September 24, 2017

Fresh Produce Grows Big Results For Akron Startup

By BETH THOMAS HERTZ

Vigeo Gardens principals, from left, Vincent Peterson, Mark Preston and Jacob Craine stand in front of some o the company’s hydroponic growing racks. The pinkish hue in the room comes from the red and blue lightbulbs used for growing.

A downtown Akron company that was started in late 2014 by two young men who wanted to be part of the restaurant industry without giving up all of their nights and weekends has seen explosive growth in the demand for its fresh-grown basil, lettuce and microgreens.

Vigeo Gardens, which grows its crops in an indoor, highly controlled, chemical-free environment in downtown Akron and delivers its products fresh to area restaurants, grocery stores and food distributors, had about $23,000 in sales the first year. In year two, sales were $250,000, and they are on pace to be at least $750,000 in 2017, said Vincent Peterson, the company's chief executive officer.

"We believe the facility could yield $2 million to $3 million in sales once it is fully operational," said Jacob Craine, chief marketing officer.

The huge growth is the result of matching good science with innovative ideas and hard work. Craine said he, Peterson and Mark Preston, chief operating officer, routinely put in 80 to 100 hours a week.

This journey all started when Craine, 26, and Peterson, 25, friends since kindergarten, grew their first crop of microgreens in Craine's basement in 2014.

"Everyone thought we were crazy, but we had been working in the restaurant industry for a number of years and really enjoyed it, and wanted to find a way that we could stay in the industry without working the off-schedule from the rest of the world that most people in the restaurant industry do," Craine explained.

Their initial idea was to develop a line of microgreens for people who were in particular need of the high-nutrient boost they provide, such as chemotherapy patients.

"But we quickly found out that it takes a lot to get into the hospital market, so we switched gears for the moment and have been focusing on the culinary industry, which is something that we knew," he said.

Initially, they called the company Plantscription, but changed it to Vigeo Gardens in 2015. Vigeo means to thrive in Latin, not just survive, Craine pointed out.

"That's kind of the motto of our company," he said.

To get out of Craine's basement, the pair moved into the Akron Global Business Accelerator, where they connected with Preston, 27, who has an aerospace engineering degree from Ohio State University and experience in the hydroponics industry. His skills helped create their first vertical "rack," a platform on which they grow their crops, in a 1,000-square-foot space.

The trio was then able to raise funding from a private investor and add five more racks, but they were still uncertain if their idea was scalable. Clearly it was, though, as six months later, in August 2016, they moved to even larger space — 6,000 square feet on the third floor of the accelerator that now holds 37 racks. This was funded through the same private investor as well as a bank loan. Craine estimates that the two steps represent a combined investment of about $400,000.

Just over a year later, this expansion is now in the "finishing touches" phase. Most racks are operational, and the few remaining dormant ones are being activated as needed to meet demand.

Today, the company has six full-time employees and several part-time workers, mostly farming jobs and one sales position, in addition to the three partners.

Products

Craine said that the primary thing that sets Vigeo's products apart is that the company sells their basil and eight types of lettuce "live." They are harvested in the morning and delivered to customers with the root structures still intact the same day.

"It's as fresh as you can get," he said.

They also grow about 20 types of microgreens.

He said such freshness is hard to obtain from other sources.

"When you go to the grocery store and you buy lettuce that's been packaged and shipped here from California, it's at least a week to two weeks old," he explained.

Equally appealing to customers is the lack of chemicals on the crops, which is possible because they grow indoors.

"We don't do any spraying. Everything we grow is non-GMO," he said.

Another big advantage of being inside is that the company is able to produce the same consistency year-round, he said.

The lack of the climate variables brings productivity advantages, too. By maximizing the efficiencies of their growing system, such as using custom LED lights designed by Preston and making their own nutrient solutions and strictly controlling the relative humidity of the room, they have been able to effectively cut three weeks off the growing cycle of basil and two weeks off the growth cycle of lettuce.

This lets them produce a few extra cycles a year and provides them with four to five harvests per week.

"We have been in business for two-and-a-half years, but we have had as many crop cycles as farmers that have been in business for 10 to 20 years," Craine said.

Vigeo's client list includes about 35 to 40 restaurants in Northeast Ohio, including Dante Boccuzzi Akron, where Craine previously worked, and Jonathon Sawyer's Trentina and Greenhouse Tavern, as well as several in Columbus.

The company also sells to several major distributors, such as US Foods and Sirna & Sons, plus to all of the Mustard Seed stores, and 26 of the Heinen's stores, including the four in Chicago.

Vigeo also began a pilot program with Giant Eagle this month, with the goal of moving into all of the grocer's Market District stores in the area.

Boccuzzi said he thinks there was a real need for a company like Vigeo in this area. He previously purchased such produce from an out-of-state company, but is happier with the greater freshness the local company can provide for his several area restaurants.

"They produce a good quality, consistent product that lasts a long time since they are so close," he said.

He said he is glad to support his former employee, Craine, and finds Vigeo is willing to work with him on his product needs.

"They are young people who work very hard," he said. "I appreciate that today."

Craine said Vigeo's future growth plans include a desire to refurbish old factories such as the one that houses the Akron accelerator into high-efficiency vertical farms. It also may build a greenhouse here to grow products that aren't amenable to the indoor facility, such as tomatoes and peppers.

It also wants to apply its technology to growing medical marijuana in a facility in Akron through another corporate entity it has created, Vita Est, LLC. That facility this month received a conditional use permit from Akron City Council that will allow it to proceed if the state grants it a license.

"We believe our knowledge base on controlled agriculture is transferable to the production of high-quality medical marijuana," Peterson said.

Craine stressed that the companies would be completely separate, but the trio declined to comment further on the plans.