CubicFarms was recently featured in Hortidaily. Read the full article here.
“Fresh lettuce even with snow on the ground”
CubicFarms has completed its latest CubicFarm System near Edmonton, Alberta. Located in Weslock, AB, Swiss Leaf Farms founder and CEO David Pfaeffli is now selling his CubicFarms produce under the Thriiv Local Garden brand to a variety of stores and restaurants. Swiss Leaf Farm’s 14 machine CubicFarm System is capable of growing over a million and a half heads of lettuce a year, along with microgreens, basil and more.
Even though snow is on the ground, and temperatures are dipping below -20 oC, fresh, crisp, local lettuce and microgreens are now available.
DelFresco Pure installation has begun
Ontario CubicFarm customer Del Fresco Pure has completed their building, and 14 CubicFarm growing machines have been delivered to one of Ontario’s largest greenhouse operators. Del Fresco and CubicFarms are partnering together on several exciting projects and were recently together at the CPMA in Orlando where they featured a fully functional “Demo CubicFarm” complete with live produce. Passers by were memorized by the lettuce, basil, and microgreens growing before their eyes. The booth featured Del Fresco’s wide range of greenhouse crops, including strawberries. The ice cream machine was a hit and we featured Del Fresco strawberries and Cubic’s “Microbasil” as toppings.
Del Fresco expects to bring their CubicFarms grown produce to the Ontario market in the next 2 months, including lettuces and microgreens.
CubicFarms is working on its public listing on the TSX V
CubicFarms was approximately 40% owned by Bevo Farms, but in late 2018 that ownership was spun out as a one-time special dividend to shareholders. CubicFarms expects to be listed as a publicly traded company in the next month or so, making it one of the first publicly traded vertical farming companies.
“Our family is dedicated to protecting the prairie. We strive to work smarter on our ranch by applying our business and consulting expertise and focusing on ranch innovation and sustainability. With climate change, technology advances and decreasing natural resources, we know we must operate our ranch differently. With the HydroGreen system, we can now produce better, faster, and stronger for ourselves and the planet.”
“My family is originally from Holland, I grew up on a dairy farm, and I’ve been in the industry all my life. Talking with my parent’s friends who are immersed in the veggie industry, they recommended Iinvestigateoptions to produce lettuce in a sustainable way. I looked into the greenhouse and indoor vertical warehouse systems, but they could not meet my needs. I needed to minimize my risk, space and lower my labor costs.
“After a significant drought and taking over my family ranch, I was looking for a more cost-effective way to produce our fodder. I knew there were better producer options out there, but most of the systems had too much manual labour and seed obligations that were not cost-effective. The HydroGreen system’s value proposition was compelling. The fodder’s nutritive value is exceptional for our herd and the system is time-efficient. I run one piece of machinery for 35 mins a day when in the past, it would have taken me a few hours a day and three machines using traditional equipment. In our neck of the woods, one six-rack HydroGreen system is the equivalent to 320 acres of South Dakota prairie sitting inside a 60 x 40 building. It is essentially drought resistant ‘Land on a Stand’ which produces grass every day, in any weather, in less than an hour.”