Local Garden's CEO said there's no reason for a food fight as the early stages of their parkade turned greenhouse project have been fruitful. Operating since February, Local Garden, a subsidiary of Alterrus Systems Inc., has gained a steady revenue stream despite a rocky start, according to Christopher Ng.
"I wouldn't say we're profitable yet, but we're approaching that really quickly," Ng said. The firm grows greens and herbs from its 6,000-square-foot rooftop greenhouse on the 10th level of a city parkade in the 500-block of Richards Street.
The vertical farming system consists of two conveyor belts that rotate 3,000 trays of leafy greens, allowing them to receive copious amounts of natural light and grow 10 times faster than normal. The greenhouse employs nine full-time workers, with two coming from a Downtown Eastside re-employment program. Four months after they started production, Local Garden has been distributing baby kale, arugula, red chard and basil to local restaurants and stores like Urban Fare, Fresh St. Market and Dollar Grocers among others. Ng said they also recently struck a deal with Sysco to start supplying for the food-service industry.
"Most of our customers are enamoured by the story of the company and how the food is being grown on the rooftop of that parkade," said Urban Fare Yaletown manager Jason Moloci.
Urban Fare only started carrying Local Garden products this May after customers consistently asked for the brand. Now, they sell around 170 packs of vegetables and herbs weekly.
Initially, there were some doubts about whether the city's 10-year leasing deal with Local Garden was a profitable one. The rooftop greenhouse sits on city land that could have been bringing in more revenue for the city if it was used as a parking lot, said Coun. George Affleck.
"Why are we providing these companies with sweetheart deals when there are others that are struggling to pay rents and don't get subsidies?" Affleck said.
The councillor called for a motion to audit Local Garden's deal with the city, but it was defeated last December.
Ng couldn't provide the specifics of their deal, but assured that they're paying market value.
He also added that since some floors of the old parking lot have been sitting empty for a while, the leasing fee that Local Garden pays is better than nothing.
"One thing to be considered is that the top five floors of that parkade were at zero revenue ... so the city thought this was a perfect way to repurpose."
Ng said. Affleck is happy about Local Garden's success, but said that the leasing deal might have to be revisited.
"That's very good news that they're successful, kudos to them, but now maybe we can renegotiate a new rate for the rent," Affleck said.
Ng said it's a possibility.
Source: theprovince.com