Born Farms founder Christopher Safieh says while recent cold events in the U.S. impacted domestic distribution, the primary interruptions came from road closures and driving restrictions, which caused delays across several corridors.
Born Farms coordinated with multiple entry points in the U.S. to mitigate disruptions and worked closely with transportation partners, Safieh says.
“The main challenges were related to trucking routes from ports and border entry points to final destinations such as New York, Chicago and other major U.S. markets,” he explains. “On affected routes, we deployed team drivers to maximize allowable driving hours whenever conditions permitted. At the same time, we maintained constant communication with customers so they could adjust their receiving strategies based on real-time updates.”
While this cold weather severely impacted open-field production across Mexico and Guatemala, Safieh says Born Farms used its high tunnels to create a managed microclimate. These structures act as a natural buffer, but are also equipped with temperature sensors that trigger specialized irrigation systems for active frost protection.
“This increases relative humidity within the tunnel environment, which is a proven method to help prevent frost formation and protect plant tissue during cold nights,” he says.
Safieh says Born Farms also deploys technology to help determine elevation profiles of farms and the potential impact on temperature forecasts, humidity levels and wind data.
“When dealing with frost-driven events, the most critical factor is identifying high-risk microclimates within the farms,” he says. “We closely monitor low-lying and flat areas, particularly where wind speeds drop below 1.5 kilometers per hour, as these conditions create stationary cold pockets with a high frost risk.”
Born Farms is able to deploy preventive measures through identifying high-risk or vulnerable zones before frost develops.
“While we use several weather forecasting models, the key is integrating temperature, relative humidity and wind behavior to trigger preventive actions early rather than react after damage occurs,” he says.
While customers expect product delivered regardless of external conditions, Safieh says it’s critical to provide transparent and frequent communication at all times, especially during weather events.
“While exceptions can occur, our priority is maintaining transparent and frequent communication about production status and any climatic or logistical factors that may affect supply — whether cold events, excessive rain or transportation disruptions,” he says. “This real-time collaboration allows customers to optimize inventory decisions in the short term, avoiding both shortages and excess product.”
Safieh says Born Farms will evaluate this predictive model for sugar snaps, snow peas, Brussels sprouts, baby carrots and more.
“Each crop behaves differently and requires its own level of research and validation,” he says. “We take a disciplined, step-by-step approach to ensure that any expansion meets the same standards of reliability, protection and resilience that we have achieved with our core bean programs.”
