lēf Farms Could Make Major Lettuce from Growing Greens

Henry Huntington, president and CEO (left) and Bob LaDue, vice president and COO, tour their new greenhouse. Photo by Matthew J. Mowry.

Walk through the produce department of any supermarket and you’ll notice how much space is devoted to bagged salads and greens—a healthy staple of our on-the-go lifestyles. And most of those greens are trucked in from California and the southwest.

Henry Huntington and Bob LaDue are looking to reduce those truck miles and are going after it in a big way … really BIG. Like 75,000-square feet, $10 million big. That’s the size and cost of the greenhouse they built to house their new business, lēf Farms in Loudon.

By the end of this summer, lēf Farms (pronounced leaf) expects to start growing—year-round—local, fresh bagged lettuce and greens to be sold to supermarkets, grocers, retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals and other venues in the Northeast within 24 hours of being cut.

The greenhouse uses automation and hydroponic techniques to plant, grow, cut and bag a variety of greens without a human hand ever touching them. It’s the first of its kind greenhouse in NH. They plan to grow 1.3 million pounds of greens annually, which they expect will generate approximately $6 million in revenue, says Huntington, president and CEO of lēf.

Huntington is no stranger to agriculture. He also serves as president and CEO of Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon, a third-generation family-owned floriculture business that he runs with his brother Jeff.

That 40-year old business, one of the 2015 top 100 private companies in NH, was the inspiration for this venture. “We were looking for an opportunity to expand our business,” Huntington says of trying to determine how to maximize Pleasant View’s greenhouses during the offseason from the end of summer through January. “We have 14 acres of greenhouses practically empty,” Huntington says.

Growing vegetables seemed to be a natural fit, especially as the local food movement continues to grow, demanding produce year-round, he says.

Huntington got the idea by connecting with Bob LaDue, now vice president and COO of lēf Farms. LaDue has spent his career designing, building and operating fish growing systems and developing recirculating systems for various agricultural projects in NH, New York and Louisiana. LaDue also served as general manager of Finger Lakes Fresh in Ithaca, NY. There he created and marketed new leafy greens for retail and wholesale markets, established its distribution system, developed and implemented its food safety program, and advanced expansion plans for a new greenhouse and packing facility.

LaDue explains most agricultural commodities are in mature industries that make it challenging for a new venture to enter the marketplace. “We wanted to be in something that was not as mature and more in a growth phase. [But we also] needed a crop where enough is known, and it’s not a giant experiment.”

That’s when they looked at greens, which are not grown in greenhouses as much as other vegetables since the technology to do so efficiently didn’t exist until recently, Huntington says. “It’s very labor intensive. If you do not have automation, you have people in there cutting the plants. The economics was not there to support large growing facilities,” he says, especially in NH where finding the workforce could be challenging.

The duo conducted a global search for technology and purchased a system from a company in Finland. “In the U.S., it’s brand new technology,” says Huntington, adding he knows of only two other U.S. businesses using it.

That system uses hydroponics, a process using only recycled water delivering nutrients and essential minerals, and no dirt, in just the right amounts. The result is almost zero waste. The non-GMO seeds are sown, grown, cut, mixed, weighed, packaged and boxed all under the same roof. And, since the greens will be grown with no pesticides and untouched by human hands, the need to pre-wash the product is eliminated, further reducing water use. With this system, it takes just 18 days to take a crop from seed to bag.

And the business will be able to operate with only three employees.

Construction on the greenhouse, funded through a loan from the Farm Credit Bank, a national agricultural bank, started in September 2015. Lēf conducted tests for more than a year at Pleasant View Gardens and delivered samples to potential customers. Lēf’s greenhouse was expected to be online by mid-August.

Lēf also has plans to build a second 100,000-square-foot greenhouse, which could help the firm become profitable, Huntington says. The 81-acre site could house 15 greenhouses, and Huntington hopes to have 600,000 square feet built within the next few years.

The plan is to produce about 12 varieties of greens and start by selling three types of blends. “With market feedback, we will be able to change those seasonally,” LaDue says.
Lēf has generated interest among buyers but does not yet have contracts confirmed, Huntington says. It recently hired a sales and marketing manager to secure those commitments.

Huntington says he wants the company to work out any kinks by Oct. 1 when there will be a dearth of local greens. “I feel good about when we are hitting the market,” he says. “We have an opportunity to build a true brand around this.”

For more information, visit lef-farms.com.