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Kalera CEO Makes an Impact on the Future of Farming
When he enrolled in North Carolina State University’s College of Management, Daniel Malechuk (’03) didn’t picture himself working in the food industry, but he couldn’t be more proud today of his role in the future of sustainable farming
By Lea Hart
August 10, 2021
When he enrolled in North Carolina State University’s College of Management, Daniel Malechuk (’03) didn’t picture himself working in the food industry, but he couldn’t be more proud today of his role in the future of sustainable farming.
Malechuk was named CEO of Kalera in 2019. Based in Orlando, Florida, Kalera grows leaf plants – mainly lettuce – in a vertical farming system inside clean room facilities. That means no pesticides or genetic modification, and the process uses five percent of the water that traditional farms use.
A video on Kalera’s website notes that 80 percent of land suitable for farming in the U.S. is already in use. Due to the growing population, it’s expected that the U.S. will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050.
What’s more, the video goes on to point out that 95 percent of U.S. produce is grown in Arizona and California, and can take weeks to reach the consumer. That depletes vitamins, increases the risk of spoiling and the risk of contamination. Kalera’s approach localizes farming, bringing the product closer to the community.
From dreams of working in the sky to a career working for the planet
Malechuk enrolled at NC State with dreams of being an aviator. He was the recipient of a prestigious Park Scholarship and began a major in aerospace engineering. However, he enrolled prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and felt, post 9-11, that an aviation career didn’t look as promising.
At the same time, a mentor of his in the College of Management (now Poole College of Management), Professor Art Padilla, regularly encouraged him to consider a business degree instead. When he made the switch, Malechuk said he knew he’d made the right choice.
“I fell in love with the business degree,” he said.
Upon graduation, he went to work for Aldi USA as a district manager and quickly climbed the ladder to become director of corporate buying. While Malechuk didn’t plan to work in the food industry, he said he was excited by the management profile and career opportunities that it presented to him at such a young age.
His next role took him around the globe as vice president at Keysource Foods, a seafood company. He saw shrimp harvested in Vietnam and traveled on mussel boats off the coast of Ireland.
What’s so unique about a business degree and what I love about it is, it can open so many doors; it is one of the broader degrees
“What’s so unique about a business degree and what I love about it is, it can open so many doors; it is one of the broader degrees,” Malechuk said. “I don’t think I could have appreciated how true that is.”
During that time, Malechuk and his family had the opportunity to live in Apex, NC and he never forgot the Wolfpack, enjoying season tickets to athletic events.
He was recruited from there to run the retail division for Shamrock Foods, and his family moved to Arizona. During his time there, Malechuk pursued his executive MBA from the University of Arizona.
When the opportunity at Kalera presented itself, Malechuk admits he had never heard of vertical farming before, but he jumped at the opportunity for many reasons.
“This was a really exciting opportunity to, one, do something so cutting-edge, and two, to have that first opportunity to be CEO,” he said.
While his title is CEO, Malechuk calls himself something else most days.
“Right now, I call myself a farmer,” he says with a laugh.
But it’s fine with Malechuk, who ties it back to NC State’s roots as an agriculture school.
“I’m excited about feeding people,” he said. “It’s a noble cause and a great reason to get up in the morning.”
Demand and growth mean opportunity at Kalera
It’s also a great time to be leading Kalera. The company has a fascinating history. Its founders had initially worked on several different projects, including being a part of a sustainable city located in Florida, before pivoting to focus on indoor farming.
Daniel Malechuk in the Kalera facilities
“Historically, produce is farmed outside,” Malechuk said. “It’s susceptible to weather, fires, contaminants and more – it’s been a challenge.”
As sophisticated as the supply chain has become, he points out that there is also the issue of transporting and delivering it.
By growing produce locally, Kalera changes that business model. The company is currently expanding rapidly with facilities up and running in Orlando, FL and Atlanta, GA , where they have produced 12 times more leafy greens than the entire state of Georgia produced a year earlier. They’re expanding to Houston, Seattle and Honolulu to name just a few other locations, and recently took the company public on the European stock exchange, with plans for a NASDAQ IPO in the U.S. in the future.
I can’t imagine not having exposure and access to culture, people, learning and new experiences. I don’t know that I could have appreciated how much a business degree could give me those opportunities.
It’s been an opportunity for Malechuk professionally in more ways than one. The company was very small when he joined, and he’s had the opportunity to build a team and a culture from the ground up.
“It really has challenged me in a lot of ways,” he said. “It’s been a lot of neat and unique opportunities.”
Though it’s a very different path than the one he envisioned as a high school graduate enrolling at NC State, it fits Malechuk’s personality. As someone who has always had a sense of wanderlust, his various roles have taken him through all 50 states and 67 countries. While it’s not as a pilot, it still provides the same sense of satisfaction.
“I can’t imagine not having exposure and access to culture, people, learning and new experiences,” he said. “I don’t know that I could have appreciated how much a business degree could give me those opportunities.”
Tying it all back to NC State
Malechuk says his degree from NC State has been critical to his current success. He concentrated in marketing in his undergraduate, and said he’s applied everything he learned at NC State at some point during his career. And that includes experiences outside his degree framework as well.
“I don’t know that there was anybody that enjoyed their time at NC State more than I did,” he said.
He took extra Physical Education courses just because he enjoyed them, including scuba diving, and even put that to use during a business trip.
Malechuk was active with the Park Scholars. He calls that experience life-changing, noting the doors it opened and the opportunities it provided for mentorship and relationship-building. He’s hired and hopes to continue to hire NC State students and Park Scholars at Kalera as well.
He was president of the Bragaw Hall Council, served as a resident advisor, was active in the Catholic Campus Ministry, and participated in intramural sports, to name a few other activities.
“Through all of those things, the friendships that you develop and the maturing that you go through – that’s equally as important as the degree,” he said. “It helped me understand how to multi-task and become a dynamic leader in multiple different avenues.”
Malechuk and his wife of 15 years live in Florida currently with their four children, three girls and a boy.
While he is clearly invested in his career, Malechuk is also a big believer in balance and works as a team with his wife in that respect. He strives for balance among what he calls “the five F’s:” faith, family, friends, fitness and finances, saying he always tries to be cognizant that putting too much into one takes away from the others.
He and his family are active in their Catholic Church, and Malechuk enjoys fishing and boating. He got certified in Scuba Diving through NC State, still loves to travel and loves being active.
And, though he didn’t become a career aviator, he has his pilot’s license and enjoys flying.
While he’s committed to Kalera right now, Malechuk hopes things may come full circle one day in the future.
“I would love, perhaps someday, to become a professor in the business school at NC State,” he said. “I’d like to have that same experience of mentoring and leading students that I received, and to replicate what I had from some of the great professors there.”
Lead Photo: Daniel Malechuk, class of '03 graduate from Poole College
Four Storeys Up, A Commercial Vegetable Garden Thrives In A Converted Sears Warehouse
Growing food on roofs represents the future of farming, especially in these pandemic times, says Mohamed Hage, Lufa’s chief executive officer, who co-founded the company with his wife, Lauren Rathmell
DAVID ISRAELS
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
The Lufa greenhouse sits atop a former Sears warehouse in Montreal's St-Laurent neighbourhood.
CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
In the industrial part of Montreal’s St-Laurent area, it can be hard to distinguish the bulky buildings from one another, except for one – the roof sticks out like a green thumb.
It’s a great glass greenhouse roof atop a former Sears warehouse – a giant vegetable garden, said by its creators to be the world’s biggest commercial rooftop greenhouse.
The 163,000-square-foot garden, which opened last week, is the equivalent of nearly three football fields worth of food. To date, it is the fourth and biggest commercial facility for Montreal-based Lufa Farms.
Lufa is already well known among local “Lufavores” – foodies, restaurants, and alterna-living people in the Montreal area, who value its fresh tomatoes, eggplants, and vegetables, as well as the produce it gathers from local farmers.
Growing food on roofs represents the future of farming, especially in these pandemic times, says Mohamed Hage, Lufa’s chief executive officer, who co-founded the company with his wife, Lauren Rathmell.“
When we looked at how to grow where people live, we realized that there was only one option – rooftops. It’s not sustainable to always be trucking food in from across the continent or shipping from all over the world,” Mr. Hage says.
The new building was planned and construction began well before COVID-19 hit the world, but it offers a strong response to the pandemic, he explains.“
In March 2020, we saw a doubling of demand for our food. Growing food locally on rooftops and sourcing from local farming families allows us to swiftly adjust and respond to this demand,” he says.
An employee works inside the Lufa greenhouse. | HANDOUT
Co-founder Ms. Rathmell, who is also Lufa’s greenhouse director, says it took three months to build the St-Laurent facility and grow the site.“That would normally have taken years,” she says.
“In response to COVID-19, we enacted stringent safety protocols early on, launched seven-day service, tripled our home-delivery capacity, and launched new software tools,” she says. The company also brought in more than 200 new team members, 35 new local farmers and food makers, and 30,000 new Lufavores customers.
Lufa’s new staff includes two full-time nurses to take workers’ temperatures as well as “social-distancing police” to walk around and make sure workers aren’t too close to one another, Mr. Hage says. The company has also boosted the frequency of its air exchange in all of its facilities, including the new one.
Designing and building a rooftop greenhouse is challenging, Mr. Hage says. Although some of the preparation required is not much different than getting any equipment onto a roof, some of the prep work up there is more complicated, he says.“
We have to meet national building codes, and of course, everything for the greenhouse needs to be hauled up to the roof on a crane,” he says. “Yet once it’s there, you have to do a lot of stuff manually rather than mechanically. All of this is harder than it would be to do on the ground.”
It’s also expensive. “This greenhouse costs two times as much as a ground-based greenhouse,” he says. Lufa declines to give out the cost of this latest project but says the first of its four facilities, built 10 years ago, cost $2.2-million.
Using buildings for farming is catching on, says Mike Zelkind, co-founder of 80 Acres Farms in Cincinnati, Ohio, which also operates building-based facilities in Arkansas, North Carolina, and New York.
“A field can be the least efficient place to grow food,” he says. “An indoor farm can produce more than 300 times more food, with 100-per-cent renewable energy and 97 percent less water. That’s the beauty of growing in buildings.
Montreal-area foodies value Lufa's fresh tomatoes, eggplants and various other vegetables. HANDOUT
”Similarly, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., up the Hudson River from New York City, restaurateur, food-truck owner, and chef John Lekic pivoted as the COVID-19 lockdowns spread to launch an indoor farming business called Farmers & Chefs.“
“We use technology from an Israeli company called Vertical Field that was being showcased at the Culinary Institute of America, which is nearby,” he says. The Israeli company supplies all the materials to grow some 200 different crops on roofs and in parking lots with minimal experience required.“
We planted and installed a container in March and our first harvest was in April, Mr. Lekic says. “We’re learning fast, but it’s an easy way to grow herbs and produce.”
”Mr. Hage agrees, adding that “rooftops are superior places for an urban farm.”
“When we started [in 2009], we considered leasing parking lots for growing, but no one wanted to give them up,” he recalls. “But for most commercial building owners, rooftops are unloved – they leak, they have to be maintained and, in a cold climate like ours, you have to clean off the snow. A commercial rooftop greenhouse is a solution.”
The new St-Laurent project gives Lufa a total of about 300,000 square feet of agricultural production, and the company plans to eventually expand into Southern Ontario and the U.S. northeast.
Mr. Hage points out that a rooftop greenhouse also makes great sense in terms of environmental sustainability and reducing energy and carbon emissions.“
“We don’t use pesticides and our greenhouses use half the energy that a greenhouse at ground level would consume because we use heating from the building that rises up to the roof,” he explains.
“The biggest challenge is not the greenhouse space – who doesn’t want to walk around in a warm sunny greenhouse when it’s 20 below outside? The challenge is maximizing the warehouse space below the greenhouse,” he says.
“We’re growing so many tomatoes that the warehouses never seem to be big enough to store them.”
Urban farming in Canada is still a niche in a nationwide food industry that is primarily export-based, and accounts for 12 percent, or $62.5-billion, of Canada’s total exports every year, says Claire Citeau, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA).
But in a post-COVID-19 world, every bit of food production counts, she says. “We continue to see the adoption of science, technology, and innovative ways to feed people and create new economic opportunities at home and abroad.”
And if that’s not enough, just look at the place, Mr. Hage says. “Boy, do I like driving by – it sticks out like a crystal,” he says. “And when you go inside, it’s like being in a spa.”
TOPICS AGRICULTURE CORONAVIRUS GREENHOUSE MONTREAL ORGANIC FOOD
Future of Farming: Vertical Harvest Announces Plans For New Location In Westbrook, Maine
Maine’s first vertical farm, Vertical Harvest, is dedicated to jobs serving the underemployed population and enhancing community access to exceptional farm-fresh foods year-round using less land, water, and fuel
Maine’s first vertical farm, Vertical Harvest, is dedicated to jobs serving the underemployed population and enhancing community access to exceptional farm-fresh foods year-round using less land, water, and fuel
Westbrook, Maine (July 28, 2020) – Born from the creative minds of a group of women in Jackson Hole, Vertical Harvest became the first vertical greenhouse in the United States. In the last four years, Vertical Harvest has perfected the urban farm model and will bring their second location to Westbrook, Maine. The project will start construction in 2021 in partnership with the City of Westbrook.
Vertical farming is a growing industry that uses environmentally sound practices to produce nutrient-dense food grown locally year-round, and yields more crops per-square-foot than traditional farming. Vertical Harvest has a company mission to grow both food and futures. The company pairs innovative growing technologies of vertical farming with jobs for the underemployed population in what has been proven in Jackson to be a successful model for uplifting local economies, providing fresh nutritious produce to schools, hospitals, restaurants, markets, and consumers, and embodies a commitment to civic participation, health, and the environment.
Co-founder Nona Yehia stated, “We have felt a kinship with Maine for quite some time. At our beginning stages 10 years ago, Vertical Harvest Jackson engaged the same engineer as Backyard Farms in Madison, Maine. Wyoming and Maine have more in common than just a four-to-five month grow season and drastic seasonal climates – they have polar rural and urban areas, there is deep-rooted respect for the environment, the farming and food communities are a source of pride, and there is a sense of responsibility to serve the job and food insecure population. With our second location for Vertical Harvest, we feel honored to become a part of this special state and Westbrook community.”
Pictured: Co-founders Nona Yehia (right) and Caroline Estay (left)
Vertical Harvest will generally not compete with local Maine growers. Instead, the farm lowers the need for out-of-state produce imports into Maine (representing over 90 percent of the State’s consumption), and the out-of-state jobs these imports benefit, thereby helping to strengthen the overall business base of Maine’s economy. Vertical Harvest will also support local businesses for its growing supplies, increase food security, and be part of the solution to fulfill objectives for the Maine State Economic Plan focusing on talent and innovation. In addition, Vertical Harvest will strengthen the Maine businesses it will serve by providing a stable, consistent source of produce, year-round at competitive prices.
Co-founder Caroline Estay said, “At Vertical Harvest, we have reimagined the food systems and the jobs they create to make them more nourishing, resilient, and sustainable. Maine has an impressive history of changemakers in the food and farming industry and inspiring culinary thought leaders – we are excited to bring Vertical Harvest to Westbrook and work alongside valued community members in these industries and beyond.”
The company anticipates bringing 50 full-time equivalent jobs to Westbrook, in addition to currently working with Portland-based architect and engineering firm, Harriman (in partnership with GYDE Architects in Jackson, WY where Nona Yehia is partner/co-founder).
City of Westbrook Mayor Michael Foley stated, “This exceptional mixed-use project, anchored by Vertical Harvest’s four-story greenhouse, will provide significant private commercial investment and job creation, expanded residential presence and expansion of free public parking to support growth and development of other businesses in our downtown. We are excited about the partnership and welcome Vertical Harvest to the City of Westbrook. “
Pictured: New employees get an orientation tour at Vertical Harvest Jackson Hole (L); two employees harvest produce in the greenhouse (R).
The 70,000 square-foot Vertical Harvest Westbrook located on Mechanic Street will initially grow a variety of microgreens and lettuces. It’s estimated this vertical farm will produce a million pounds of produce per year. In addition to wholesale partnerships with hospitals, corporate cafeterias, schools, chefs, restaurants, caterers and more, the Westbrook location will also have a consumer marketplace and plans for a presence at farmer’s markets.
Pictured L to R: Varieties of microgreens and lettuces grow in the Vertical Harvest flagship, Jackson Hole. Microgreen Kale (middle) is packaged for consumers.
For more information please follow @verticalharvest on Instagram, Facebook, and visit www.verticalharvestjackson.com
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About Vertical Harvest:
Vertical Harvest is a vertical farm that provides consistent, meaningful employment for people with intellectual and physical disabilities by cultivating nutritious food for the community. The Vertical Harvest company's impact is much larger, joining private investment, public resources, and philanthropy as a model to create positive economic and social impact for communities. Vertical Harvest’s focus is to create partnerships to build cost-effective, profitable hydroponic farms that will not only act as innovative urban models for growing fresh food but will have a substantial social impact. The first of these is a state-of-the-art, three-story hydroponic farm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The second location will be in Westbrook, Maine. In 2020, a documentary on Vertical Harvest was released on PBS called Hearts of Glass: https://www.heartsofglassfilm.com/
About Vertical Farming:
Vertical farming is an industry that can work to supplement traditional agriculture by developing controlled indoor growing environments that save space, water, and energy use. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that by 2050 the human population will increase by 3 billion people demanding a 70% increase in agricultural production. Globally, over 80% of arable land is in use. At the same time, food deserts, where affordable and healthy food is difficult to obtain, are becoming more common in urban neighborhoods. Hydroponic agriculture uses a fraction of the water and energy of field agriculture.
Additional Press:
Farms that grow up—rather than spread out
Vertical Harvest seeks to grow jobs for disabled in city
Selfridges To Grow Fresh Produce In-Store With Infarm
The move comes as part of Infarm’s global expansion, which is backed by a $100 million Series B funding round, and has seen Infarm partner with M&S, Farmdrop and now Selfridges in the UK, and retailers across ten markets including the US, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan
by Fiona Briggs
From today, shoppers in the iconic London Selfridges’ store will be able to purchase a range of fresh produce that has been grown directly in-store by Infarm – the world’s fastest-growing urban farming network.
As part of its continued UK expansion, Infarm has completed installation of one of its iconic modular vertical farming units into the Selfridges Foodhall. Shoppers will be able to purchase Infarm’s Super Leafy Greens containing a bundle of Scarlet kale, Nero di Toscana kale, and Golden Purslane and Infarm’s Spring Leafy Greens with Red Veined Sorrel, Mustard Mix and Red Stem Mizuna, both exclusive to the retail store. The produce will also be used in Selfridges’ restaurants.
The installation of Infarm’s technology launches in line with Selfridge’s major new sustainability initiative, Project Earth, which aims to change the way we shop by 2025. Each in-store Infarm farm unit uses 95% less water and 90% less transport than traditional agriculture, as well as 75% less fertiliser and no pesticides. Measuring just two square metres, these in-store farms produce more than 8000 plants per year.
The move comes as part of Infarm’s global expansion, which is backed by a $100 million Series B funding round, and has seen Infarm partner with M&S, Farmdrop and now Selfridges in the UK, and retailers across ten markets including the US, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan.
Erez Galonska, CEO and co-founder of Infarm, said: “Our partnership with Selfridges, as part of the launch of Project Earth, is a response to the fact that more and more customers care where their food comes from, and the impact their consumption has on the planet. The food industry needs to be proactive and innovative in its efforts to reduce environmental impact, and we’re proud to be part of that.”
With installation now complete, the seedlings have been planted and will be ready for harvesting from mid-September. Infarm farmers will visit the stores after each growth cycle to harvest and add new seedlings to the farm. The plants retain their roots post-harvest to maintain exceptional flavour and freshness, meaning they’re still alive when harvested. Prior to the mid-September harvest, shoppers will be able to purchase fresh Infarm produce freshly harvested and delivered to Selfridges directly from Infarm’s London plant hub.
Salmonella Has Found A Way To Evade Plant Defenses
The invaded plant does not show any obvious signs of infection, and the pathogens cannot be simply rinsed off, which means they can easily jump to people
Earth.com staff writer
Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered that wild strains of salmonella can evade a plant’s immune defenses by invading the leaves through the stomata. The invaded plant does not show any obvious signs of infection, and the pathogens cannot be simply rinsed off, which means they can easily jump to people.
Stomata are tiny pores that open when there is plenty of sunlight for photosynthesis and close at night. The pores also close upon detection of threats such as drought or microbial pathogens.
Study co-author Professor Harsh Bais explained that some pathogens like fungi can barge into a closed stoma using brute force. Since bacteria lack the enzymes needed to use this type of force, they search for openings in the roots and stomata.
According to Professor Bais, however, bacterial pathogens like salmonella have now found a way to reopen closed stomata and gain entry to the plant.
“What’s new is how the non-host bacteria are evolving to bypass plant immune response. They are real opportunists. They are absolutely jumping kingdoms. When we see these unusual interactions, that’s where it starts to get complex,” said Professor Bais.
The risk of pathogen contamination increases when plants are bred to produce higher yields, or when low-lying crops are grown too close to a livestock field. The researchers have been investigating these issues for about five years.
Companies take various precautions to kill surface bacteria, but they can’t see or treat human pathogens that already have gotten into the leaf.
“The food industry works tirelessly to make the product as safe as they can,” said study co-author Professor Kali Kniel. “But even then, we are growing these products outside, so they’re accessible to wildlife, wind, dust, and water that may transmit microorganisms. It’s a tough situation.”
Graduate student Nicholas Johnson conducted extensive lab experiments to examine how stomata on spinach and lettuce respond to salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli – three human pathogens that leave no trace of infection. He tracked the size of the stomata openings every three hours after the bacteria were introduced.
“He had to sit under a microscope and count the aperture sizes,” said Professor Bais. “And he has to be meticulous.” The tedious work revealed that the salmonella strain was reopening the stomata. “Now we have a human pathogen trying to do what plant pathogens do. That is scary,” noted Bais.
The researchers said it would be particularly scary if salmonella invaded plants on a vertical farm, where plants are grown in vertical rows hydroponically. “If this hits vertical farms, they don’t lose a batch, they lose the whole house,” said Bais.
“This project has mutant Salmonella strains and that allows us another angle on the molecular biology side,” said Professor Kniel. “The individual mutations are important for the salmonella structure and the regulation of stress.”
“When we used mutant strains we saw big differences in the ability to colonize and internalize – and that’s what consumers hear a lot about. You are not able to wash it off.”
“We can also look at which genes or part of the organism might be more responsible for the persistence on the plant – making it last longer and stronger. That is so important when you think of food safety issues.”
The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
