According to a press release, Michigan-based Revolution Farms has partnered with retail chain Meijer in a move that put the company’s product in all of Meijer’s 262 stories.
Revolution is a hydroponic greens producer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s products include cut, whole leaf and whole head varieties. Cut lettuce from the company will also be used in “Fresh from Meijer” salad kits, available in the retailer’s Ready-to-Eat section. The kits include Caesar, Cobb, Harvest, Southwest and BLT salads and include all required toppings and dressing for each respective salad.
The whole left varieties – branded as Lettuce Boats, Whole Leaf Romaine and Sweet Crisp Deli Leaf – are new, per the release.
“Supporting local farms and carrying the freshest, most nutritious ingredients is important to us and to our customers,” said Sarah Jennings, Meijer produce buyer, per the release. “As a Michigan, family company, we are committed to being good stewards of our community by not only constantly enhancing our own sustainable practices, but also by using our shelves as a platform to promote brands that share our passion.”
Per the release, greens will be shipped to Meijer “within one or two days of harvest.”
“Food tastes better when it’s grown closer to you. Meijer is our hometown retail partner, so partnering with them to expand their local greens selection, as well as growing the lettuce for their salad kits, will help more families easily find sustainably-grown, nutrient-rich greens,” said John Green, founder and CEO of Revolution Farms. “Our recent greenhouse expansion has given us the ability to grow even more lettuce varieties, as well as become a Meijer Fresh partner.”
GLASE seeks input for upcoming lighting short course
On May 16, GLASE (Greenhouse Lighting & Systems Engineering) sent out the following eblast seeking input on an upcoming short worse:
Following the success of the 2021 Virtual Plant Lighting Short Course, GLASE (possibly with other collaborators) is planning a new short course for October 2022. The topic will most likely center on climate controls in controlled environment agriculture. To make this course the best it can be for all of you, please fill out our 3-minute survey before the end of May.
The 2021 short course from GLASE was broken up into six modules. Each session was two hours long over a six-week period. To take the survey for the 2022 edition, click here.
Pure Flavor launches 'Solara' greenhouse-grown melon
The company says its been working on this project since 2014.
Pure Flavor, per a press release, has launched what it says is the the fresh produce industry’s first greenhouse grown melons, which will be branded under the Solara name.
“After many years of research & development, we are excited to bring the first commercially available greenhouse grown melons to market”, said Jamie Moracci, Pure Flavor's resident. Per the release, the company has been testing different varieties since 2014 and has now "homed in on an exclusive variety that is scalable production wise and checks all the boxes to meet product, brand, retail, foodservice, and consumer expectations."
Partnering with Cornell University during the product development process, Pure Flavor’s R&D team was able to gain valuable insights on both product & plant health to help maximize yield and most importantly, flavor.
“Our product trials told us a great deal; we knew that it had to be something special that we could scale commercially to meet the demand. After 8 years, we have launched a unique product that our customers are excited about and will breathe new life into the category”, commented Moracci.
Mildly cool, sweet, and juicy, Solara’s are the first "personal sized, sustainably grown melons from greenhouses that use just the right amount of light, nutrition, and water to deliver the same sweet tastefully tropical flavor, regardless of the season."
“It’s paradise in the palm of your hand! Roughly 500g in size, the sweetness & personal size of the Solara™ Melon makes it a great partner with foods like prosciutto, shrimp, basil, mint, pistachios, we are even using the Melon as a yogurt & granola snack, the product pairings are endless”, said Matt Mastronardi, executive vice president said per the release. Reducing food waste is a key product trait of the Solara Melon as a single serve opportunity; slice in half, easily scoop out the small seed cavity and enjoy! The new personal sized melons are available in both single and multi-pack formats.
The name “Solara” (Latin for “of the sun”) was chosen because it connotes a tropical setting and a “Fresh Taste of Paradise,” which is the slogan Pure Flavor developed for it.
“The strategic investment in R&D is done to help grow the industry and help increase fresh produce consumption,” said Moracci. “We are working on more melon varieties and look forward to rolling them out shortly.”
Photo courtesy of Spectrum
Spectrum unveils WatchDog 3230 Wireless Plant Growth Station
With the WatchDog, growers can receive real-time, crop-specific environmental data on their smartphone.
Spectrum Technologies has released the WatchDog 3230 Wireless Plant Growth Station. The WatchDog measures, records and communicates crop growing conditions in a greenhouse and sends the data to the growers. Through its single portable station, growers
can receive real-time, crop-specific environmental data on their smartphone, including
temperature, relative humidity and PAR Light from any source.
The portable station has an integrated solar power system and has Wi-Fi or cellular radios, making communication simple. Growers can also view the current
environmental conditions on their smart phone with
the WatchDog Mobile App.
The WatchDog comes with additional sensor ports to optionally measure
soil moisture, EC and temperature, or additional PAR light sensors to measure conditions at different crop
heights.
“With this new wireless station, growers have a portable environmental station to move from crop to crop or to a different greenhouse to track the key
growing conditions,” says Mike Thurow, president and CEO. “Growing high quality crops consistently and profitably is the goal.”
Touch of Green: Gotham Greens launches Grateful Dead branded lettuce
Gotham Greens announces a partnership with the iconic and beloved band, the Grateful Dead, on a limited-edition packaging and marketing collaboration.
On the heels of Gotham Greens’ 10th Anniversary Celebration, and as the company continues to expand its greenhouse footprint, Gotham Greens is excited to launch a new series of musical marketing partnerships featuring some of the most iconic bands and musicians that shape us and connect us to our communities.
To kick things off, Gotham Greens is proud to announce a partnership with the iconic and beloved band, the Grateful Dead, on a limited-edition packaging and marketing collaboration that celebrates their shared commitment to sustainability, community, and plant-based eating. The marketing collaboration reimagines Gotham Greens’ best-selling Gourmet Medley lettuce as Grateful Greens with custom packaging featuring the band’s iconic Dancing Bears and a QR code that unlocks curated content, including a custom Grateful Dead playlist to make cooking in the kitchen more joyful. Plus, for every package of Grateful Greens sold, Gotham Greens and the Grateful Dead will plant trees in partnership with Forest Nation, dedicated to preserving the future of our planet.
“Over the years, what has really stuck with me is not only the music itself but also the monumental cultural impact of the Grateful Dead community,” said Viraj Puri, Co-Founder and CEO of Gotham Greens. “Alongside Gotham Greens’ core commitment to the highest standards of sustainability, cultivating a meaningful community is equally important to us at every level of our company. As we celebrate our continued growth nationwide, it’s the perfect time to highlight our commitment to growing plants that make our consumers excited to introduce more greens into their diets and underscores our deep commitment to the communities we are a part of. Partnering with the Grateful Dead is not only incredible on a personal level but really speaks to our collective passion for preserving the earth and bringing joy back to cooking and eating plants.”
Grateful Greens can be found at grocery stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, The Kroger Co., Albertsons Companies, Sprouts Farmers Market, and more, now through September 2022. Gotham Greens will offer a limited number of free gift bags next month, including Gotham Greens’GratefulGreens salad, a Hedley & Bennett x Grateful Dead apron, and the Grateful Dead’s Shall We Grow Seed Bombs. Expert growers at Gotham Greens’ greenhouses in cities across the country planted green and red leaf lettuce in special Grateful Dead designs to bring the partnership to life.
A Certified B Corporation™, Gotham Greens is a fresh food company putting people and the planet at the forefront. Gotham Greens’ sustainable farming practices allow the company to grow leafy greens and herbs year-round while conserving 300 acres of land and 270 million gallons of water annually compared to conventional farming practices. Gotham Greens’ unique irrigation techniques use less than one gallon of water to grow a head of lettuce compared with up to 10 gallons used in conventional open-field farming. Not only does this partnership align with the company’s core values rooted in natural resource conservation and eco-consciousness, but it also reflects the founding partners’ personal passion for the Grateful Dead’s music and its subsequent impact on environmentalism and the rise of plant-based eating.
“As a huge Grateful Dead fan, I’m thrilled to see our launch of Grateful Greens. I was fortunate enough to see the Grateful Dead at Giants Stadium in 1995 and felt inspired by both the music and the scene,” said Jenn Frymark, Chief Greenhouse Officer of Gotham Greens. “The Grateful Dead champions a sense of community that has been inspirational to our values at Gotham Greens. We have worked hard to build a community-minded ecosystem at Gotham Greens that creates a strong sense of camaraderie across our greenhouse locations, partnerships within the neighborhoods we operate in, and designs that respect our relationship with our planet. Growing is both an art and a science, and we continue to work hard to grow more with less, be inspired by nature and produce delicious greens while reducing our environmental impact.”
Dead Heads paved the way for approaching food through the lens of sustainability and following a plant-based, farm-fresh diet.
“Eating your greens has never felt so great,” said David Lemieux, the Grateful Dead’s Archivist and Legacy Manager. “It’s not always possible to ‘think globally, act locally’— but Gotham Greens puts this into action. I love that they grow healthy food near you in incredibly sustainable ways, so the greens don’t have to travel far to get to your plate. Just as the Grateful Dead changed so much of how things were done within the music industry, Gotham Greens is an innovator, too, in making local food possible on a grand scale.”
Posted by Chris Manning
