One of the largest North American field tomato growers, Lipman Family Farms, announced it has expanded its operation into greenhouse production through the acquisition of Ontario, Canada-based Huron Produce, a greenhouse tomato and vegetable producer and distributor with operations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Through this deal, which Lipman Family Farms calls “transformative”, the company will be able to offer customers both field grown and greenhouse produced tomatoes on a year-round basis.
Family owned for more than 50 years, the addition of Huron Produce will give Lipman the ability to introduce its proprietary tomato varieties into a protected agricultural production model, while also enhancing its distribution network, its product line, and its operational capabilities. The deal also will enable Huron to introduce field grown tomatoes to its offerings which are currently marketed under the Suntastic label.
‘This is a classic win-win transaction,” said Darren Micelle, COO of Lipman Family Farms. “The addition of Huron gives us extraordinary product depth, expands our collective capabilities and broadens our distribution footprint, allowing us to better serve our customers with a single, year-round solution for tomatoes and vegetables. We’re excited to welcome the Huron team to the Lipman family.”
After the expected closing in April of this year, Lipman has plans in its pipeline to establish new facilities in Canada and Nebraska, and to add a second location in Denver, and a new warehouse in McAllen, Texas.
Growth Under Glass
When considering the farm-to-table consumer movement, and the growing demand for year-round access to healthy, fresh, sustainably produced foods, even in regions of challenging climate, greenhouse production has been a targeted area for investment.
In 2013 the country of Turkey announced it was investing in the drilling of new geothermal wells to support increased greenhouse produce production in order to meet growing demand from EU countries.
In July 2015, Vietnam-based Vingroup’s agricultural business VinEco signed a US$17 million partnership with Natafim, an Israel-based drip and smart irrigation and greenhouse project giant, for the supply of greenhouse structures, drip irrigation products, climate control systems, growing platforms, expertise, and agronomic support services as VinEco began large-scale agricultural greenhouse projects for the production of fruits and vegetables for the Vietnamese market.
October of 2015 saw New York-based greenhouse technology developer BrightFarms announce an investment of $7.3 million for sustainable greenhouse construction in Virginia that will produce 150,000 pounds of tomatoes. BrightFarms Capital Greenhouse also announced the construction of a second three-acre greenhouse with the capacity to produce one million pounds of baby greens per year.
More recently, BrightFarms announced in March of last year another investment of $10 million for the construction of a 160,000-square-foot greenhouse 55 miles outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The announcement of the Ohio greenhouse project follows six months after BrightFarms announced the completion of a $30.1 million Series C led by Catalyst Investors, and including existing investors, Chicago-based WP Global Partners and New York-based NGEN Partners.
At the time, BrightFarms stated that it planned to use the funding, which it claimed was the largest equity investment to date in the U.S.-controlled environment local produce sector, to strengthen its position within the space and to further its goal of making all U.S. fresh fruit and vegetables locally sourced. In addition to planning more greenhouses, the company said it also was exploring plans to expand the crops it grows to include green peppers and strawberries.
One month later, in November of last year, UAE-based, agtech-enabled arid climate agribusiness Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest) announced it had closed on $4.5 million in seed funding through a round led by Shorooq Investments, and that included a leading federal government-backed fund, technology partners of the company, and a consortium of globally diverse angel investors.
The capital raised will be used to fund the construction of the company’s inaugural 3.3 acre high-tech, fully climate controlled greenhouse production facility in Nahel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is expected to be completed by the middle of this year, and to have produce hit the market in the second half of next year.
-Lynda Kiernan