At The Clean Food Company, we’re passionate about growing top-quality produce that’s packed with nutrients, looks beautiful and tastes amazing. It’s a passion we share with our customers across the food industry, from fresh produce suppliers to top restaurateurs. So why do we think aeroponic farming is the best way to produce these premium ingredients?
When a plant’s roots are encased in soil or another growing medium, the amount of oxygen that can reach them is significantly reduced. In aeroponic growing, roots are given maximum exposure to oxygen, meaning that the plant can form its oils and sugars much more quickly and effectively. Not only does this mean faster growth cycles and higher yields, it means crops that are absolutely bursting with flavour.
The completely controlled growing environment we provide also allows us to guarantee beautiful flavours in a way that’s simply not possible with open-field farming. We all know how easily a wine vintage can be ruined by a few days of bad weather – an unusually hot summer can reduce the acidity of the grapes, or a heavy rain right before harvest can dilute their flavour. But did you know that the taste and texture of tougher vegetables like carrots and kale are also hit hard by heat and drought? In a quickly changing climate, we might all be noticing our favourite fruit and veg tasting bitter or bland, looking a bit shrivelled or lacking crunch.
Lastly, each plant will respond to different colours and intensities of light at the various stages of its growth cycle in a different way. The same lighting recipe, for example, will enhance sweetness in a strawberry but make spinach produce more leaves. Amber light can improve the flavour of basil, while tomatoes respond better to ultraviolet. The key is encouraging the plant to produce lots of phytochemicals – the compounds that give it its distinctive flavour and also have loads of nutritional benefits. Thanks to recent leaps forward in LED technology and to many years’ rigorous R&D in the vertical farming space, our ability to bring out the very best flavours in our crops using precisely targeted lighting has never been more accurate or more powerful.
