March 3, 2021

photo credit – GoodLeaf Farms

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

With the intention of driving innovation in Canada’s food systems, McCain Foods has made an investment in excess of $65 million in TruLeaf Sustainable Agriculture and its wholly owned subsidiary GoodLeaf Farms, the largest commercial vertical farming operation in the country. 

This investment now makes McCain, the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato specialties, the single largest investor in the business which McCain says “lives at the intersection of food, agriculture, and technology”.

“At its heart, McCain is an innovative agricultural company,” said Peter Dawe, chief growth and strategy officer, McCain.

GoodLeaf’s first commercial farm is a fully-automated 45,000-square-foot facility opened in Guelph, Ontario, in the fall of 2019, growing five varieties of microgreens: Spicy Mustard Medley, Asian Blend, Micro Arugula, Pea Shoots, and Micro Radish, and three baby greens: Ontario Baby Arugula, Ontario Baby Kale, and Ontario Spring Mix on a year-round basis using specialized LED lighting and hydroponics.

Critical for northern climates such as Canada’s, the crops grown year-round by GoodLeaf are not impacted by extreme weather, nor are they affected by pests, allowing for the sustainable, safer production of nutritious and local produce that can provide an alternative to the majority of Canada’s produce imports from the U.S. or Mexico. 

“GoodLeaf’s vertical farm technology creates spring and summer growing conditions in Canada year-round, growing local, fresh, healthy and tasty leafy greens instead of being trucked long distances into Canada,” said Dawe. “We are thrilled to contribute to bringing GoodLeaf’s delicious produce to Canadians across the country.”

With the backing secured through this round GoodLeaf is planning on embarking on a national-level strategic expansion, creating a network of vertical farms that will bring the company’s proprietary CEA technology to more of the country’s markets. 

“From our start in Truro to our first commercial farm in Guelph, GoodLeaf has built a strong foundation for future growth,” said Barry Murchie, CEO, GoodLeaf. “We want to be a global leader in vertical farming. Our first step to accomplishing that is ensuring we have a strong footprint in Canada, giving Canadians access to top quality, nutrient-dense, sustainably grown and pesticide-free leafy greens 365 days a year.”

Although the exact locations of its next farms have not been disclosed, GoodLeaf is planning to open two more locations by the end of 2021 – one in Eastern Canada, and one in Western Canada. 

“It is our intention to build farms that support the Canadian grocery store network, food service industry and consumers,” said Murchie. “We want to change what people are eating by providing a fresh, healthy and local alternative that, until now, hasn’t been available in Canada. We are driving a new way to grow food, with disruptive technology that brings consumers leafy greens from their own backyard. This is a fundamental game changer.”

It is GoodLeaf’s game-changing technology and environmentally-friendly business model (using 95 percent less water than traditional farming with a much smaller carbon footprint due to shorter transport to market) that McCain noted aligned with its own global sustainability plan.

“Investing in the growth of GoodLeaf as a made-in-Canada agriculture solution is directly aligned with McCain’s global sustainability plan,” said Dawe. “As a global leader in agri-food, McCain is committed to growing food smarter and in a way that’s better for our planet. That’s exactly what GoodLeaf is doing.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.