What is the future of strawberries in TCEA farming?

When we hear about Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA) and strawberries, there is a big buzz and excitement surrounding it. This is because TCEA is a somewhat costly agri-technology, requiring significant investment and precision, and strawberries as a crop need loads of TLC. While early adopters of vertical farming/TCEA focused primarily on leafy greens and microgreens, growers seeking high-profitability crops have turned to strawberries as a promising option.

Strawberries in TCEA: An opportunity for year-round production
Strawberry consumption could be year-round, but due to climatic restrictions such as temperature, humidity, and sunlight availability, it is not always possible. TCEA solves this problem by ensuring continuous production, making fresh fruit available regardless of geographic location and season. At the same time, strawberries offer a strong diversification option for vertical farming companies looking to expand beyond greens.

Challenges and failures in TCEA strawberry production
While the potential for strawberries in TCEA is high, there have been significant failures among new entrants. Many startups enter the industry with ambitious goals and high expectations but fail to achieve them because they neglect the advice of horticulturists, plant scientists, and experienced strawberry growers. Often, the neglected advice relates to infrastructure (growing system) and tech decision-making (HVAC, LEDs etc), but also plant-related decisions, such as what type of soilless method will be used (substrate, NFT, etc.) and what pest management plan will be followed (use of only bio-control or also conventional pesticides), among many other factors.

Strawberries may seem like an ideal candidate for vertical farming due to their plant structure, but their infrastructure requirements, environmental control needs, and necessary husbandry practices differ significantly from leafy greens and microgreens. Underestimating these differences has led to many unsuccessful ventures.

Often, new entrants into vertical farming come from engineering or financial backgrounds and assume that growing plants follows simple mathematical equations. However, biology does not work like engineering—in any biological process, 1 + 1 does not always equal 2; sometimes it equals 0.5, and other times it equals 4. Many engineers struggle to understand the deep impact environmental factors have on plant performance, and those who fail to recognise the variability of biological systems often fail in strawberry TCEA production. This reinforces the need to consider the expertise and advice of plant scientists and experienced growers.

Cultivar selection vs. crop management x environment
A common question in the industry is: "What is the best cultivar to grow in TCEA?" Many people assume that cultivar selection is the most important factor, but they forget that genetics alone do not determine success.

The management of the crop and the environmental conditions impact gene expression, yield, and fruit quality. Even if growers select a high-yielding, high-brix cultivar, it will not perform well unless environmental conditions, crop care, and husbandry practices are optimised. Strawberries, unlike leafy greens, require much more in-house experience to detect early issues before sensors pick them up.

Advice for Startups: Rather than focusing solely on cultivar selection, new entrants should work with any strawberry variety available to them at the time, consult their propagators and suppliers, and prioritise obtaining healthy, high-quality plants—even if they are not the ideal variety at first. If startups discuss their specific TCEA system with suppliers, they can receive the best possible plants based on availability. Once major management and environmental factors are finalised, then it is the right time to focus on cultivar selection.

Pollination in TCEA strawberry cultivation
Pollination presents a frequent challenge in TCEA strawberry farming. In polytunnels and glasshouses, growers rely on natural pollinators or commercially supplied bumblebee hives. However, in TCEA environments, where LEDs are the sole source of lighting, pollination strategies must be carefully managed.

Many growers struggle with using bumblebees in TCEA, despite the fact that the absence of UV light is not necessarily a limiting factor. However, bee well-being and factors such as dawn and dusk lighting conditions, hive placement, and transportation play a major role in pollination success.

Additionally, multi-focal artificial light sources can trigger object-avoidance behaviour in bumblebees, making them expend extra energy as they mistake static objects for moving ones. This results in energy loss and premature bee deaths.

While many growers have successfully integrated bumblebee pollination into TCEA, variability of hive "personality" (yes; they have personality) and delivery conditions remains an uncontrolled factor. Alternative pollinators, such as hoverflies, offer promising solutions but are not yet widely available commercially.

Energy challenges in TCEA strawberry production
Energy costs remain one of the most significant challenges in TCEA strawberry production. Running a fully controlled environment requires high electricity consumption, particularly for LED lighting, climate control, and dehumidification systems. These energy demands make production expensive, particularly in regions with high electricity prices.

To mitigate these costs, some growers are exploring alternative and renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal power, to reduce reliance on grid electricity. Additionally, energy brokerage deals and dynamic pricing models—where growers adjust their energy consumption based on fluctuating electricity prices—are being tested. However, the long-term impact of adjusting energy inputs on fruit quality, yield, and consistency is still unknown. Finding the right balance between energy efficiency and crop performance remains a key research priority.

More development in energy sourcing is needed before TCEA strawberry production becomes widely profitable, apart from regions where energy prices are already low. Investments in energy-efficient technologies, such as advanced insulation, heat recovery systems, and smart climate control algorithms, will be crucial to improving the economic viability of TCEA strawberries in the future.

The challenges of strawberry propagation in TCEA
Strawberries are traditionally propagated asexually through runners to maintain genetic consistency. However, this propagation process has traditionally taken place outdoors, where plants pick up pests and diseases that later enter growing systems.

For TCEA growers, maintaining a pesticide-free environment is a priority, making young plants with inherited pest and diseases a major issue. While propagators do their best to supply clean plants, the problem is systemic throughout the industry, as plants are grown outdoor in soil and sand.

To address this, the industry is exploring propagation alternatives, including asexual propagation using tissue culture plants as starting material for mother plants, tissue cultured plants used as fruiting plants, bypassing the mother plant stage, and F1 hybrid seeds as an alternative propagation method.

While these methods hold promise, each requires specialised knowledge and infrastructure. New startups should avoid getting involved in propagation initially, as it is far more complex than fruit production and could overcomplicate operations in the early stages.

The future of strawberries in TCEA
Many companies are now successfully growing strawberries in TCEA, but approaches vary. Premium niche markets: High-end, specialty strawberries in bespoke packaging targeting luxury consumers. Commodity markets: Large-scale strawberry production for supermarkets, aiming to compete with glasshouse-grown strawberries.

While it is possible to grow strawberries profitably in TCEA, gaps in industry knowledge remain. Many new entrants seek specific growing parameters, such as light spectrum, intensity, and photoperiods. However, this data is scarce, as most strawberry cultivation research has been done in polytunnels and glasshouses, or not done at all, as the knowledge of the effects of light on plants was not a very useful thing to know, or they could not really do anything even if they knew more about it.

Key gaps in scientific knowledge regarding strawberry cultivation include a deeper understanding of light requirements across different cultivars, including photoperiod, light intensity, spectrum, and how these factors change throughout developmental stages, the precise chilling requirements for each individual cultivar, and a detailed understanding of the specific environmental conditions necessary to trigger flower initiation in different cultivars.

Since most historical research has focused on sunlight-grown strawberries, the industry must invest in new studies to gather this crucial information. However, startups are not those to have to conduct such research, as it requires rigorous experimental design, data collection, and significant resources. This is an area where larger research organisations must step in, with potentially public funding.

There is a growing movement toward TCEA strawberry production, both for fruiting and propagation stages. However, to ensure long-term success, new entrants must learn from past failures. By consulting plant scientists, embracing biological variability, and avoiding over-reliance on engineering solutions, while addressing energy challenges, the industry can make TCEA strawberries a widespread success.

If startups trust plant scientists and experienced horticulturists, rather than solely relying on financial models and engineering logic, TCEA strawberries will become far more successful than they are today.