a house the pattern language of a nook is a special thing that you’re drawn to, so you try to create the same thing outdoors.” - Bruce Allentuck

Bruce Allentuck, LIC, owner of Allentuck Landscaping Co., based in Rockville, Maryland, calls these areas nooks. He says they have had a higher demand for these types of spaces of late, as well.

“I think people want to find a little place that they can isolate to and get their brain wrapped around things,” Allentuck says.

Comfort is driving the demand. Ketti Kupper, owner of Conscious Living Landscapes, based in Altadena, California, adds that people want to have a sense of protection and safety so they can fully relax.

“Everybody’s been isolated from other people and we spend tons of time in front of the laptop, in Zoom meetings or just doing work,” Allentuck says. “That’s fine indoors, but the outdoors is softer and comforting. I think people do want to feel that landscape hug.”

Creating a sheltered space

To create these spaces, use plant material to establish walls and ceiling in the landscape. Walls can be formed with screening plants and overstory and understory trees serve as the ceiling.

“I think it’s really important to put things that will appeal to different senses in there,” Allentuck says. “Grasses blowing in the wind or fragrant plants, flowers, of course, maybe some things that attract birds and nature that somebody can sit and watch and look at. It can be any number of ways that you do it, but you look for that spot that can become that space. Just like in a house the pattern language of a nook is a special thing that you’re drawn to, so you try to create the same thing outdoors.”

There’s a natural desire for humans to experience nature, but often outdoor spaces that are too windy or too hot preventing people from wanting to spend time outside. The plant walls and ceilings provide shelter from these harsh elements.

The goal is to provide a more immediate opportunity for people to experience nature rather than going to a local walking trail, which takes more of an effort to reach regularly.

"I try to create a partially enclosed sitting spot that has a hedge, wall, slope or large tree as a backdrop and an open view out to the front." -Ketti Kupper

“In every plan, I try to create a partially enclosed sitting spot that has a hedge, wall, slope or large tree as a backdrop and an open view out to the front,” Johnsen says. “I call this the ‘Lure of the Sheltered Corner.’ People naturally gravitate to the spot and will sit if a bench or chair is provided.”

Kupper says that lighting can also add to the sense of intimate delight as it can warm up the space.

“Auditory privacy is related to the nestled secure feeling,” Kupper says. “Windchimes or the white noise of a fountain help. Some plants are better for that too such as bamboo with the hollow culms dampening sound and the rustling leaves in the breeze.”

Kupper says the space should having something soothing or inspiring to view, with up-close succulents near the seating, as well as space for the client’s dog or cat to join.

What plants to use

The landscape professionals agree that the micro-climate and purpose of the place will drive the plant material selection for the most part. The screening material can be one plant type or a variety.

“I use layers when possible,” Kupper says. “A depth of field is always interesting. That would be a panel screen — or a panel screen in front of trees. And smaller open plants such as Caesalpinia in front and then something shorter and denser in front of that and smaller still nestled in as well. Another option is to create terraces or raised areas to get varying heights — even if the original space is flat, that can be done.”

To prevent having a space that comes across as claustrophobic, Allentuck says this is dependent on the individual’s taste but there should be good airflow and the client should be able to see out of the space.

“It can be a simple hedge or a large shrub that creates the backdrop,” Johnsen says. “Simpler is better. Try not to overplant an area. Let the shrubs grow in. Give it a few years for best results.”

Kupper advises limiting the number of plant types you’re using and to select some with lacey leaves that allow for overhead light. She says she typically uses clumping bamboos, Durantas, and other tree-like shrubs. She often uses Grewia or Calliandra haematocephala for a flat background screen.

"Another option is to create terraces or raised areas to get varying heights — even if the original space is flat, that can be done.” -Ketti Kupper

Allentuck’s preferred plants include skip laurels as they are dense and green. Viburnums are thick as well and offer fragrance. They attract birds in the fall with their berries. Allentuck also likes to use larger ornamental grasses like Karl Foerster grass. Rhododendrons and mountain laurels can give a mountain feel if in the right mirco-environment.

Some of Johnsen’s go-to plants for these spaces include oakleaf hydrangeas, leatherleaf viburnum, bottlebrush buckeye and Joe Pye Weed. For flowers that can be good in these spaces, check out Jan Johnsen’s latest book, "Floratopia."

“Everyone loves a quiet outdoor sitting spot where they can enjoy the birds singing or the breeze rustling the leaves,” Johnsen says. “It is so relaxing. Green plants enliven us, and sitting on a stone bench or rock also helps to ground us. We need grounding these days.”

Jill Odom is the content manager for the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and is based in Fairfax, Virginia.