April 5, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Ag investment firm Farmers Gate (founded by Dan Fabian, formerly with Blue Road, Stephen Smith, formerly with Harvard, and Thaddeus Tracy, formerly of Teays River) has partnered with family-owned agribusiness Red Dog Management, and grower, marketer, and distributor Oppy on the formation of New Wave Berry, LLC, a joint venture that will bring the first-ever Ocean Spray® specialty berry pack to market this fall. 

Living up to its name, New Wave Berry is breaking new ground in strawberry production through its innovative hydroponic tabletop strawberry line, which will be grown in a newly-constructed high tunnel facility in Santa Maria, California.

“It’s not every day we get to build something from the absolute ground up, or tabletop up, you might say in this instance,” said Jason Fund, VP of categories, berries, and greenhouse, Oppy, which will exclusively market the fruit and will reveal its new packaging this fall.

“We’ve been talking to Oppy about the prospect of tabletop growing and how it is going to be the future of strawberries for a long time, we’re ecstatic to be moving ahead,” said Greg and Donna France, owners, Red Dog Management.

“These berries will stand out because they will be heartier with a longer shelf life. Coupled with an eye-catching extension of the Ocean Spray line, we’re excited to deliver in a different way for our customers, and consumers will be very happy too.”

Potential Tonic of Hydroponic

Only becoming more well-known in recent years, the production of food utilizing highly controlled, hydroponic systems has seen startups evolve on multiple continents and is beginning to gain investor attention.

Since 1982, 24 million acres of U.S. farmland have been lost to development, and the loss continues at a rate of 40 acres of farm and ranch land every hour, according to the American Farmland Trust. 

More specifically, the California Climate & Agriculture Network stated that California, one of the top-producing agricultural states in the country, has lost an average of 50,000 acres of farmland each year for the past 30 years due to urbanization and development.

It is the ability of hydroponic growing operations, such as the one being developed by New Wave Berry, to meet and alleviate these challenges, driving the global hydroponic market, which was valued at $1.33 billion in 2018, to have an expected CAGR of 22.52 percent between 2019 and 2025, according to Grand View Research. 

Requiring a fraction of the inputs required by traditionally field-grown strawberries, New Wave’s system delivers the exact nutrients needed directly to the roots of each plant, ensuring the use of fewer chemicals and far less water.

Additionally, the act of growing crops on tabletops cuts required groundwork and makes the labor associated with production less taxing for workers, while also enabling year-round output. 

“Bringing a new item, a new brand extension and a new way of growing to the market, I think this is an opportunity to change the game really quickly,” said Fung. “We certainly see a future on a large scale growing in this way and will be able to do so with such great partners.”

Together, the partners will be able to build upon Oppy’s exclusive partnership with Ocean Spray – the agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 farming families well-known for its cranberry products – to now apply that retail presence and expertise to bear on advancing strawberry production practices to bring a uniquely sustainable product to market. 

“With such diversification across categories at Oppy, I couldn’t be more excited for this one in particular,” said David Smith, president, Oppy. “This concept combines care for the planet with care for the people, and is poised to deliver an excellent strawberry experience for our customers and their shoppers. Berries have been an increasingly vital component of our product mix and I’m really proud to see our focus come to fruition with this innovative new line.”

– 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, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.