Texas vertical farms designed to disrupt fresh produce supply chains
Eden Green Technology goals to revolutionize the fresh produce supply chain using indoor vertical farming.
The farming technology company relies in Cleburne, Texas, just outside the Dallas-Fort Price metroplex. Eden Green Technology operates a vertical greenhouse near a big Walmart distribution center that supplies greater than 400 stores in Texas and Oklahoma.
“What we do is we mix the perfect of each worlds when it comes to controlled environment agriculture (CEA). We mix the density of a vertical farm but we’re in a greenhouse; 80% to 90% of our plants’ needs when it comes to light come through the sun,” Eddy Badrina, CEO of Eden Green Technology, told FreightWaves.
Badrina said about 90% of the country’s lettuce comes from California’s Salinas and Imperial valleys and Yuma, Arizona — meaning that nearly the entire lettuce eaten by consumers on the East Coast has traveled greater than 3,000 miles.
Eden Green’s facility is able to growing 2 million kilos of lettuce per 12 months. The corporate also grows an array of other fresh produce and herbs, including cilantro, mint, peppers, peas, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Robinson Fresh, a nationwide provider of fresh produce and provide chain services, is the distributor of Eden Green’s produce. As a part of its offerings, Eden Green is supplying romaine and butterhead lettuce under the Robinson Fresh brand to among the largest retailers within the U.S.
“We’re capable of do greenhouse farming very efficiently and likewise capable of provide it very affordably to the typical consumer,” Badrina said. “From a distribution standpoint, a side of our affordability is the undeniable fact that we are able to place our greenhouses right next to distribution centers, virtually eliminating the provision chain costs.”
Eden Green Technology currently has two vertical greenhouses totaling greater than 100,000 square feet of grow space. The corporate can also be within the means of constructing two additional facilities to double its capability by the tip of the 12 months.
Eden Green Technology shouldn’t be the one CEA company making big moves within the Lone Star State. In May, Revol Greens opened what company officials said is the world’s single-largest CEA lettuce facility ever built. The power is positioned in Temple, Texas, about 70 miles north of Austin.
The Temple facility is anticipated to significantly expand Revol Green’s distribution in Texas in addition to the central and southern United States, in keeping with a news release.
“We’re on a mission to offer fresh, inexpensive lettuce to consumers across the country,” Michael Wainscott, CEO of Revol Greens, said in a press release. “The addition of the Temple facility opens latest markets, allowing for further reduction of food miles typically traveled inside the U.S. salad market.”
Minnesota-based Revol Greens also has existing greenhouse operations in Owatonna, Minnesota; Athens, Georgia; and Tehachapi, California. The corporate has distribution partnerships with H-E-B, Sprouts, Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Goal, United Supermarket and Amazon Fresh.
Officials for Revol Greens didn’t reply to a request for comment from FreightWaves.
![](https://www.freightwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/30/Revol-Greens_Texas-1.jpeg)
In comparison with traditional farms, Badrina said Eden Green can grow produce faster and more efficiently. For a head of lettuce, the corporate can grow it from a seed and have it harvested inside 24 to twenty-eight days.
“In Salinas Valley, should you were to grow a head of lettuce, it might take 65 to 90 days, possibly more. It will involve numerous pesticides, herbicides, fungicides after which in the quantity of 30 gallons of water per head of lettuce,” Badrina said. “In contrast, we’ll go from seed to reap in 28 days, and we’re bumping that truly all the way down to 24 as we speak. It is going to go from seed to packaging in literally 1,500 feet after which from pack into cold storage in 20 minutes, all of the while only using two and a half gallons of water versus 30 gallons.”
The founders of Eden Green are South African brothers Eugene and Jacques van Buuren. The van Buuren brothers were already living within the Dallas area after they founded the corporate in 2017.
Badrina said the van Buuren brothers selected the location in Cleburne due to its proximity to the Walmart distribution center.
“They established it there because they knew of their minds a retailer like Walmart is someone they might need to pursue as a customer,” Badrino said. “As we expand our decentralized network, we do need to be inside striking distance and even adjoining to distribution centers — because we want labor, we want access to trucking lanes and we want efficiency when it comes to land. That’s why we selected Cleburne and why our future plans dictate that we shall be in and around distribution centers across the USA.”
![](https://www.freightwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/30/Eden-Green_Texas.jpeg)
Mexico publicizes 50% tariff on white corn exports from US
Amid a growing trade dispute, Mexico began imposing a 50% tariff on white corn exports entering the country from the USA on June 24.
The tariffs shall be in place until the tip of the 12 months and are a part of an ongoing trade spat between Mexico and the U.S. over genetically modified (GM) corn.
Mexico wants to limit imports of genetically modified corn from the U.S., aiming to eliminate using the herbicide glyphosate and GM corn within the country.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai initiated a dispute consultation request with Mexico over the corn ban on June 2 using the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The consultations will last 75 days. If no resolution is reached, officials can call for a third-party dispute panel.
Quality Custom Distribution to open latest facility in Texas
Frisco, Texas-based Quality Custom Distribution (QCD) announced it’s opening a brand new distribution center in San Antonio.
The power in San Antonio shall be 116,000 square feet and support greater than 250 customer stores in Texas. The distribution center is scheduled to open in August
With the expansion, QCD could have 25 distribution centers across the country, making as much as 35,000 last-mile deliveries weekly to 4 quick-service restaurant brands, in keeping with a news release.
QCD is a division of Irvine, California-based Golden State Foods, one in every of the biggest suppliers to the food service and retail industries.
CBP officers seize nearly 900,000 fentanyl pills in California
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on the Otay Mesa port of entry near San Diego recently intercepted 189 kilos of fentanyl pills from a cross-border shipment.
The incident occurred last Monday, when a 45-year-old Mexican national applied for entry into the U.S. through the Otay Mesa cargo facility while driving a Ford cargo van. The motive force presented a shipping manifest for 2 porcelain sinks.
While searching the van, CBP officers reportedly found 12 packages containing 858,000 fentanyl pills, with an estimated street value of $2.6 million.
The case was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations.
Watch: Coping with the challenges of delivering refrigerated produce.