US (MN): $25,000 prize for high-density hydroponic growing system

Garden Fresh Farms, Inc., an innovative and sustainable hydroponic growing system, announces it won the Energy and Clean Technology Division of the Minnesota Cup competition. A prize of $25,000 is being awarded to the company to further grow the business. Nearly 1,100 applicants competed for the finalist position on one of the six divisions of the Minnesota Cup competition. This is a competition of new ventures with breakthrough ideas from across the state. Since 2005, over 7,000 startup ventures have entered making it the largest new venture competition in the nation.

"We are honored to receive this prestigious award," states company founder and president Dave Roeser. "Our proprietary and sustainable hydroponic system is leap frogging the first and second generation hydroponic greenhouses and drawing substantial global investor interest with a projected 20 percent ROI. The pipeline for building our national network of farms for investors is robust and expanding."

The patent pending, high-density hydroponic growing system grows abundant supplies of produce without pesticides or herbicides in an enclosed environment, such as warehouses or other available property. This year-round production process uses 90 percent less water than traditional agricultural methods and produces twice the produce while using half the energy of second-generation indoor farming methods which use stacked layers of produce beds. The barriers to this market segment have been crop density and energy consumption. Garden Fresh Farms was able to demonstrate to the panel of judges that this new patent pending equipment has conquered those barriers. Additionally, transportation costs are substantially reduced since it is locally grown in urban warehouse.

The company was started in 2010 with a 20,000 square foot growing facility in Maplewood, MN. Several systems have been developed to grow herbs, leafy greens and other produce. Additionally, the fish farms provide natural fertilizer and additional revenues. This facility sells to:

Produce distributors
Food retailers
Corporations dining
Schools
Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) customers supplied from multiple locations
Potential to grow ingredients for natural dyes, pharmaceuticals, and health & beauty products

Garden Fresh Farms is building a 10,000 square foot in a 45,000 square foot warehouse in St. Paul with half being an investor farm and the other half funded by a St. Paul Star Grant. The plan is to fill the building with farms. This building is roughly one acre and will produce the equivalent of 100 acres of farmland. The facility will be operating in the fall of 2013. This first investor farm is being built within 2 miles of many of the produce distributor warehouses for the Twin Cities metro area.

Click here to learn more (PDF)

For more information:
droeser@GardenFreshFarms.com
www.gardenfreshfarms.com