Netherlands-based Bosch Growers is set to acquire AppHarvest’s 30-arce berry and cucumber farm in Somerset, Ky., in a recent auction, the latest entry in the reshuffling of the controlled environment agriculture company’s assets.
As AppHarvest folds operations and navigates through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections, Bosch Growers has emerged alongside others taking over operations at AppHarvest’s four Kentucky-area indoor farm facilities. Mastronardi Produce is poised to secure the Berea facility, and Equilibrium Capital is set to acquire the Morehead and Richmond facilities, pending court approval, with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 6.
The acquisition marks Bosch Growers’ expansion into the U.S. market.
“It’s a huge opportunity, and we’re looking forward tremendously to getting started here,” Bosch Growers’ Wouter van den Bosch said in a statement.
“We are working on the permits for a location on the East Coast, but those are long-term processes. This came along and is a great opportunity for us to get a foothold in the U.S. all at once,” van den Bosch added.
He said he plans to operate the farm in partnership with his brother, Tijmen, in a company called Bosch Berries Kentucky.
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“Of course, you would do things differently if you built it yourself, but it’s a nice greenhouse built by Dutch suppliers,” van den Bosch said. “For example, there is already an organization ready for labor that we can use.”
Bosch Growers represents a multigenerational, family-run business with 90 years of growing experience, including growing berries indoors.
“In blackberries, we already see that we can apply the knowledge from the intensive cultivation of peppers. We expect to be able to do the same with strawberries,” van den Bosch said in the statement. “In particular, we see a lot of opportunities in the application of ever-bearers. It is a long cultivation, and that makes it complex; Any mistakes will haunt you until the end of the season. We know that from vegetables, and we want to apply it in the U.S. as well.”
In addition to expanding cultivation, Bosch Growers sees opportunities entering the U.S. market.
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“There is a lot of demand for strawberries, but most of the supply now comes from open cultivation. Moreover, that product is transported by truck. That’s not a strong story from a sustainability perspective either,” van den Bosch said in the statement. “Greenhouse horticulture is a good answer to this, but it is a profession: no plug-and-play. We bring our own knowledge and experience and can rely on the various partners we work with in the Netherlands. That gives us confidence that we can make it a success.”
CEA players secure four AppHarvest farms
As previously reported, as a part of AppHarvest’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy strategic plan, dubbed Project New Leaf, the indoor grower sought to reduce its outstanding liabilities through a debtor-in-possession financing agreement with Equilibrium, the company’s largest secured creditor. The second piece of the company’s strategy included a sell-back agreement of its Berea, Ky., farm to AppHarvest distribution partner Mastronardi Produce or one of its affiliates.
“Pending court approval, we expect to transition the Berea farm to Mastronardi Produce — the company from which we currently lease that farm. We expect Mastronardi to make employment offers to the team in Berea,” Travis Parman, AppHarvest’s chief communications officer, told The Packer in a previously reported statement.
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Mastronardi awaits court approval on its sale-leaseback deal for AppHarvest’s Berea facility, which was completed in December 2022. Additionally, Equilibrium is slated to acquire the Moreland and Richmond farms, as AppHarvest’s auctions for both facilities were canceled as Equilibrium submitted the only bid — $113 million in credit — for the two farms.
