The Ferme d'Hiver company has opened the country's first vertical strawberry farm, in Vaudreuil, and is preparing to market them in about fifteen IGAs by this winter.
A year and a half after launching its concept, the Quebec company Ferme d'Hiver is inaugurating its first industrial unit. The project totals 1150m2 and could produce more than 180,000 kilos of strawberries each year. According to the firm's statement, it would take more than 15 times that area to grow so many strawberries in a traditional greenhouse.
"The Ferme d'Hiver solution is a 100% Quebec innovation and a powerful lever to stimulate local off-season production," said Alain Brisebois, President and CEO. "This first industrial installation marks another step towards our food self-sufficiency.”
This has been a major challenge for the Minister of the Economy and Innovation and Minister responsible for Regional Economic Development, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who affirmed that “the pandemic has reminded everyone of the importance of sourcing products from home, particularly in the food sector."
“For Ferme d'Hiver, the ambition is to create an agro-industrial center for off-season market gardening. We not only want to contribute to the development of our food self-sufficiency but also to serve an export market across North America, ”
said Yves Daoust, Founder, and Chief Operating Officer.
These strawberries will be available on the shelves of IGA grocery stores during the winter.
Already available at two merchants, they will be sold in about fifteen branches in western Montreal and Montérégie.
SOURCE: TVA Nouvelles
