Savoura Group announces its largest investment project ever with an injection of $55 million in Sainte-Sophie, the municipality where the company was founded in 1995. The greenhouse complex will cover an area of 9 hectares, which also represents the largest construction project ever undertaken by the Group in the Lower Laurentians.
The construction, which will be completed this fall, will house conventional tomatoes production, including varieties specific to the famous brand. The infrastructures that will be erected in the coming weeks will be based on the latest technological advances in the industry in order to meet the highest environmental standards. Protective screens will be installed to minimize light waves from the growth lighting for the plants.
In addition, a 100% Quebec technology, Sollum’s intelligent LED lighting, will be used on a one-hectare production area, which represents a major investment in the development of new technologies in Quebec. The project was carried out in collaboration with the financial partners Desjardins Entreprises and Farm Credit Canada. As for the management of the project, it was entrusted to the GOBEIL DION & ASSOCIÉS team.
For Peggie Clermont, CEO, the inspiration for the team that came up with this major project over the past few months was an innovation. "There is a long way to go between wanting to innovate within the framework of a project and realizing real innovations. If you knew all the energy and imagination put in by all our production teams to achieve such a project. Nothing was left to chance in order to implement a project that was both structuring for the company and responsible towards all of our workers, suppliers, and clients. We are not perfect, but we are aware of our role as a corporate citizen and we are determined to improve with each project."
Second project for SOllum
The Sollum team explains this is great news for them. In 2020 they first received $5.25M in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to begin testing their smart LED grow light solution for greenhouse pepper production., "We now enter the second phase of funding with SDTC receiving $2.5M from them to jumpstart a demonstration project valued at $14M to highlight the lighting solution's benefits for the production of greenhouse tomatoes with partners Savoura Group, Prism Farms and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Harrow Research and Development Centre (Harrow RDC)."
SDTC’s mission is to fund companies that offer cleantech solutions that exemplify the principles of sustainable development. "With the help of SDTC, businesses like Sollum can accelerate their success in competitive markets and ensure the wealth of clean tech jobs across Canada. The economic prosperity created by SDTC is matched by their environmental contributions with estimated reductions of 22.4 megatonnes in emissions annually, thanks to SDTC-funded companies."
Partners Savoura Group and Prism Farms, both specializing in greenhouse tomato production in Québec and Ontario, respectively, will host demonstrations in dynamic greenhouse lighting and further put Sollum’s unique sustainable solution to the test. Recent research conducted at Harrow RDC, which includes Sollum's sustainable solution in some of its projects, will propel Sollum as a company backed by data, leading science, diverse partnerships, and environmentally responsible innovation. Each of the greenhouse operating partners will demonstrate dynamic lighting on one hectare of growing space while Harrow RDC will be expanding their collection of Sollum light fixtures for research on top of what they implemented during the SDTC phase one funding. As was done with the greenhouse pepper project, new light spectra and photoperiod protocols developed and researched by Harrow RDC will be easily made available to the public via published data which will support Savoura Group and Prism Farms via the SUN as a Service platform.
“As a leader in greenhouse cultivation in Québec, research and innovation are obvious choices in each of our business decisions. Added to our values is the importance of the origin of our suppliers. This project with Sollum Technologies brings together several elements related to our mission and represents an excellent opportunity to test and optimize the most advanced lighting system on the market directly in our greenhouses," said Richard Dorval agr., President and Chief Operating Officer, Savoura Group.
“Sollum’s dynamic fixtures will be used to supply lighting for our new greenhouse expansion where we will aim to produce fresh tomatoes for our customers year-round. This technology will also allow us to find production and energy efficiencies that were not available to us before. We could not be more excited to start working with Sollum Technologies," said Ryan Tiessen, Vice President, Prism Farms
For more information:
Agro Quebec
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Sollum Technologies