The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian principals behind a $60m hydroponic farm project yesterday voiced hope it will inspire “our fellow Bahamians” to invest in the sector, adding: “We’re full speed ahead.”

Lincoln Deal, Eeden Farms’ co-founder, told Tribune Business the need for a larger facility to meet market demand prompted it to seek out US-based 80 Acres Farms as a joint venture partner for its proposed 71,000 square foot Gladstone Road property within months of it launching in February 2021.

Efforts “to pursue a larger indoor farming model” led to multiple trips between Nassau and 80 Acres Farms’ Ohio headquarters, with the US producer travelling to Nassau last June to meet with then-prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis, and former agriculture minister, Michael Pintard.

Both were supportive, and planning for the Gladstone Road facility began that month with Eeden Farms and 80 Acres agreeing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). That support, Mr Deal said, has continued under Prime Minister Philip Davis and his agriculture minister, Clay Sweeting.

“When we brought 80 Acres’ team down last June, we had some high level meetings with Baha Mar, Atlantis and the local restaurants,” he added.

“Over the past couple of months we’ve been doing a lot of market research, and talked to a lot of the hotels, restaurants, the cruise lines and Ministry of Agriculture to get an idea of what they’re looking for in amount, and where they are getting it from and the price points they’re getting it at.

“We have spent a great deal of time talking to these groups, and a lot of them - if not all committed to us - are in support once we get started to definitely purchase from us once we supply consistently, which we are confident we will be able to do.”

Mr Deal pointed out that Eeden Farms is “in the market already; we just need to give them more” by supplying the likes of the Four Seasons Ocean Club, Baha Mar’s Rosewood and restaurants such as Chives. Hence the 80 Acres joint venture, to be known as Eeden Acres, which aims to grow more than 1.4m pounds of herbs and greens per year.

“The list goes on,” the Eeden Farms co-founder said. “We have a $1bn food import bill, and a lot of produce coming to The Bahamas is travelling thousands of miles to get here. The chefs and vendors are asking for consistent, quality produce, not stuff 20-30 days old. 

“It makes us much more attractive, and we are competitively priced. You can taste the difference between a lettuce from Eeden Farms versus some ‘iceberg’ from California.” Besides the demand for fresh produce, the demand for food security post-COVID and increased calls for The Bahamas to feed itself more have created a ripe atmosphere for agriculture investments.

Mr Deal added that government policy, requiring all public sector agencies to source 75 percent of their food needs locally, and the 40 percent threshold for hotels and restaurants to do the same, will also aid Bahamas-based producers such as Eeden Farms as long as they can consistently provide the quality and price required.

With Sysco (Bahamas), the former Bahamas Food Services, also having committed to purchase from Eeden Acres once it becomes operational in 2023, Mr Deal said: “This is a start. It’s just the beginning. We need a lot of farmers throughout The Bahamas to do their part and tackle the issues.....

“They [customers] have us completely busy. We weren’t sure how much of the market we would be able to penetrate and would switch over to purchasing from us, but once we were able to show quality, and our ability to provide food consistently and at a great price, and provide produce 365 days a year, it built confidence and we were able to build relationships with the clients.”

While Eeden Acres also provides export possibilities, Mr Deal said the joint venture planned to “take it step by step, focusing on The Bahamas” first and cutting into its food import bill while also better supplying the Family Islands with fresh produce from Nassau.

“I think it’s a start but we still have some ways to go,” he added of Eeden Acres. “There is still lots of opportunity for traditional agriculture, poultry farmers and farmers producing native fruits that we’re not able to grow in our facility.

“It’s a start, and we hope more Eeden Farms and Eeden Acres are coming from our fellow Bahamians. We want to keep the agriculture sector bursting with opportunity, and hopefully we have a model others can follow to solve that issue.”

Acknowledging that many agriculture-related projects have failed in the past, Mr Deal voiced confidence that 80 Acres’ technology and expertise would help make the difference for Eeden Acres.

“We are passionate about what we do,” he said. “This is not a side project. We are determined to see this project take off. We’re full speed ahead and I’m very confident this project will take-off.”