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Instead of growing produce on large tracts of land south of the border 鈥� dealing with pests, climate change and a potential trade war 鈥� GoodLeaf is producing leafy greens indoors right here in Canada.

鈥淭his produce category has been littered with major recalls for 15, 20 years; that doesn鈥檛 happen in vertical farming, because it鈥檚 a controlled environment,鈥� says O鈥橞rien who was appointed president and CEO of the company last July.

Its four vertical farms, located in Guelph and in rural areas outside Montreal, Calgary and Halifax, boast a combined 300,000 square feet of growing space and produce five million pounds聽(about 2.3 million kilograms) of food annually. The company has plans to double output by year’s end making it the largest vertical farming company in Canada 鈥� and possibly North America.

Their product 鈥渢astes better because it’s not sitting on a truck for three weeks,” O’Brien says, speaking remotely from the company’s Calgary facility. “It has higher nutritional value 鈥� up to 40 times or 100 times, depending on the product, compared to that grown in the field 鈥� it has a longer shelf life, doesn’t use any pesticides, and it’s safer.鈥�

After following his father鈥檚 footsteps into accounting and landing a job in the oil and gas sector, O鈥橞rien says he discovered he was more interested in marketing, leading him to an MBA from York University.

Since graduating in 1994, O鈥橞rien has worked in marketing of products found in just about every grocery store aisle with General Mills, Campbell Soup, and Mars.

He has also been聽president of Canadian restaurant chain Montana鈥檚, was president and CEO of聽The WORKS Craft Burgers & Beer聽and CEO of M&M Food Market from 2014 to 2022.

During a temporary pivot into private equity O鈥橞rien began researching the brand he would later be asked to run.

鈥淚 thought they were a cannabis company,鈥� he joked. 鈥淚 did my evaluation, and I realized there was a big opportunity for this company, and that鈥檚 what made me consider coming over, and I joined in June.鈥�

The 30-year food industry veteran recently spoke with the Star about why he believes our current agricultural practices are unsustainable, why a Trump trade war might prove a boon to the Canadian brand and why the indoor alternative is the future of farming.

What attracted you to vertical farming?

One part is there’s a challenge in Canada where we just can’t get fresh produce across our country 365 days a year.

Most of it comes from deep in the U.S., and it takes a long time to get up here.

The reality is we can鈥檛 just keep doing what we鈥檙e doing; we can鈥檛 rely on the climate, there鈥檚 too many recalls, we鈥檙e losing our agriculture space, we don鈥檛 have food security in many pockets of the world, so I do believe this is the future of farming.

The other thing is, I remember the days when we were launching green laundry products that didn鈥檛 clean your clothes as well, or the greener garbage bag didn鈥檛 hold your garbage.

You want to save the planet, but the product also has to perform.

So, taking that consumer lens, (our product) actually tastes better, has higher nutritional value, and has a longer shelf life, because it鈥檚 all done in a controlled environment. That鈥檚 when I realized it was a big opportunity.

Why were they looking for new leadership?

Companies are always on a life cycle.

The early part of that life cycle for GoodLeaf, between 2012 and 2016, was an entrepreneur with a PhD in biology figuring out how this all works.

He doesn鈥檛 know how to build or scale a company but has the intelligence and experience to figure out the science behind it. That was phase one.

Then they brought in someone for phase two who鈥檚 more of an operator.

He worked for McCain for 25 years, and he came in to build the next three farms, but he had some personal health challenges.

He also recognized that he was highly skilled at building production capacity, but not building a brand, and that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been brought in to do.

What is vertical farming exactly?

The best way to think about a vertical farm is to think about a tall box, and inside this box we have what we call 鈥渟tacks.鈥�

In Calgary, we have 10 stacks. The plants go through each stack as they grow over the course of 21 days in a controlled environment that mimics what would happen in a perfect world without droughts or bugs or seasonal changes in sunlight.

It’s real plants, real food, grown inside in a controlled environment, limiting all the external factors.

Are there any drawbacks?

The real challenge is the cost of entry; one of our farms costs $70 million to build. So, to supply all Canadians all their produce from inside these farms, we need a lot more investment. That鈥檚 the biggest challenge.

Does that mean it鈥檚 also more expensive?

There is a price premium, because it’s a premium product.

Like any category of food, you have good, better, best, and this would be in the in the 鈥渂est鈥� area, with the highest level of nutritional benefits and the longest shelf life.

But there is also a real cost to buying produce and throwing it out three days later when it goes bad. We have a 21-day shelf life on our produce, so I would say the benefits outweigh the price premium.

What do you grow?聽聽

Right now, our lineup consists of three distinct categories.

The first are what we call 鈥渂abies,鈥� which are a baby versions of spinach, lettuce and romaine, because we only grow them for 20 days. To get a full head of lettuce it would take 60 to 80 days, depending on where you are in the world.

Our second category is called 鈥渕icro greens,鈥� which are micro versions of pea shoots, broccoli and arugula.

These are smaller plants that are dense in taste and nutrition and are so good to put in salads or sandwiches or a smoothie, and that’s what they get used for, as a component to another product.

The third category is what are we call 鈥渂lends,鈥� which are a mixture of the babies and the micros that are ready for salad inclusions, like adding in your cheeses, nuts or dry fruits and a dressing.

Why hasn鈥檛 vertical farming taken off before?

The technology has evolved quite a bit, and part of the problem was the business case.

They鈥檙e expensive farms to build, and to run, and nobody wants to build a business that can鈥檛 deliver a profit.

Over the last 10 years, however, we鈥檝e seen a massive change in consumer attitude, especially when it comes to where their food is sourced and how it鈥檚 made.

That may also tie in with the development of social media, which is educating consumers.

So, the technology has made it a more viable business and at the same time the demand from customers and awareness of food security issues has really developed in the last few years, and especially in the last few months, thanks to the Trump administration and its threat of tariffs.

Are you seeing more demand for Canadian-grown produce?

I’ve never seen the Canadianism that I’ve seen over the last few weeks.

It makes me proud to be a Canadian, but the tariffs haven鈥檛 really had an impact yet in terms of pricing, so we鈥檙e not really seeing a change in consumer habits.

There is certainly fear of tariffs, but I think the real change in consumer behaviour will happen when prices change.

Would tariffs potentially make your products more cost competitive?

It will help, yes.

I look at it the same way I did M&M during COVID.

At the time the most popular item at Costco was a deep freezer, because people were stocking up on food, so our sales went through the roof.

And I told the team that we were benefitting from a terrible situation, but we also have great products that people are going to discover, and I think the same will happen here.

If people want to buy Canadian, or it鈥檚 the only thing on the shelf at a reasonable price, they will try GoodLeaf, and they will discover that it has real benefits, and I think they will come back.

I think it鈥檚 going to get people to try our products and realize how good it is for themselves, their families, the country and the planet.聽

What are your ambitions for GoodLeaf?

We plan to open more farms in Canada.

Right now, we’re strategically set up to supply Western Canada, Eastern Canada and the middle, but as the demand grows, we need to grow our facilities.

Two, as you look at our portfolio, you’re going to see an evolution to more value-added products, whether it be salad bowls or salad kits or plants that are ready to be put into a smoothie.

Geographic expansion will happen, but probably not for a couple years. We had plans to enter the Northeast of the U.S., but we鈥檒l need to wait and see what happens there.

We’re also in discussions about other areas around the world, because there鈥檚 only a few small pockets where you can grow produce year-round, and there鈥檚 lots of places with dense populations that are running out of land, or don鈥檛 have ideal growing conditions.聽聽

But for the short term our focus is on making sure we鈥檙e able to supply our leafy greens to more Canadians and evolving our portfolio in Canada.聽