Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Element Farms

Element Farms Plans a New High-Tech Greenhouse Customized for Growing Spinach

Element Farms announced this week its plans to expand its greenhouse operations and build a new, 2.5-acre facility designed specifically to grow baby spinach. This will be the company’s second high-tech farm, the first being a 1.5-acre facility that already grows arugula, lettuces, beet greens, and, of course, spinach. Like the first, the second farm will also be located in Lafayette, New Jersey, according to a press release sent to The Spoon.

Baby spinach is a popular produce type in the U.S. But in many parts of the country, it can only grow outside at certain times (spring and fall), and its delicacy and susceptibility to bacteria and disease make it a prime candidate for local, indoor farms. 

However, growing spinach indoors is actually quite challenging, which is one of the reasons we don’t see more controlled environment agriculture (CEA) companies doing it. In particular, spinach is susceptible to the water-borne pathgen Pythium aphanadermatum, a water mold that attacks the plant roots and causes poor crop quality and crop death.

When we spoke a while back, Element’s CEO Serdar Mizrakci explained that technology allows the company to add another layer of precision control to better aid against water-borne pathogens and other diseases. To that end, Element uses its own proprietary technology to monitor plants, calculate recipes for plant nutrients supplemental lighting, and help spot problems during the grow process. As in other CEA settings, greens are grown without pesticides and meant to serve customers no farther than about a day’s drive away.

The company doesn’t have a lot of competition right now when it comes to spinach, BrightFarms being one notable exception. As technology improves and costs come down for CEA growers, more companies may join the efforts to grow spinach indoors.

Element says its existing farm, located in Lafayette, New Jersey, currently delivers directly to more than 120 retailers, including Key Food, Whole Foods, and e-commerce shops Misfits Market and FreshDirect. When the new farm is up and running, Element will be on track to ship 2 million pounds of greens per year. 

The new farm is slated to open later in 2021. Additional farms are planned for other U.S. markets and will be announced “in the coming year.”

Element Farms Unveils a High-tech Greenhouse Facility to Grow More Spinach Indoors

When it comes to leafy greens, spinach may get the superlative for Most Popular, but it’s also one of the most difficult to grow — especially indoors. So it’s no small accomplishment that indoor farming company Element Farms announced a 70,000 square foot greenhouse facility in New Jersey to grow spinach year-round using a combination of proprietary software and hydroponics.

According to a press release sent to The Spoon, Element Farms will begin operations at the new farm “in the coming weeks” and will produce “over half a million pounds each year of pesticide-free baby spinach” as well as a variety of other greens, arugula, beet greens, and pea shoots among them.

As Element cofounder and CEO Serdar Mizrakci explained earlier this year, spinach is tough to grow because it is prone to disease, particularly in high-density indoor environments. Element combats this by adding what Mizrakci calls “another layer of precision control” to the plants’ grow process. The company uses a combination of hydroponics along with a dynamic lighting algorithm that combines natural sunlight with high-capacity LEDs. Meanwhile, customized harvesting equipment automates and speeds up some of the grow process.

The new greenhouse facility will use similar automation for many day-to-day farming tasks. And according to the press release, the facility is the first of multiple greenhouse projects. Though Element hasn’t named specific locations for future, the company is currently looking at two other states as sites for future facilities.

The agricultural industry is grappling with both labor shortages and the fact that our soil is dying, so it’s not surprising that more and more companies are exploring the benefits (and challenges) of automated indoor farming. In August, Kalera broke ground on a massive vertical farm facility outside Orlando, FL that will automate many parts of the grow process. In the UK, Intelligent Growth Solutions recently raised an additional £1.6 million in funding for its “farm in a box” system, while Australian agtech company Vertical Farm Systems says it can take plants from seeding stage to fully grown in just 28 days with its automated system.

Element Farms, meanwhile, also emphasizes the “local” aspect of its business. The new facility will be on direct delivery routes to cities in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. In the coming months, the company plans to expand its PureSpinach products to more ShopRite stores in the Northeastern U.S.