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26 Seasons co-founder Matthew Keltie in its indoor strawberry farm in Foxton.
Off-season strawberry producer, 26 Seasons, is seeking investment to finance expansion of its existing strawberry farm in Foxton, to capitalise on the success of their product in New Zealand supermarkets.
26 Seasons originally started in 2017 growing microgreens, but Covid put an end to that. Since then, the company had specialised in the production of off-season strawberries.
CEO Grant Leach said strawberries were “universally loved” and in demand, so the company saw a potential to fill that demand.
“We did a whole lot of category analysis, and we’re really good at vertical farming, so where should we divert our energies?”
Rather than trying to create a new market, 26 Seasons decided to go for a premium quality segment already in the market.
The goal was to produce something fresh, that tasted sweet and which was previously unavailable, and since hitting Countdown and select New World stores in July, the strawberries have “exceeded expectations”, Leach said.
“We generally put them in a store, and they’re gone by that afternoon. So it’s been fantastic.”
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The vertical farming and CEA indoor farming method allows 26 Seasons to perfect growing conditions “365 days a year”.
The strawberries were produced using vertical farming in a controlled environment, which was also known as Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) indoor farming.
It required an insulated building where farmers can control the heating and cooling of the space to achieve “perfect growing conditions 365 days a year”.
Woolworths, Foodstuffs and Farro were all now confirmed stockists of the product.
“New Zealand is no longer immune to supply chain vulnerability and unfortunately extreme weather events over recent years, including cyclones, flooding and drought has led to significant yield reductions across various crops, including strawberries,” Leach said.
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26 Seasons is now seeking to raise $1.5 million in new capital to support its growing business. Pictured is company co-founder Matthew Keltie.
During the 2022 Christmas period there was a shortage of strawberries which was “unheard of” in New Zealand. Young strawberry plants were even down 20% this year due to the weather, Leach said.
With increased unpredictability going forward, suppliers do not know what they are going to end up getting. 26 Seasons’ strawberries were a “welcomed insurance policy” for retailers for premium strawberries’ year round, he said.
From this success, 26 Seasons were now seeking to raise up to $1.5 million in new capital through online investment platform, Snowball Effect.
This was part of the company’s second round of funding to help scale up its indoor controlled environment strawberry farm in Foxton, roll out its “all-in-one” modular vertical farming system, invest in a new research and development facility, and conduct an international pilot in Malaysia to confirm commercialisation opportunities in high value South East Asian markets.
Leach said the best way to know it was producing good quality strawberries was to try them yourself.
“I won’t comment on what the imported ones taste like … I’ll let you do the taste test.”
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