Ohio State Graduates Find Success With Hydroponic Farming
By Dennis Biviano, Columbus
May 18, 2021
COLUMBUS, Ohio — James Hu and Andrew Herczak attended Ohio State, both starred on the fencing team and now the friends are business partners, co-owning Columbus Artisan Growers.
What You Need To Know
The OSU grads said there were a lot of challenges in growing their business
The farm grows fresh exotic and artisan greens
The vegetables are harvested for seven Columbus restaurants
The small hydroponic farm grows fresh exotic and artisan greens from around the world.
Although the start-up has experienced some ups, downs, and pivots during the pandemic, past experience taught them there's no quitting in this team.
“There's a lot of things that we learned at Ohio State, especially on the fencing team, is I think really, is really a driving factor of why we are doing what we are, especially how we survived through the pandemic, just fighting through everything. That was one of the things our coach really drilled into us,” said Hu.
Herczak, who is originally from Poland, said he's always grown up with a passion for plants and gardening.
He said everyone is looking for quality and organic these days.
The best part for him harvesting for seven local restaurants for edible foods and garnishes.
'These are native to South and southern America. We also harvest them for their flowers as well — has a little kick of spice. A lot of restaurants like that, that unique flavor, plus the unique texture on it,” said Herczak.
Even though hydroponic farming is their new labor of love, Herczak still practices fencing during his downtime at their downtown Columbus facility.
Just like many competitors and competitions both have faced in the past, Herczak and Hu said they have aspirations of advancing well beyond the Buckeye State.
“We definitely want to reach everywhere in the United States, even go international. We think the business model of a small hydroponic farm is more viable then we see some of the larger, big players in the field,” said Hu.