Teamwork Is Core Value at Naples Fresh
June 4, 2023 The Martins family is always looking for a new challenge. A father and two sons with no background in horticulture saw the need for leafy greens in Florida and jumped at the opportunity. Saint’Clair Martins Sr. and his two sons, Saint’Clair Jr. and Nicholas, head up Florida-based leafy greens business Naples Fresh.
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The Martins family operates a 45,000-square-foot operation in Naples, FL. Saint Clair Sr. has a background in engineering, Saint’Clair Jr. formerly worked in animal feed, and Nicholas worked in retail operations. They are from Buffalo, NY, but noticed the need for a high-tech local leafy greens producer during their frequent visits to Florida.
“Over 90% of the lettuce consumed in the state of Florida comes from out of state, especially California and Arizona,” says Nicholas, who serves as Managing Director. “That was the beginning of the journey — seeing the need for it and figuring out how we were going to execute it. We didn’t see anyone else doing it.”
Naples Fresh specializes in hydroponic lettuce, including butter head lettuce, crunchy reds, and crunchy greens. The operation opened in 2017 as an outdoor organic grower of cucumbers and bell peppers, then moved to greenhouses in 2019.
Artificial Intelligence Aids in Production
Nicholas says Naples Fresh has a biosecured, high-tech hydroponic operation. The greenhouses are fully screened and fully automated, meaning that the entire production system is run remotely. Artificial intelligence plays a key role in production. Naples Fresh uses software that controls all aspects of plant nutrition and the growing environment, such as heat, cooling, humidity, and lighting. The small scale of this operation allows the team to control the environment precisely, Nicholas says.
One of the biggest challenges for this Florida-based operation is the temperature change. For example, at the start of the workday, the temperature may be 65°F. By 11 a.m., the temperature often rises to 95°F or higher. Naples Fresh’s AI software manages the environmental system to adapt to rapidly changing climate conditions.
The software is also key to plant nutrition. Naples Fresh uses sensors to read what nutrients are in the water at all times. It can calibrate the nutrient mix on each table to give the crops exactly what they need.
“The system can set parameters where it can calculate the nutrition per table,” Nicholas says. “We have a system that is very adaptable and we can grow many crops.”
Naples Fresh is planning a 4-acre expansion in the next year. With the expansion, the company plans to implement more AI software, which will focus on plant health and pest management. The new software can analyze each head of lettuce and identify pests and diseases that may be present.
Despite the benefits of AI, Nicholas says it can be cost prohibitive for many growers. However, since Naples Fresh is in a region that is highly prone to pests and diseases, it is worth it to make a major expenditure on monitoring software. Other growers, in the Northeast for example, may not have as much of an issue with pests and diseases because many pests do not survive the winter months.
Hurricane-Proof Greenhouses
One of Naples Fresh’s biggest successes is just the structures themselves, Nicholas says. Southwest Florida is prone to hurricanes, and many growers would not even attempt such a challenging engineering feat. He says Naples Fresh was one was the first growers to venture into building high-tech greenhouses in an area known for hurricanes.
Saint’Clair Martins Sr. has a background in engineering in the automotive industry, so he oversees much of the structural projects, in addition to working with greenhouse suppliers, consultants, and engineers. Nicholas says their greenhouses can withstand a Category 3 hurricane and the wind gusts from a Category 4 hurricane, which are 150 mph.
“Last year, Hurricane Ian devastated the coast of southwest Florida. Nothing happened to our greenhouse,” Nicholas says. “We were back in the market the same week delivering lettuce. We did lose power, but we had a generator to run the greenhouse in case that happened. It really proved our concept, so we take that as a major win.”
However, not all greenhouses within Hurricane Ian’s path were so lucky. Nicholas says that every business has its challenges, and the owners must take calculated risks. The team at Naples Fresh has carefully researched the risks and engineered its greenhouses to withstand potential damage.
“Worst case scenario, we’d be back in business in six days,” Nicholas says.
Passion Is Key for Investment and Insurance
When building new greenhouses in 2019, Nicholas says the company ran into obstacles when securing funding from banks. Some financial institutions may not understand controlled-environment agriculture, and question why the cost per square foot is so high. Naples Fresh also received pushback because of its location. Insurance companies were hesitant to cover its business assets because of the potential loss from hurricane damage.
“You have to be very driven and passionate about your project,” Nicholas says. “The passion comes through and gets people hooked. They understand that not only are they investing in your project, they are investing in you.”
Potential investors and insurance companies must trust you and the work you are doing, Nicholas says. The key is to get other people to buy into the same dream for your business that you have. It is essential to have a drive for success and refuse to accept no for an answer.
“Think outside the box. If banks are giving you a hard time, go after venture capital (VC),” Nicholas says. “Don’t be afraid to go after VCs and explain your project. They are always looking to expand their portfolio and you might be the lucky one.”
Sustainability Attracts Workforce
Sustainability is becoming more important to younger generations, Nicholas says. The hydroponic leafy greens industry aligns well with these values, such as reducing water use and sourcing food from local growers. There is a new wave of workers committed to sustainability and clean eating, Nicholas says, noting that as a millennial, he is part of this wave, too.
“I’m a millennial, and we’re moving into management positions,” he says. “There is a lot of alignment with sustainability, and it directly relates to our industry.”
The company’s team members have been with them since the beginning, when Naples Fresh was an outdoor, organic cucumber and bell pepper grower in 2017. The employees appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow over time. They started out working in the fields, but have developed a completely different skill set in the greenhouses with advanced technology. Naples Fresh has about 25 full-time employees.
During the transition to a CEA grower, Nicholas says the management team was learning alongside its workers. The workforce brought their knowledge and experience of growing crops, which transferred well to indoor growing.
“We were being trained, and then we were training at the same time. We were learning together,” Nicholas says. “We did not come from agriculture, so we had to learn everything about this field through research, reading, visiting other facilities, and trial and error.”
Nicholas says the benefits of year-round food production also tie back to the community members, who can have full-time jobs in agriculture. When working for a CEA company such as Naples Fresh, farm workers are no longer required to uproot and move once the farming season is over.
“This is directly related to creating higher-paying, higher-quality agriculture jobs in our area. We are in southwest Florida, a seasonal farming area where food production ceases in April or May when the harvest ends, causing most workers to migrate to Georgia, Alabama, or Mississippi for job opportunities in agriculture,” Nicholas says. “This migration not only causes the uprooting of families, but the separation of families. Building greenhouses in our area and focusing on creating full-time, year-round agriculture jobs, has provided workers with job stability and allowed families to stay together.”
Naples Fresh credits its success to its team. Many of the same employees have stayed with the company since its inception, learning and growing together over the years. As a close-knit family business, there is a strong company culture to propel each other forward every day.
“Our biggest motto here is that no one is successful alone,” Nicholas says.
Mastronardi Produce Partners with Naples Fresh
In March, Mastronardi Produce announced a partnership with Naples Fresh. Mastronardi is launching a new, locally-grown greenhouse lettuce line under its Backyard Farms brand. Naples Fresh will be one of the lettuce suppliers, in addition to Spring Born in Silt, CO.
“We have relationships with growers spanning decades, and we highly value them,” says Dean Taylor, VP of Business Development at Mastronardi Produce. “We have always fostered relationships that are win-win, so we are thrilled to partner with Naples Fresh and Spring Born to launch our Backyard Farms lettuce line while supporting both the local workforce and food supply at the same time.”
Mastronardi will support Naples Fresh in marketing and distributing their products under its new Backyard Farms lettuce line, driving mutual growth for both businesses. Naples Fresh is fully embracing the Backyard Farms brand.
Nicholas Martins, Managing Director of Naples Fresh, says it is already selling butterhead lettuce under the Backyard Farms brand, but new varieties are soon to come. In partnership with Mastronardi, Naples Fresh will serve customers across Florida. He expects to break ground on a four-acre expansion later this year.
“Mastronardi Produce is a pioneer with innovative spirit and that directly aligns with our vision for Naples Fresh,” Martins says. “We are both family owned and dedicated to a locally grown cause, so company culture was always a match. But the most exciting part of this partnership is the opportunity to learn and grown alongside such an industry leader.”
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