From the Arctic to the Americas: How Finnish lettuce farming took root abroad

"We started Green Automation Americas in 2015 because we saw a clear opportunity in North America," says Tero Laakso, CEO of Green Automation Group. "Unlike Europe, where in most markets local field lettuce competes with greenhouses for much of the year, the climate and other conditions in many U.S. and Canadian population centers made local field production much less viable and thus year-round greenhouse production more competitive."

As Green Automation Americas celebrates its 10th anniversary, the company reflects on a journey that began in Finland and has been driven by a passion for transforming the way lettuce and herbs are grown.

A Scandinavian legacy, adapted for North America
The roots of Green Automation lie in Finland, a country where over 90% of lettuce and herbs sold in supermarkets are grown in greenhouses. This background has contributed to the company's performance in automated growing technologies.

"Finland has perhaps the most comprehensive greenhouse coverage for leafy greens per capita in the world," he notes. "We've been doing this since the 1980s - not just seasonally, but all year round, with full lighting and climate control."

This deep expertise became the foundation for Green Automation's expansion into North America, where climatic challenges and centralized field production in California and Arizona left significant gaps in local, fresh supply chains.

Direct engagement as a strategic advantage
Unlike many European companies that relied on U.S. distributors, Green Automation took a direct-to-market approach.

"We realized early on that our technology was too specialized for indirect sales through distributors," says Patrik Borenius, CEO of Green Automation Americas." It's critical that we talk directly to operators, owners, and investors and understand their needs. It was clear that we needed to be present in the US to serve our clients better, and we felt we needed to establish an entity in North America". The North American office has been located in Southeast Florida since 2016 and is presently in Jupiter, FL.

This commitment to direct communication wasn't just a marketing strategy, it was a necessary response to a fragmented and evolving market. "We'd like to think we were 5-10 years ahead of the curve," he adds. "Other European technology companies in the Horti sector are just now catching up by setting up their own North American entities."

Inspired by growers
The Green Automation system is unique not only because of its technical sophistication but because it was developed by growers, for growers.

"One of our founders, Timo Rapila, was one of the largest herb and lettuce producers in Finland and the Baltic region," Tero explains. "So from day one, we were deeply embedded in actual production, testing innovations not just in labs but in full-scale greenhouses."

That practical origin shaped the company's approach to automation; however, it was decided early on to create a separate organization for developing the growing system. The technology company Green Automation was founded in 2002. It's hard enough to be good at one thing, be it farming or technology development, but doing both well seems unlikely to succeed. "We've seen too many vertical farming companies try to be growers and technology developers at the same time, and fail," Patrik says. "It's like an airline trying to build its own airplanes. That makes no sense. Instead, we built the tractor, so to speak, and let the growers do what they do best."

"As early as 2009, a fully automated open gutter system was established at a facility in Martilla, Finland. It already featured the first generation of our cutting and mixing solution." (See photo) This system, in a way, became the foundation and the inspiration for the mobile gutter systems in operation today.

Technical superiority and operational efficiency
Green Automation's systems focus on high yield, minimal labor requirements, and versatile production options.

Green Automation is offering a range of growing system options, and customers are growing everything from microgreens and baby lettuce to 300-gram+ heads of lettuce. Yet the largest demand the company has seen is for a leafy green typically grown to 15–25 grams, which can be automatically harvested without any human handling, Tero explains. "That's not just good for labor costs, but for hygiene and shelf life too."

This size of leaf is referred to in the industry these days as "baby leaf", "small leaf", "teen leaf", "small teen leaf", or even "toddler leaf".

"We have a patented open gutter design that allows extremely dense planting and a unique flexibility to adapt to new seed and market development. Combined with full automation, from seeding to harvesting, we achieve the highest yields considering the quality with the fewest operators," Patrik adds. "And we add value with features like RFID tracking and mixing systems for blended greens."

A market on the move
Green Automation Americas has a lot to show for in this decade. In 2015, the interest in greenhouse production of tomatoes and other vine crops had already peaked in North America, and the interest in CEA for leafy greens production was in the starting blocks. They came to the US market with a new solution suitable for the application. The timing was perfect, and some of the visionary leaders and most successful CEA lettuce producers today saw the opportunities in the market and the need for automation in the greenhouse.

The first Green Automation system in North America was installed in 2015, with two more following in 2016. Since then, we have seen huge growth, and today's installed capacity is over 40 HA. The majority of these growing systems were installed in the USA.

© Green AutomationThe growth of the company in North America from 0 to 40HA in 10 years (left). Green Automation Systems operating in North America (right). Credit to Google Maps for the map on the right.

The Canadian greenhouse operations have in the past focused on producing tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. The leafy greens production made up just a fraction of the CEA-grown produce. "This is about to change significantly," projects Patrik. In the last two years, Canadian operators have shown increasing demand. "We're seeing a surge in interest north of the border, which is a very encouraging sign for future growth." This interest has thus far translated into 10 HA of Green Automation growing systems already operating in Canada this year. The demand for locally grown, Canadian produce is higher than ever. Now is a great time to invest in proven and sustainable CEA production of leafy greens, and our clients are making the most out of the increased demand and end consumers' awareness.

Examples of the most recent operators in Canada. Top to bottom: harvest, harvest end - gutter on conveyor

Looking forward, Green Automation sees strong momentum in North America, especially as traditional field growers begin to invest in greenhouse solutions.

"It's a validation of the model," Patrik shares. "Ten years ago, field growers may have dismissed greenhouses. Now, they're investing in CEA as a supplement to field production."

"It's like the automotive industry ignoring EVs, until Tesla showed it could work, and then the large existing automotive companies realized they couldn't ignore this segment. Once people taste truly fresh, greenhouse-grown lettuce, they don't want to go back," he continues. And just like EVs and conventional vehicles, chances are that field and CEA-grown lettuce will coexist in the future for a long time.

While the Finnish market is largely saturated, with much of the CEA infrastructure built decades ago, North America remains a land of opportunity.

"We look forward to the day when North America is as saturated with high-quality greenhouse production as Finland," Patrik says with a smile. "There's still some runway, it would need over 3000 HA to achieve the same amount of area per capita compared to Finland.

For more information:
Green Automation
Tero Laakso, CEO of Green Automation Group
tero.laakso@greenautomation.com
Patrik Borenius, CEO of Green Automation Americas
patrik@greenautomation.com
greenautomation.com