Affinor Growers has shipped its first harvest of vertically grown, vine-ripened, cultivar strawberries to Four Seasons Farm at the Granville Island Public Market. The premium, sustainable, greenhouse strawberries are being sold as an Abbotsford local product through a distributor, Berrymobile.
The strawberry harvest, packaging, and delivery to local markets represents a successful commercial pilot of Affinor’s patented rotating towers (Canada, USA, Colombia, and Aruba), automated systems, and processes. The berries were grown in Affinor’s 15,000 square foot greenhouse in Abbotsford BC from seedlings over the winter of 2022.
Affinor is in the process of permitting their new proprietary greenhouse, the “Atlantis”, which will accommodate growing strawberries, utilizing 8 levels. This is double the current 4-level towers substantially decreasing costs and increasing yield. Affinor’s technology is the most sustainable solution for reducing water usage, ease of cropping, and adaptable to full modular automation getting ready for the future age of agriculture changes.
Affinor CEO Nick Brusatore commented: “I look forward to people tasting our strawberries for the first time. This is the Affinor milestone that capital markets have been patiently waiting for. This successful commercial pilot validates our technology, processes, and year-round growing cycle. The next step is the Abbotsford property scale-up to 82,000 square feet of greenhouse facilities to produce strawberries at 8 levels in our newly designed Atlantis greenhouse all for the local BC fresh markets.”
