A zero-touch vertical farm using Philips LED production module to grow fresher, tastier, and more nutritious produce

A zero-touch vertical farm using Philips LED production module to grow fresher, tastier, and more nutritious produce

Vertical farming operation GoodLeaf Community Farms (Guelph, Ontario) brings a unique perspective to its little corner of controlled environment agriculture. That is clearly by design, according to company leadership.

For one, the group initially set out to do indoor, stacked micro and baby greens production differently: with business people, horticultural scientists and engineers running the show instead of traditional farmers. Starting out, they were more interested in smartly addressing the labor and food safety woes plaguing much of the segment (particularly outdoor operations) than pumping out the most yield per square foot.

Hear Jeff McKinnon speak about growing under Philips LED production module grow light

The GoodLeaf vision

What GoodLeaf wants to do better entails scaling up production of locally grown, pesticide free leafy greens across Canada for its large retail partners, which include grocery giants like Loblaw and Sobeys, as well as Amazon’s Whole Foods and some smaller regional players like Ontario’s Longo’s. The farm has been working with several restaurant food service distributors, as well, although McKinnon readily admits that channel has taken a bit of a hit of late due to COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders.

Learn more about Philips LED production module grow lights

The GoodLeaf play is one of consumer preference for locality, as McKinnon says that today upwards of 90% of the leafy produce sold in Canada is imported in from large outdoor operations in California and Arizona.

Read the rest of the story on Produce Grower