Growing Produce Indoors

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

For years, California has served as the salad bowl and the breadbasket of the world. When it comes to leafy greens and fresh produce, does new indoor growing technology change where this can and should be produced. Gotham Greens sees California as a great market for their hydroponic greenhouses. Co-founder and CEO Viraj Puri is very optimistic about the road ahead for these growing systems.

Puri… “I think modern greenhouse farming has a very successful legacy of being practiced profitability in many parts of the world. Much of the technology is robust. Using an example of say tomatoes, for example. I don't think most consumers know this, but upwards of 60% of tomatoes that are found in retail stores in America today are grown in a greenhouse.”

Puri said other greenhouse vegetables like cucumbers and bell peppers are also on the rise.

Puri… “And so we believe that there is still ample opportunity for the indoor farming segment and the greenhouse growing segment to grow not only in the U.S. but in many parts of the world. Because these facilities can really be located anywhere, geographically, particularly in close proximity to large marketplaces, we believe there's a lot of supply chain benefits. That can take cost out of the supply chain, waste and other factors.”

Gotham Greens just announced their first California facility in partnership with the University of California at Davis.