May 2022 - 12

CHANGE AGENT
By Doug Ohlemeier
Assistant Editor
Sporting a name evoking revolutionary
change, Revol Greens is growing organic
and conventional lettuce and leafy greens
via environmentally friendly hydroponic
methods.
Through new growing methods inside
regional greenhouses that allow shorter
delivery distances, the Owatonna,
Minnesota-based Revol hopes to change
leafy greens and the broader fresh food
sector.
" As we see continued challenges to
outdoor production, whether growers are
able to grow in certain regions due to lack
of resources, lack of labor or a shortage of
truck drivers, it becomes even more critical
as an industry to have more regionalized
production, " said Brendon Krieg, cofounder
and sales manager.
" With the growing population, people
are eating healthier. We need to find a way
to grow more product with fewer resources.
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
will become a factor in many categories. "
Employing sustainable growing methods
to grow lettuce with minimal soil, Revol
touts itself as the largest U.S. indoor
producer of lettuce and leafy greens.
Growing in some soil, the company uses
a hybrid approach that marries the best of
hydroponic and traditional soil growing.
Geographic spread
Revol grows a variety of conventional
and organic baby leaf lettuce and greens
and salad mixes in greenhouses in
southern Minnesota, northern Georgia
and Southern California and is building
one in central Texas. Revol's lineup
includes baby spinach and baby arugula,
living butter leaf and living green leaf
lettuces, spring mix, sweet butter blend and
romaine crunch.
In 2018, Revol harvested its first crop an
hour's drive south of Minneapolis. It soon
increased its greenhouse from 2.5 acres to
10 acres.
Expansions are planned at other plants
which could double or even quadruple
output. Scheduled to open in the fall,
the 40-acre Temple, Texas, operation's
Revol Greens spurs growing,
distributing leafy greens
Revol Greens' baby leaf lettuce and greens are grown in a touchless hydroponic system. Photos: Revol Greens
Brendon Krieg, Revol Greens' co-founder. The company is changing the way leafy
greens are grown and distributed.
infrastructure is designed for more
expansion. The 64-acre Tehachapi,
California, complex south of Bakersfield,
opened in August 2021.
Varying temperatures inside Revol's
geographically diverse greenhouses require
active adjustment of temperature and
lighting intensity via climate screens or
curtains. The Minnesota prairie's arctic
winter temperatures bring starkly different
growing challenges compared to the 270
days of sunshine seen in California's high
desert of the Tehachapi Mountains.
In October 2021, Revol acquired Living
Fresh of Athens, Georgia. It plans to
expand the 4-acre, Atlanta area operation,
which was one of the first indoor leafy
greens operations.
" We've learned a lot from that team
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and their experience growing in a difficult
climate, " said Krieg. " Like Texas, it gets
very hot there, but the humidity levels are
higher than Texas. The way they are able
to grow and manage their crop in that
environment will be tremendous for us as
we expand and look at other potentially
challenging growing regions. "
Indoors or out
CEA can control many agronomic
variables, including pests and birds and
protect crops from contaminants. Unlike
in field agriculture, CEA operations can
control water, which Revol sterilizes with
UV light.
Revol gained much from the testing
ground Minnesota offers for greenhouse
features, said Krieg.
" Every month and season, we're learning
a ton of lessons and capturing a lot of
information and data, " he said.
Conserving water is a key part of the
system. Revol's operations use up to 95%
less water than outdoor systems. Through
a gutter system, the Minnesota greenhouse
captures rain and snowmelt and stores the
water in covered retention ponds.
The prevention of evaporation and
waste challenges resulting from runoff
and evaporation, prevalent in field grown
produce, is important for sustainability.
" As we see changes and challenges
associated with changing climates, water
will become more challenging, " said Krieg.
With land available for use every day
in CEA, the land can become more
productive than field production, he said.
Revol's regional greenhouse network
affords faster transport of product
which helps meet growing consumer
demand for fresh local and regionally
produced products. Delivering to
customers inside a day's drive, within a
500-mile radius of production, Revol is
reducing transportation's impact on the
environment by taking trucks off the
roadways.
Organic shift
When the company started, organics
weren't a big part of the operation;
the plants' nutrient source is the only
difference from conventional. A portion
of Revol's greenhouse facilities is not

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May 2022

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