3 takeaways from a discussion on the potential of CEA

Added on 21 June 2023

Tags

3 takeaways from a discussion on the potential of CEA

The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) hosted a networking and engagement session with produce retailers and controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) producers at this year’s Retail Conference held in Oak Brook, IL.

The meeting featured a guest speaker, Investor and Chairman of Equilibrium Dave Chen, who spoke about the opportunities ahead for CEA and retailers and provided attendees with time for roundtable discussions to learn more about challenges and possibilities at both ends of the supply chain.

“This was a unique opportunity to bring together CEA and retailers at the Retail Conference this year,” says Vonnie Estes, IFPA Vice President of Ag Innovation. “It’s easy to talk about the potential for CEA or rely only on the headlines around CEA startups, but bringing these two groups together allowed us to discuss the scalability of indoor grown products that meet consumers and retailers’ needs for locally grown, fresh produce with fewer inputs.”

Takeaways from the discussion included:

False “Competition”: There is a tendency, as new technologies emerge, to set them against each other in a race towards the best solution. Chen stressed the importance of thinking about CEA as a set of application tools that includes everything from hoop houses to glasshouses and vertical farms. They are all tools to be used to solve a problem.