Greenhouses increasingly where the heart is for berries

Not too long ago, few would have thought strawberries would hold a prominent spot along with tomatoes, cucumbers and bell pepper in Ontario’s flourishing greenhouse industry. Today, though, berries are becoming increasingly commonplace in protected agriculture. 

Leamington, Ontario-based Nature Fresh Farms started a 1-acre trial of greenhouse strawberries in 2020, said Matt Quiring, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

“The goal was to perfect the growing process and varieties we were going to pursue and expand from there,” he said.

“Currently, we are growing strawberries in our commercial greenhouse but are trialing numerous varieties within the strawberry segment,” he said. “We are also trialing greenhouse grown raspberries.”

DelFrescoPure in Kingsville, Ontario, started growing greenhouse strawberries in 2016, said CEO Jaime D’Alimonte.

“We wanted to add to our hydroponic lineup,” he said. “We felt confident we could produce a summer-tasting berry 12 months of the year for Canada and the [U.S.]”

Related: It's berry time: Strawberry, blueberry, bushberry outlook strong

The company spent two years doing research on a quarter-acre site and installed high-pressure sodium lighting to allow year-round production.

Today, the company has 15 acres of conventional greenhouse-grown strawberries and plans to have 25 acres of conventional strawberries by December. By October 2023, the company hopes to have organic strawberry acreage in the U.S. and eventually add raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. 

Kingsville-based Mastronardi Produce Ltd. is pretty much a veteran greenhouse strawberry grower.

“We started our high-tech berry growing in 2003 and, after a seven-year learning curve, we officially launched our first premium, greenhouse-grown strawberries commercially in 2010,” said Paul Mastronardi, president and CEO.

The company now also grows greenhouse raspberries and blackberries.

“Our vision was to do exactly what we did in the tomato, pepper and cucumber world, and horizontally expand the berry market,” Mastronardi said. “It was our goal to offer unique and flavorful greenhouse-grown berry choices to consumers.”

Mucci Farms in Kingsville began trialing strawberries in 2014, said Dan Branson, senior director of product and business development. 

“After two years of trial and error, we felt like we understood enough about the growing process to build an exclusive strawberry facility, which began as a 36-acre project to be built in three phases over three years,” he said. 

Mucci Farms’ Smuccies Sweet Strawberries and a private label program with a major Canadian retailer were immediate successes, he said.

“Before the final phase was built, it became apparent that we needed to double that acreage,” Branson said. “In 2021, we built a twin 36-acre facility to bring us to 72-acres, the largest indoor strawberry farm in North America — maybe the world.”

Plans call for even more expansion, and the company is in advanced trials of greenhouse blackberries.

Greenhouse growers expect the trend toward berries to gain traction across North America.

“We see strawberries as the initial berry to earn more market share and this trend to continue into other berries within the category — like raspberries, blackberries and potentially even blueberries,” Quiring said.

And he said more frequent inclement weather and soaring freight costs “will only narrow the price gap between field-grown and greenhouse-grown production.”

Producing strawberries in a greenhouse is more efficient and less labor intensive, D’Alimonte added, and allows for climate control.

“This means that you can have delicious strawberries all year long instead of just in the summer time.”

Mastronardi Produce reached a milestone in 2018 when the company forged a partnership with leading berry business BerryWorld “with the goal of changing expectations for how a berry should taste,” Mastronardi said.

“It has really been a perfect marriage; BerryWorld provides genetics and breeding expertise, and Mastronardi Produce supplies the greenhouse facilities, marketing expertise and North American distribution network,” he said.

“This partnership has made it possible for us to revolutionize the berry category, just like we did with tomatoes.”

The advantages of growing greenhouse strawberries are many, Branson said.

“High-tech greenhouses truly offer the cleanest growing environment, and this factor in itself is the most important as it allows us to consistently maximize flavor,” he said.

Greenhouses also eliminate the need for pesticides and sprays, Branson said. 

“We also have dramatically less shrink and can offer consumers premium quality as a result of harvest at late stages of ripeness,” he added.

“Additionally, greenhouses can produce at least seven times more per square meter, and our growing season is 365 days a year with minimal fluctuation in production using 80% less water than traditional field farms.”