Case Study: Harvest Singularity’s Integrated Planning Approach
A clear example of this approach is the Harvest Singularity project—a 3-hectare high-tech leafy greens greenhouse development in Newberry, Florida. Approximately 3 years ago, CEO Charles Garza began by contacting experienced leaders to help shape the initial concept rather than waiting until later design stages. Early in the process he engaged AmHydro (automated hydroponic systems) and Dalsem Complete Greenhouse Projects (greenhouse design and construction) to develop a cohesive starting point for the facility.
Very soon after, Garza contacted JASA Packaging Solutions, and horticultural automation experts, TTA-ISO, who joined the group to round out a technology team capable of designing the full post-harvest and logistics flow—not just the growing area. With these disciplines at the table early, packaging, cold storage, and automation requirements could be engineered in parallel with crop production design, avoiding duplicate functionality and bottlenecks.
Just as critical, Garza and the Harvest Singularity marketing team worked extensively with produce retailers, wholesalers, and food service companies to identify demand for specific crops and product packaging. Once the opportunities were defined, the project team could design a facility tailored to meet them—matching production volumes, packaging, food safety expectations, and delivery windows to real market needs rather than assumptions.
That market-first approach sharpened the design criteria: local growing climate, proximity to markets and distribution channels, and the infrastructure required to grow, process, package, and distribute high-quality crops while minimizing distribution time. In leafy greens especially, speed and temperature control influence quality and shelf life, and streamlined handling supports both efficiency and food safety.
Working directly with Garza and the development/marketing teams, Joe Swartz, Sr VP of AmHydro, along with the other technology partners, collaborated on a high-production concept designed for seamless, climate-controlled, soil-free leafy greens production and an efficient downstream flow: hands-free automation where it made economic sense, harvest, processing, packaging, cold storage, and distribution.
Because each specialty partner had input into the overall facility layout and operating flow, collaborative synergies emerged. In some cases, modifications were made so individual technologies would integrate simply and reliably with the other systems. This type of coordination—interfaces identified early, footprints and utilities designed intentionally, and product flow validated end-to-end—reduces commissioning risk and supports consistent performance once production begins.
One notable example of this approach is AmHydro’s creation of a brand-new NFT growing channel, specifically designed to optimize the production of the “teen leaf” lettuce varieties that the marketing partners require, but also simultaneously configured to seamlessly integrate into TTA-ISO’s automated harvesting and transplanting equipment. This is the type of synergy that maximizes both productivity and efficiency, which are the cornerstones of successful CEA operations.
Design Choices Must Meet Both Production and Economic Realities
High productivity and food safety are non-negotiable in modern CEA, but they are not sufficient on their own. The facility must also be cost-effective to build and operate. Many challenges in large-scale CEA production come from technology choices that are either too complicated to maintain at high uptime or too cost-prohibitive to deliver acceptable returns.
The objective of an experienced, integrated technology team is to meet the production requirements and the economic requirements at the same time—selecting growing methods and automation levels that reduce labor and risk without creating an overly complex system. This is what separates a facility that looks impressive on paper from one that performs reliably in daily operations.
