{"id":616499,"date":"2026-04-20T12:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616499\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T12:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:42:25","slug":"we-wanted-to-compete-head-on-with-conventional-produce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616499\/","title":{"rendered":"We wanted to compete head-on with conventional produce"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Supplying 500 Jumbo stores nationwide from a single 7,500m\u00b2 farm in Amsterdam was never going to be straightforward. For Growy, it required a year of regional testing, incremental yield improvements, and a deliberate decision to launch with two products rather than many.<\/p>\n

“The pilot in the Amsterdam region clearly demonstrated both consumer demand and operational reliability. It proved to Dutch retailers that there is more potential in produce grown in a system like ours,” says Laura van de Kreeke, Co-Founder at Growy. “Once we supplied all the Jumbo stores in the Amsterdam area consistently, we knew we were ready for the next step.”<\/p>\n

The salad mixes available nationally at launch are the spicy ‘Lekker Pittig’ and the crispy ‘Knapperige Sla’, with around 50 stores currently carrying the full product range. A third SKU will be added nationally in June, at which point the Amsterdam farm will be running at full utilisation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a9 Growy <\/p>\n

Competing on price
The decision to go national with a limited range was deliberate. With capacity finite, Growy prioritised reliable supply over breadth, a discipline that shaped the company’s retail strategy from the start.<\/p>\n

“From day one, we’ve been clear that vertical farming only works if it’s affordable. We didn’t want to launch as a premium niche; we wanted to compete head-on with conventional produce,” van de Kreeke says. Growy’s products are priced in line with greenhouse-grown and imported alternatives already on Jumbo shelves.<\/p>\n

Reaching that price point at national scale, and sustaining it, is what Growy argues separates its model from earlier vertical farming ventures. “At our current scale, this is already sustainable, and with larger facilities, efficiency will only improve further.”<\/p>\n

What comes next
A second Dutch farm is already in development, which van de Kreeke says will unlock full-range availability at scale. Growy is also in ongoing conversations with additional Dutch retailers, though she is careful not to get ahead of the current rollout. “Our full focus right now is on making Jumbo a success. We’ve seen that if you scale too fast across retailers, you risk losing control of quality and execution.”<\/p>\n

The Jumbo listing carries weight beyond the Netherlands. “Supplying a national retailer consistently is very different from running pilots or smaller-scale operations. It shows that our model works not just in theory, but in day-to-day retail reality,” van de Kreeke says. “That’s a key point of proof for both international retail partners and investors.”<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a9 Vertical Farm Daily <\/p>\n

Lessons from Singapore
The Dutch expansion comes just months after Growy Singapore entered provisional liquidation, less than a year after its official opening. For some observers, the timing raises questions. Van de Kreeke pushes back on that reading. “I understand why it might look contradictory from the outside, but for us, it’s actually the opposite: it’s clarity. These developments reflect an important learning curve rather than a contradiction.”<\/p>\n

The Singapore facility, acquired from Kalera International in 2023, was built on a different technical foundation from the Amsterdam farm. “What we’ve built in Amsterdam is fundamentally different,” van de Kreeke says. “It’s fully in-house developed, designed for efficiency, and built with cost price as a starting point, not an afterthought.”<\/p>\n

“This launch in the Netherlands is the result of that approach. And it’s the model we’ll continue to scale internationally.”<\/p>\n

For more information:
Growy\"\"
Ard and Laura van de Kreeke
[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>
www.growy.nl<\/a><\/p>\n

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