Photo © cornfield | adobe stock

Since mid-March, the world has been operating differently due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In some cases, work is done differently, with fewer workers in a greenhouse at any given time. Some businesses are even requiring masks and have other precautions in place. Others have shut down entirely due to coronavirus outbreaks at their businesses, putting workers at risk and shutting down production. For businesses looking for guidance, the Centers for Disease Control released its guidelines for agricultural workers. Those guidelines can be found here.

Still, some operations are moving forward and creating new opportunities for themselves amid the pandemic. Many businesses – including Michigan-based hydroponic operation Revolution Farms, Brooklyn, New York-based aquaponics operation Upward Farms and Minnesota-based Revol Greens — have expanded in the past few months. Investment in controlled environment agriculture continues too, with businesses like German food service start-up Infarm raising new capital. Others, like Pittsburgh-based farm Fifth Season, launched direct-to-consumer shipping and salad kits.

Events went digital too. At the first-ever digital United Fresh event, chairman Michael Muzyk made his pitch for the industry coming out stronger on the other side.

“I can’t tell you what the future looks like,” he said during the event’s opening keynote. “I can’t tell you if restaurants are going to win, I can’t tell you if big-box stores are going to win, if brick and mortar [stores] are going to win, if home delivery is going to win. I can tell you, food will win, and you’re on the winning team.” – Chris Manning

As Indoor Ag-Con moves to a virtual platform this year, the organization hosted its first Indoor Ag-Conversation. There, Paul Lightfoot, CEO and founder of BrightFarms, Alex DiNovo, president and COO of DNO Produce, and Victor Verlage, senior director of Agriculture Strategy Development at Walmart were joined to discuss the future of indoor growing.

“United Fresh Produce Association Panel: Produce Trends & Business Opportunities For Indoor Growers Emerging From COVID-19 Pandemic,” moderated by Tom Stenzel, president and CEO of United Fresh Produce Association, covered the challenges and opportunities indoor agriculture is seeing emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Berries are big on the horizon.

Panelists agreed that berries will be among the next hot items in CEA since growers can provide tastier options with longer shelf lives than conventional farms.

“How variable is a strawberry’s taste when it’s conventional?” DiNovo asked. “You can have one that tastes fantastic and you can have one that tastes like dirt. You can have the same flavorful berry without Mother Nature wreaking havoc on it.”

Highly perishable items with complex supply chains are ripe for disruption, panelists said. “What we’re interested in is beyond the shelf life, we want home life for the customers,” Verlage said. “We don’t want them to waste produce because it goes bad quickly.”

2. Create value by standing out.

From a marketing standpoint, DiNovo said indoor agriculture operations shouldn’t fight a conventional battle. By creating new names for products and branding them to stand out, growers can change the game.

“Create its own value by calling it something else,” he said. “If you call it by a conventional name, you’re going to compete on a conventional price basis.”

3. COVID-19 has increased consumers’ desire to keep money local.

DiNovo said the economic impact of the coronavirus has led to a greater demand to keep money in the local economy, whether it’s spending inside the community or providing jobs.

“That’s what local means to me more than anything else — it’s local impact,” he said.

4. Labor and supply chain concerns could lead to opportunities.

Lightfoot said he sees an opportunity to promote safety due to a smaller supply chain, noting that the current salad industry has seen issues with safety in the recent past.

“One farm’s contamination could have a bigger impact since more products are coming into contact with each other,” he said, stating that a longer supply chain makes tracking more difficult. “Those structural challenges don’t exist in our model as they do in the incumbent supply chain model.”

The year-round nature of indoor agriculture could also give CEA operations a leg up on labor.

Farm labor shortages, which he said have worsened due to the current administration’s policies on labor and immigration, have only been made more difficult by COVID-19. Housing and transportation have left farm employees more vulnerable to the disease.

“When this is over, borders will probably be less open, not more, so this issue will probably become worse,” he said.

“That’s what local means to me more than anything else — it’s local impact.” — Alex DiNovo, president and COO of DNO Produce

CEA operations are better equipped to control entry to facilities and year-round labor provides more stability in the workforce.

5. Retailers are looking for the right size solution for their stores.

Verlage said Walmart is looking for ways to mix big and smaller growers since different growers will bring solutions better suited to different communities.

“We are trying to figure out what is the right size project for the demand we face in different stores,” he said. “It has to be affordable, good nutritious food so that we can help everyone enjoy healthy food.” – Kate Spirgen

At the end of March, Produce Grower sent out a survey asking readers to detail their experiences operating when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Between March 27 and April 12, 166 industry members responded to the survey. We will be following up on this research with a follow-up survey in the near future.

In addition to the answered questions, some respondents submitted comments about how their businesses have been operating amid the pandemic.

“We are seeing a dramatic increase in vegetable plant sales,” one wrote. “A lot of people are planning to put up food this growing season in case of a food shortage or being made to stay home.”

Others highlighted the challenges to produce operations amid uncertain times.

“If restaurants don’t open soon, there will be a big impact on sales,” another said.

“My biggest concerns are: 1) whether two of my smaller distributors will remain in business; and 2) how many of my restaurant customers will reopen,” another wrote.

And one respondent detailed how the current environment has delayed plans for their businesses’ plan for a bi-weekly farmers market.

“We are in a rural area of Wisconsin,” they said. “We were holding a monthly farmers market during the winter months and planned to transition to a bi-weekly farmers market beginning in May. Those plans are on hold right now. We are heavily dependent on tourist traffic to support our operations. That could significantly impact our markets and vendors if travel continues to be restricted into early summer.”

A follow-up survey will be sent out in the near future.

New is not always better. But it is always interesting, and sometimes profitable, to play with new produce variety and cultivar releases on the market. As consumers continue to demand more fresh and flavorful local produce, finding varieties that capture their attention is an ongoing pursuit for growers.

I spent part of my career in horticulture developing plant trials in a public garden setting and as an All-America Selections (AAS) Flower and Vegetable Trials Judge. Deciding what makes a new flower or vegetable better than the last one often comes down to splitting hairs (or petals). One wonders why so much time, effort and money goes into creating a variety that may end up offering no real meaningful differences or benefits. Now and then, however, you do find a valuable new gem in the mix.

When it comes to new vegetable and fruit cultivars, we are always looking for truly better flavor and color, significantly improved resistance or tolerance, and shelf-viability. We then must match these features with what consumers want more of, which is flavor, freshness, color and sustainability.

It can be tough to keep up with all the new variety releases and which ones are meaningful to you as greenhouse growers. So, I took a deep dive to seek out new — or new to you — edibles worth investigating.

Basil Everleaf Emerald Towers

When it comes to basil, flavor is always first, but if you can find a space saver with big yields and late flowering, then it is definitely worth a try. Everleaf Emerald Towers, from PanAmerican Seed, sports a unique narrow and columnar growth habit 8- to 12-inches wide, but two to three feet tall. Plants are late flowering, up to 10-12 weeks later than most varieties. Plants offer a classic ‘Genovese’ basil flavor.

Photo courtesy of All-America Selections

Cucumber ‘Green Light’

A 2020 All-America Selections vegetable winner, cucumber ‘Green Light’ is a bountiful producer of mini seedless fruits, best picked when 3- to 4-inches long. These could make great snacker cucumbers as the tender skin does not need to be peeled and can be eaten with the rest of the fruit. ‘Green Light’ is purported to have a mild and good flavor and fruits are fast to mature.

Pepper ‘Orange Marmalade’

An early medium-sized orange bell, ‘Orange Marmalade’ has 4-inch blocky fruits perfect for stuffing or slicing. The intense ripe orange color looks hard to resist and the fruit promises a sweet flavor and excellent disease resistance. I would say this pepper is the perfect candidate for some homemade orange and pepper jelly.

Tomatoes

When buying tomatoes, I am always looking for interesting colors, shapes and intense flavor. This pursuit pushes me to the heirloom types, but they do not always make it to the grocery store in great shape. Pink, orange and yellow tomatoes always catch my eye first. Some of these new – or new to you – tomato varieties promise to deliver both heirloom quality color and flavor, with better shelf life.

While there are other new varieties out on the market worth checking out, these five selections were standouts in my eyes, as I suspect they will be for many produce consumers.

Apple yellow photos courtesy of All-America Selections

‘Apple Yellow’

As its name implies, ‘Apple Yellow’ produces the prettiest bright yellow apple- or bell-shaped fruits. Too cute. This heavy producing indeterminate vining variety is purported to produce up to 1,000 fruits per plant. Fruit is non-splitting with a firm texture, weighing in at about 20-25g each. I think this variety from Gana Seed is a real winner, and so did All-America Selections judges who awarded it an edible winner for 2020.

‘E15B.41786’ (still in trials)

A particularly exciting release from Enza Zadan, because of its color and shape, this pink beefsteak tomato offers a sweet delicate flavor. This cultivar has an heirloom look and interesting color that is always appealing to consumers but is supposed to also offer up size and weight uniformity. Plants are very productive with broad disease tolerance. Also, be sure to check out their new high-acid crack resistant cherry tomato ‘E15C.42149’.

‘Celano’

This new compact hybrid grape tomato earned a 2020 All-America Selections award for its sweet flavor, early and bountiful yields of deep red oblong fruit and excellent tolerance to late blight. A semi-determinate, ‘Celano’ has a compact bushy habit that is suitable for container production.

‘Early Resilience’

Another 2020 All-America Selections winner, this rounded Roma tomato hybrid may take up the pole position when it comes to measuring the standards for Romas. Fruits have an intense color and good flavor. Improved resistance to blossom end rot results in high yields.

‘Mountain Rouge’

If you are looking for a pink tomato that combines heirloom flavor with improved disease r=esistance, check out ‘Mountain Rouge’. This beefsteak tomato produces big fruit with a low seed count and is a good choice for cooler growing and quicker turns — with fruit maturing at 73 days. This cultivar was a 2019 All-American Selections winner, but it is new enough I wanted to include it.

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many business sectors have shut down or slowed down. In the greenhouse produce space, that is also true. Some businesses have also seen significant number of employees contract the coronavirus.

However, some businesses are still moving forward and finding success amid an unpredictable environment. Here are three examples.

Fifth Season – Braddock, Pennsylvania

In June, Fifth Season, a farming company based just outside of Pittsburgh, announced the launch of its e-commerce platform, allowing the company to ship its products directly to customers. Previously, Fifth Season relied on retail partners such as Whole Foods and Giant Eagle to get its product to customers.

In the past few years, other growers, including Burton, Ohio-based Great Lakes Growers, have launched their own direct-to-consumer models.

The Fifth Season platform offers greens, along with two different salad kits: Crunchy Sesame and Sweet Grains. A variety pack is available as well. Each pack comes with all the ingredients needed to make a salad. For example, the Crunchy Sesame option features the Three Rivers Blend (consisting of leaf broccoli, green mizuna, red pac choi, red frilly mustard and red mustard greens) plus sesame sticks, dried cranberries and a ginger dressing. Each is available in a two-pack for $17.50 or a four-pack for $35.

Infarm – Germany

Infarm, a start-up that aims to bring CEA into grocery stores, is currently seeking $200 million in SeriesC funding to continue its expansion into new markets. According to a report from the Financial Times, Infarm raised $140 million of its goal as of late June. The funding also values the company at ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’, per the report, far surpassing the $100 million it was valued out in 2019.

Currently, Infarm has partnerships with Kroger in the United States and, in May, signed a deal with Aldi grocery stores in Germany. In addition to the U.S. and Germany, it has farms in the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland.

Sollum Technologies – Québec, Canada

Québec, Canada-based Sollum Technologies raised $2.7 million Canadian (about $2 million U.S.) in a seed round of investing. Backing included support from various firms that invested in it previously, but also from two leading Canadian investors: François Arbour and Jean-François Grenon.

Sollum, founded in 2015, is a smart LED lighting technology company that reproduces the full spectrum of the sun’s natural light. Per its website, it works directly with clients to develop light recipes adapted to the growth cycle of every product. Some of its partners include greens and herb producer La Boîte Maraîchère and The Chef’s Garden, a company that grows produce with specific nutritional qualities.

Photo: Bowery Farming

As the demand for fresh produce increases, so does the pressure for quality texture, color and flavor. In May, Bowery Farming, the East Coast-based modern farming company, announced its newest leafy green launch that appeals to just that.

Bowery Crispy Leaf Lettuce is described as a “reinvigorated version” of iceberg lettuce with an “unparalleled flavor” and “bold color and satisfying crunch.”

The release is Bowery’s largest product since 2015 and according to Carmela Cugini, executive vice president of sales, “Crispy Leaf is one of the most in-demand leafy greens from Bowery based on current retailer orders.”

Why has it been such a success? The Bowery team credits sales to the unique sensory experience consumers receive through its visually stimulating marketing program. Cugini also says that feedback from buyers suggest that the sensory experience “is poised to change the way consumers interact with lettuce.”

By accentuating the sensory aspect of Crispy Leaf, especially flavor, Bowery has appealed to consumers in a multidimensional way. Cugini believes this will become a common and essential strategy at Bowery.

“We’re investing in sensory experiences as a key marketing strategy because we see it as the best avenue for marketing in the current climate,” she says.

The climate Cugini refers to is the COVID-created stay-at-home orders surrounding the pandemic. Because of this, more families are eating at home and are looking for “new recipes, ideas and ways to bring health into their world.”

Cugini aims to maintain that and drive growth by establishing a connection to the consumer through sensory interaction. One way of doing that, she says, is by working with retailers to connect the dots on how to drive repeat consumers.

“The fresh category is the No. 1 category in produce that drives repeat and loyalty. If you can get great produce and it’s consistent and it’s fresh and consumers can rely on it, they will come back to you,” she says. “That is one of the things we think about when we launch products. We want to make sure we put flavor back into produce in a way that you don’t need dressing to cover up the flavor.”

Cultivating the experience

When Crispy Leaf was first developed, Cugini says it was founded on consumer insights. While iceberg lettuce is one of the fastest growing segments in produce, Cugini says no one was providing the sensory experience. That was, until Bowery created a product “that allows consumers to taste something they’ve never tasted before.”

One consumer insight that helped form Crispy Leaf was the crunch craze. According to Cugini, “crispy is a whole thing that’s trending,” which Bowery took into consideration. The company combined that with freshness, intensity and flavor and incorporated those into its sensory-based marketing tactic.

The crunch and flavor that's packed into Crispy Leaf appeals to consumers' senses, which results in its high demand.

Photo: Bowery Farming

Virtual visualizations

Before the pandemic, Cugini says Bowery offered in-store demos to consumers. But like most companies, COVID-19 prompted them to reimagine their strategy. According to her, 22% of people that typically shop in grocery stores are now buying their groceries online, and nine out of 10 of those individuals will stick to online grocery shopping.

This encouraged Bowery’s visual approach, which conveys the sensory experience across all platforms through the use of colors, images and lexicon.

In fact, Bowery’s production and innovation team held a virtual sensory evaluation — Bowery’s United Fresh Sensory Experience — that took attendees on a tour of the sensory naming process. Moderators explained the importance of proper lexicon that effectively portrays what consumers will taste and feel.

According to the tour, there are four key areas of sensory: color, aroma, texture and taste. There are basic “consumer terms” that most shoppers are familiar with and “sensory terms” that properly describe the feeling a product gives. For example, the consumer term for the color yellow is just that, yellow. But the sensory terms surrounding color are “chroma” and “color intensity,” which translates to “the purity or brightness of color,” and “the strength of the color from light to dark.” Another comparison are the consumer terms “juicy” and “chewy.” In sensory terms, those translate to “high moisture release” and “low fibrousness between teeth.”

Cugini says understanding lexicon is important when marketing flavor and creating a shared experience. “Two people may use different words to describe the same experience or vice versa,” she says, “and language becomes the thing that is standing in the way of a shared culinary experience.”

The main attraction

Since iceberg lettuce is a traditional offering, Bowery wanted to add innovation to the market and rethink salad as a whole.

“Unlike the iceberg head that you might have had at your grandmother’s house, or you might have at a restaurant when they chop it in half, it’s a different experience when you eat it,” Cugini says. “We wanted to prove time and time again, that Bowery can create super fresh, flavorful food. By creating this really unique flavor, we hope that consumers will start to see that lettuce is more than just a side and it can actually be the star of the show.”

Bowery Farming has two farms in Kearny, New Jersey, and a third in White Marsh, Maryland. Crispy Leaf is locally grown with no pesticides — like all of its products — and is available at more than 250 grocery stores and markets in the Tri-State and Mid-Atlantic region. It is also sold through their partners, Amazon Fresh, Peapod and Hungryroot.

Given Bowery’s sensory-based marketing and experience, Cugini is confident in consumer retention and reach.

“If we can educate consumers on the type of produce they buy — and why they buy it — we are confident that they will be repeat Bowery customers. This education starts with defining the sensory experience and ends with the consumer trying the produce at home and imagining their own culinary journey. “