A Kingsville farm is celebrating its grand opening Friday, but it’s not your typical, sprawling set-up. The new venture is the brainchild of Carina Biacchi and Alvaro Fernandes, who moved from Brazil to Canada five years ago, bringing with them a passion for entrepreneurship and farming.
“We’ve been dreaming and researching not only dreaming, but panning about this idea for years, doing research, travelling,” says Biacchi, who is the founder and CEO of the company.
On Friday, Mar. 19, that dream becomes reality, with the launch of Ortaliza, which is Spanish for vegetable garden. “We fell in love with microgreens because they are such an easy way to eat healthy food,” Biacchi says. “They’re convenient, packed with nutrients, and you can use them, not only in a salad, but sometimes you want to enjoy yourself a little bit.”
The vertical urban farm has a main street location in Kingsville, where the fresh microgreens are grown right behind the sore counter.
“People are hearing about vertical farming, but they can’t see it. They are not being there. So we wanted to allow them to come and see what it is,” says Biacchi. “It is still a farm, yes, we’re more tech, more modern, but we wanted to give that feeling to people.”
Ortaliza’s store is only 850 square feet, but rows of stacked shelves utilize six times the space.
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