A Berry Good Season: Growtec, MJ-Tech and Partners Reflect on Another Year Transforming the Greenhouse Industry in Canada – and Beyond
Another successful Northern Hemisphere strawberry season is in the books. If you’re in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) or greenhouse industry in North America, some of the major production successes you’ve seen this last year—from both competitors and contemporaries—were likely accomplished with help from Growtec and their cutting-edge horticultural infrastructure technology, expertly coupled with offerings from their partners MJ-Tech and Robur: such as high pressure fog systems, spray booms, and more.
Freddy Sarkis, President of Growtec Solutions Inc., reports that Growtec’s gutter, irrigation, and rigging systems—plus other greenhouse technology packages—have expanded internationally into Mexico and beyond with their growing clientele. “There are years of wisdom and knowledge in the group,” he said. “Being able to do projects in Canada, US, Mexico and internationally – shows what we are capable of.”
Growtec’s most recent landmark project with MJ-Tech and Robur: upgrading systems for EZ Grow Farms Ltd. in 2024. Growtec is supplying gutters, irrigation and hoisting systems; Robur will supply spray booms, while MJ-Tech the humidity and climate controls.
Dusty Zamecnik, General Manager of EZ Grow, spoke highly of the services they received from Robur, Growtec, and MJ-Tech. “The versatility of the three companies created a one-stop-shop for many of our needs,” he said. “They’ve been implementing some of the best growing systems from all around the world… our goal is to use the tools from Growtec, MJ-Tech and Robur in our new greenhouse to achieve the best plants possible.”
Sarkis of Growtec further emphasized the value of their professional partnerships, reporting many new developments since Growtec mastered vegetable production systems over a year ago. Their past portfolio includes JPI Farms Inc. (peppers), Integral Farms Produce Inc. (vegetables), and rapid connections with other strawberry growers like EZ Grow: Nature Fresh in Ohio, Double Diamond Farms, and Pure Flavour. Some new and exciting developments on the way: robotic harvesting technology, new and improved 2LEVEL vertical growing system, and more.
To Growtec however, trusting partnerships and professional relationships—with both fellow companies and greenhouse clientele—is essential to their success. “In order to be able to [offer packages like] this, we need [partnerships] like MJ-Tech,” he said. MJ-Tech specializes in humidity and climate controls and fogger systems, crucial for successful strawberry controlled environment agriculture.
Jurnjan van den Bremer, Commercial Director of MJ-Tech, shares Growtec’s excitement for these partnerships. “The high quality and service mentality in all parts of the organization provide a strong backbone,” he said. “It will have more critical mass to attract talent and with that we can better serve existing and many new customers.”
Growtec was able to expand this current year and previous years into new growing territory (berry production) with MJ-Tech’s longstanding partnership, catapulting their client reach and grower success together—both nationally and internationally. They have been partnered with Growtec since its inception 2 years ago, working with them on the many hundreds of greenhouse acres they’ve covered since then.
“[MJ-Tech] have been in business for a long time and have a reputation for having a very high-quality product,” said Sarkis. “That goes hand in hand with Growtec. Pre-existing relationships help both companies and open the door to customers around the world.”
He adds, “MJ-Tech is helping Growtec with the international market and Growtec is helping MJ-Tech with the North American market.”
Growtec’s and MJ-Tech’s collaboration with Robur as well— which specializes in irrigation spray booms, greenhouse working platforms, and more— elevated their partnership and client reach to even higher levels, said Sarkis. “Robur has the best booms in the industry. Their quality is the best, there is no other company that uses the same technology or has [their] reliability.” He also added that Robur’s trust in Growtec and MJ-Tech was what enabled them to complete their landmark work of 2024 with EZ Grow Farms.
Sarkis is also excited to announce that Growtec, MJ-Tech, and Robur will all be exhibiting at this year’s 2023 Canadian Greenhouse Conference (CGC) together, hoping to connect with even more companies and growers to advance greenhouse production technology the world over. “[We want] for them to see the team behind the companies, the people that are involved,” he said. “We are investing in this market because we believe in it and there is a lot of opportunity here… we want people to know there are familiar faces behind this company.”
Van den Bremer of MJ-Tech added, “Customers want to have a trustworthy/knowledgeable partner. The sister companies Growtec, MJ-Tech and Robur are strongly positioned to be that partner for growers.” Hand in hand with their industry contemporaries, Growtec are primed and ready for tackling the needs and advancement of greenhouses and hydroponic growers — especially after a successful year with strawberry growers under their belts.
“When I get involved in a product or company, there is an automatic sense of trust,” said Sarkis. “[I] won’t take on something new unless there is a need or if it wasn’t the highest quality or best.”
Read this article on Greenhouse Canada.