May 26, 2022
Editor’s note: The following information is derived from an interview Agritecture conducted with Joe McGuire, CEO of Pure Green Farms. This post is part of a series of urban agriculture-related interviews conducted by Agritecture’s Director of Business Development, Jeffrey Landau, on his travels to farms around the United States. Follow Jeffrey’s adventure here.
In August, another investment into the emerging controlled environment agriculture market grabbed headlines.
But this time, it was North America’s largest grower and processor of leafy greens, Taylor Farms, writing the check, which made the investment in Pure Green Farms, a hydroponic lettuce grower in South Bend, Indiana, stand out even more. This expansion into greenhouse-grown produce complements Taylor Farms’ existing 100,000+ acre crop fields and 16 salad-producing facilities across North America, alongside signaling optimistic growth of the CEA industry.
As a result of this exciting news, Agritecture interviewed Joe McGuire, CEO of Pure Green Farms, to learn more about what this investment means for the company and the industry as a whole.
Pure Green Farms
Image sourced from Pure Green Farms
McGuire shares that Pure Green Farms is “a new startup company that started producing in March 2021.” Located on a site that can potentially expand up to 300 acres, the team uses an automated NFT system to grow “different varieties of fresh lettuces, salad mix, and herbs primarily for retail, but also for food service” in a high-tech climate-controlled facility.
As agricultural sustainability includes several components, McGuire mentions his definition of the term and communicates how Pure Green Farms works to achieve it. To him, sustainable farming is about “doing it more sustainably than the legacy supply chains that are out there. And so, we use less water and less overall energy. It's the whole idea of being able to grow lettuce closer to the population center, and maintain quality safety. And ultimately, have a smaller footprint on the environment.”*
The team, vendor relations, and startup challenges
Numerous challenges come along with setting up your urban farming business. McGuire sheds light on the challenges that he faced setting up Pure Green Farms in Indiana.
The main challenge is “getting used to growing in this greenhouse in this geography. It takes a full cycle of the seasons to really see how a greenhouse adjusts to the changes. Those are just the typical startup challenges, putting new equipment in place, and getting it to run smoothly as quickly as possible.” Understanding how your system and crops perform in a specific geography takes time and energy. To ensure crop quality, having a talented grower, and consistently tracking all aspects of the evolving operation are crucial.
Additionally, having good vendor relations is essential for your business. McGuire shares that the Pure Green Farms team works “very closely with all of our vendor partners. We really try to get to know them well and understand where they're investing their money. We work very closely with a lot of the new technology that's out there. We've made an investment with an AI camera system that's in our greenhouse, and we're getting benefits from such projects that are more future-oriented. We've also got collaboration with Purdue and the local government here to even do things more economically efficient.”
Image sourced from Pure Green Farms
But, in the end, it’s the in-house team that matters most. Pure Green Farms has “everything from mechanical to growing, operations to finance, and food safety. We've got a really good, strong core team, a very dedicated group of people that are spending long hours here, doing the heavy lifting to get this off the ground. We are in constant pursuit of people, especially because we have a vision for expansion.”
And, this is exactly how the investment from Taylor Farms can help.
According to S2G Ventures, investment in CEA has surpassed $2.0B across North America and Europe. With increased demonstration of the feasibility of controlled growing, S2G Ventures predicts that CEA will support more than 10% of US vegetable and herb production by 2025 leading to significant opportunities for growers over the next decade.
On the industry landscape, McGuire expresses that “the industry is growing at a fast rate. That's what the data shows, just from a consumption perspective.” He adds, “this is the new horizon, the new frontier. The thing that really motivates me is the end product - the lettuce is so beautiful, it's got an amazing shelf life, and it just eats really well. I see a lot of opportunity with engaging consumers with high-quality lettuce that you can produce consistently for a good cause.”
On the recent investment from Taylor Farms, McGuire adds that “they’re entering into the space, and it’s no secret that their customers are asking for it. They're a very large field growing and processing company. We were able to strike a deal where they invested with us, and we look forward to expanding with them - geographically, technologically, and strategically with product innovation.”
Image sourced from Pure Green Farms
Advice for startups and incoming entrepreneurs
As an entrepreneur that has been challenged to set up his own urban farm, McGuire gives advice to those interested in careers in horticulture, and those looking to set up their own businesses.
He says that the most important thing is to “be patient and learn from the beginning. Pay attention to detail. It takes a lot of experience - there's a lot of science and feel. Those are two things that you really have to grasp. It's really from that experience. It just takes time to learn. And it takes time to pick up the language of the industry and of the supply chains. And, this is how you manage your farm and get a feel for how to do it.”
Additionally, “do your homework. It’s fun but it is a tough industry. You can't be naive about the beauty of growing plants, because it is a beautiful thing to sow a seed and to be able to grow a beautiful plant, but it's another to grow it in a way that's cost-effective, and makes sense to your end-user.”
Contact Agritecture TODAY to get started on actualizing your own urban farming dreams!
*Agritecture was unable to validate Pure Green's claim around lower energy consumption relative to traditional farms, and it should be noted that the vast majority of CEA facilities use more energy than conventional field-grown produce, despite other environmental benefits.
