|
Agriculture has long been a staple of Metro Orlando’s diverse
economy, with the region offering farmers exceptional environmental
conditions to grow crops and raise livestock. Now, with advances in
technology and research, the region is poised to play a major role
in developing the nascent agritechnology industry.
With an abundance of farm land, nurseries and greenhouse
facilities, Lake County is the cornerstone of the agritech business
in Metro Orlando. Located northwest of Orlando, the county for
decades was steeped in peach orchards and citrus groves. Today,
building on its core strengths, Lake County’s agricultural industry
is evolving and leveraging technology, which has led to a number of
important breakthroughs in the agritech field.
Three of the nation’s most prominent agritech businesses are
thriving in the region. Combined, these highly-successful companies
are generating annual revenues in excess of $25 million at a
consistent growth rate of nearly 10 percent each year:
AG 3, Inc.
- World’s largest cloner of plants and vegetables for nurseries
and greenhouses; able to get hard-to-grow plants to produce seeds
and can make one plant into 100 using its DNA
- Grows ultra-sterile, soil-less plants in cleanroom-like
environment, which can be shipped worldwide as they meet
international customs’ regulations
- Performs traditional plant production processes (splicing
plants and re-growing in soil)
- World’s largest grower and supplier of Venus fly traps
Florida Food Products Inc.
- Top international supplier of food and cosmetic
ingredients
- Pioneered the aloe vera and carrot juice concentrate business
and contributed to the V8 Splash formula
- Extracts liquid from vegetables for use in nutraceuticals, food
colors, and flavors
- Delivers products in powders and concentrates to major national
food brands.
- Worked on color-tweaking the sweet potato, developing a natural
meat reddener to replace nitrates
- Creating watermelon concentrate to spray on corn crop to kill
crop-laden rootworm, thus decreasing pesticide use
- Founded agritech commerce park to foster agritech growth in the
region
Valensa International (formerly U.S. Nutra LLC)
- World’s largest extraction processor of saw palmetto, a native
plant to Florida, for use in vitamin supplements; saw palmetto also
proven to decrease prostate enlargement
- Turns plants into oils for medical and botanical
applications
- Business steadily mounting as health conscious consumers seek
natural ingredients and doctors recommend herbals over
medicines
- Clients include top dietary supplement companies
Holloway Technology, Inc., another local company making great
strides in agritech, has garnered support and funding from a number
of state and federal agencies for its revolutionary flood-plain
irrigation system that uses recycled rainwater for use in watering
containerized plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
Florida Department of Environmental Protection are among the
organizations Holloway has worked with to refine the system, which
provides numerous benefits, including:
- Aquifer conservation
- Consistent, uniform water delivery
- Increased plant growth rates
- Lower labor, maintenance and repair costs
|
- Fewer weed and insect problems
- Minimal electrical costs
|
As the region’s agritech cluster continues to develop, agritech
businesses in the area will benefit from:
- Greater availability of support services and specialized
suppliers
- Larger pool of skilled workers
- Addition of needed infrastructure
- Cooperation and collaboration with other businesses in the
cluster
|
