“Today, as Village Farms celebrates 25 years in business, it makes us very proud to have built a foundation that will enable future generations to benefit from high-quality, sustainable, safe and fresh premium quality hydroponic vegetables,” Michael DeGiglio, president and chief executive officer of Village Farms LLC, , told The Produce News.

Despite having hurdled a major crisis in recent years, the Heathrow, FL-based company’s foundation remains solid. On May 31, 2012 a hailstorm delivering hail the size of golf balls hit Marfa, TX, damaging and/or destroying all 82 acres of Village Farms’ glass hydroponic greenhouse in seven short minutes.

DeGiglio explained that until one actually goes through a natural disaster such as this, it’s impossible to relate to the level of destruction.

“The 20-foot-high glass facility had 850,000 plants in production with approximately 15 pounds of product on each plant,” he said. “All the plants, fruit and the structure — glass and aluminum — was destroyed. The labor cost alone to clean debris off the ground left behind by the storm was $5 million.”

DeGiglio noted that despite the disaster, he has reason to be thankful. The storm hit at 7:55 p.m., after the work crew of about 450 had left for the day. Despite the fact that the building was constructed of tempered glass, some glass fell in huge pieces, slicing into plants and product. No one was in the building, or he feels sure that some people would have been injured.

Forty acres of the Marfa facility were quickly repaired and product was being harvested by January 2013. But the other 40-acres were beyond repair and dismantled. The remaining two acres, which were used as a “Gates” research facility used to test the technology, would not be rebuilt at this location, but later moved to the company’s Monahans’ greenhouse.

But there were major issues to contend with following the storm damage that delayed more expedient progress. Village Farms’ insurance claim was approximately $50 million for the building damage alone, and settlement took a year and a half. But Village Farms, DeGiglio said, weathered this storm as well.

“Another 20 acres at the facility were rebuilt and back into production in July 2014,” he said. “The remaining 20 acres have not yet been rebuilt, but plans are to have it operational by the end of 2015.

“In all, 60 of the original 82 acres of the Marfa greenhouse are now back in full operation,” he added.

Village Farms’ Permian Basin Facility in Monahan is about two hours away from the Marfa facility. This semi-closed greenhouse is a part of the company’s strategy and goal to build facilities that can produce high-quality hydroponic produce in extremely harsh conditions. This region is close to the Odessa, TX, area, near the oil basin, which is known for its extreme climate. Temperatures have reached as high as 117 degrees during the day. For four months of the year temperatures typically exceed 100 degrees every day, but the winter months bring snow and harsh rains.

“Village Farms made a $45 million investment in the Monahan Permian Basin facility,” said DeGiglio, “and it is continuing on this strategy platform into the future. This first commercial ‘Gates’ facility is 30 acres, and is also where the ‘Gates’ research center is now located. The next level of the ‘Gates’ technology is used at this facility, which now produces in a near closed atmosphere.”

The company is continuing its research to advance its technology for use in future years and in many areas — even possibly extending to offshore countries.          

DeGiglio explained that most conventional greenhouses are vented so that the windows in the roof can be opened, but the shortcoming of this type of construction also makes the plants more susceptible to insects. “Gates” technology’s more enclosed atmosphere enables Village Farms to better control the airflow and climate. It maximizes beneficial insect populations through the use of integrated pest management, commonly referred to as IPM. It also enables the company to produce hydroponically in more severe climates.

DeGiglio feels that locally grown is not a trend, but a new way of life because as time passes and new generations become increasingly aware of the need to protect and conserve our natural resources, buying as close as possible to source of production will be a normal way for consumers to seek out their food sources.

He explained that the company has the resources and land for four phases, but it is considering several different areas. Market conditions and cost of production are only two of many issues that will play into its decisions.

Village Farms is pleased to be using renewable wind power, and it is installing supplemental lighting, which is helpful to the production of cucumbers and tomatoes in Texas. And it’s especially proud to be producing “Texas Grown” product.

The organic vs. Gates hydroponic is an issue that DeGiglio feels strongly about.

“Most people don’t realize that — according to Nielsen Data — over 60 percent of tomatoes sold to consumers are hydroponically grown,” DeGiglio pointed out. “’Gates’ technology uses clean recycled water at a rate of 86 percent less than it takes to produce field tomatoes.”

He uses the term “hydro-organics” in a joking fashion, but it also drives home his point. The only reason Village Farms is not certified organic is that it does not use organic fertilizer, and this is by choice. DeGiglio said he does not want organic fertilizers, such as animal manure, brought into the company’s greenhouses because they can contaminate product.

He said, “We absolutely think we are better, safer and cleaner than organic product can possibly be, and much more sustainable.”

He explained that plants take potassium nutrients out of the soil or out of the fertilizer they are fed — the plants don’t know the difference. When hydroponic production is compared to organics that are grown outdoors, it’s factual that a greenhouse produces 30 times more yield; or what a greenhouse can produce in 100 acres would take 3,000 acres of field land.

“Water usage is another advantage to hydroponic growing,” said DeGiglio. “It takes one-fifth the amount of water to grow a tomato in a greenhouse than it does in a field. Hydroponic greenhouses use much less land, and because they don’t use soil they don’t take nutrients from it, which means more nutrients are left for future generations.”

In short, DeGiglio said the sustainable benefits of growing tomatoes in a hydroponic greenhouse far outweigh what is required for field tomatoes.

As growers, the new ‘Gates’ technology will enable Village Farms to move production closer to urban areas, thereby reducing its carbon footprint and allowing it to become even more sustainable and much less dependent on fossil fuels.

“An example of this is already happening at our Delta, British Columbia, facility where we create renewal energy from the city of Vancouver’s landfill,” said DeGiglio. “Methane gas that would have gone into the atmosphere is instead cleaned for the plants which then convert the CO2 to oxygen through photosynthesis inside the greenhouse creating a carbon reduction for the planet.”

He noted that as Village Farms embarks on its next quarter century of business it is proud to be part of the great state of Texas.

“Texans love all things grown and produced within their borders, and the majority of Village Farms tomatoes grown here are also consumed here, making us the largest producer of tomatoes in the state,” he said. “Our ‘Texas Grown’ program has been very successful and we look forward to growing our future offerings with our retail partners here in the Lone Star State.”