Bosman Van Zaal from the Netherlands is installing a cultivation system and a plant handling system for Shenandoah Growers Inc., a company specialising in commercially-advanced indoor agriculture, in their 100,000-square-foot indoor ‘Biofarm’ in Anderson S.C.. The Anderson farm, which is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2022, will grow USDA-certified organic herbs and leafy greens. The business is expected to create 50 jobs.
Organic
Shenandoah Growers is the largest provider of fresh organic culinary herbs and leafy greens in the USA. “Our newest Biofarm will further enable Shenandoah Growers to deliver what consumers in South Carolina and across the Southeast want: delicious organic produce, grown nearby in an environmentally-responsible way, without the usual premium price,” said Shenandoah Growers Inc. CEO Matt Ryan. “This farm is part of our broader vision for a transparent, diverse and responsive food system more resilient against climate change and supply chain disruptions. Looking ahead, there is tremendous opportunity to apply innovation to develop produce aligned with emerging consumer trends, from better flavour and texture to enhanced nutrient content, responsive to the burgeoning ‘food as health’ concept. We thank the state of South Carolina and Anderson County for their partnership and look forward to joining this thriving community.”
Cooperation
Bosman Van Zaal is one of the leading suppliers of logistics cultivation systems worldwide. Labour productivity, space utilization, tracking & tracing and cost control are central to this. The company develops, produces and integrates all necessary components in-house and, in particular, for the automation and robotization of harvesting and processing activities they use the expertise of their sister company Crea-Tech. Bosman Van Zaal has been supplying logistics cultivation systems for more than 50 years: from manually mechanized systems to fully automated robot solutions, including mechanical or electrical control and software.