Leafy greens production is ramping up at local hydroponic greenhouse Greenswell Growers.
Operations were already underway during its grand opening ceremony last Friday. The 77,000 square-foot Goochland County-based facility was a $17 million investment with assistance from Gov. Ralph Northam's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund. The Virginia Department of Agriculture worked with the county to secure the project for the Commonwealth.
Carl Gupton, Greenswell's president, said the 1.5-acre greenhouse is enclosed under a polycarbonate glass roof and has a closed-loop growing system, which means from seeding to harvest, the process is completely automated. The greenhouse will produce three varieties of leafy greens — Essential Green Leaf; Vibrant Leaf Blend, a mix of green and red leaf lettuce and arugula; and Hearty Kale Blend, a mix of green and red kale.
"No human hands touch the product," he said. "We’re able to fully automate the facility with 14,000 U-shaped channels that grow and move through the process from north to south in a 21-day period under what we believe to be the perfect growing conditions, 365 days per year."
Greenswell co-founder Chuck Metzgar said the facility is the first of its kind in Virginia and only the fifth established in the United States. Metzgar said the greenhouse will produce about 28 times the amount of product than that of an acre of field in California's highest producing county.
"We determined there was a huge market and devised the approach such that we wanted to produce the highest quality product," he said. "We're going to sell clearly into the Richmond market and into the state of Virginia, and our target is to be the largest producer in the mid-Atlantic."
Gupton said the packing process is also fully automated and completed in a way that prolongs the shelf live of each product.
"A machine takes the bulk and separates it into four-ounce packages before sending it through a top sealer that removes the oxygen from inside to extend the shelf life past the regular two-week life," he said. "The oxygen inside is what creates the wet, nasty leafy greens you probably throw away in your fridge all too often."
The Greenswell team is currently working to secure deals with major retailers, and Gupton said he expects products to begin lining grocery store shelves before the end of the year.