Oppy and UP Vertical Farms launch inaugural facility
After nearly a decade of researching and developing the latest technology to grow crops at 350 times the yield of conventional field-grown greens, UP Vertical Farms has launched its inaugural facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, alongside its sales and marketing partner, Oppy, according to a news release.
UP Vertical Farms greens are grown using 99% less land, 99% less water and 99% less fertilizer than conventional farming. They are also grown with no pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, the release said.
The UP facility is fully automated from seeding through to harvest. Using recycled carbon dioxide and proprietary lighting technology, leaves are grown to custom brix levels and flavor profiles, and last 22 days or more refrigerated, the release said.
And because the greens are never touched by human hands, they are ready to eat right out of the package with no need to wash.
“We are thrilled to go live after many years of research, development and planning,” Bahram Rashti, co-founder of UP Vertical Farms, said in the release. “With climate change affecting the fresh produce supply in a multitude of ways, we’re honored to do our part to help Canada navigate its food security issues — as with recent shortages experienced in the traditional leafy greens sector, for example. These limitations in supply will be a continuous issue, one that we had foreseen, and for which we developed a commercial scale solution to address. Our facility will further limit Canada’s dependence on imported greens in the provinces we supply and we anticipate expanding our footprint quickly.”
Forecasting production of just under 2 million pounds — or 6.3 million bags — of salad greens per year, UP Vertical Farms says it also has the ability to customize packs specific to the individual needs of retailers and restaurants. Because crops are grown in an automated 13- to 21-day period, blends can be tailored and grown immediately to keep pace with ongoing trends, the release said.
“Entering the vertical farming space with Bahram and Shahram Rashti has been an [utmost] pleasure,” Oppy Executive Director of Berries and Canadian Category Development Aaron Quon said in the release. “We’re looking forward to officially bringing their long-time vision to life, and providing our retail customers with the most advanced, sustainable technology in leafy greens that they have ever seen.”
Facility tours have begun. More information is available from Oppy sales representatives.
With over 50 million boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables grown on every continent moving through its supply chain annually, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Oppy has been growing, marketing and distributing fresh produce from around the globe for 165 years.
