Grodan, part of Rockwool Group, announced a new branding initiative that, among other goals, aims to shift the regulatory conversation about growing media from production methods to crop and resource impact. As the world’s leading supplier of stone wool growing media solutions for professional greenhouse growers, the company points to Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) — and Grodan growing media — with hope for the future.
Designed to grow food and medicinal crops with more efficient use of some resources than conventional soil-based cultivation, CEA makes it possible to produce higher yields using less water, less land, less fertilizer and fewer if any chemical pesticides — all qualities that cause Grodan to view CEA as key to supplying urban and other populations with fresh, healthy food for the future. The company’s new branding targets that potential and the impact that Grodan media can play, including the recyclability of the stone wool substrate.
“Being rooted in science, Grodan’s soilless growing media and digital services allow for predictable crop production year-round — anytime, anywhere — with yields up to 40 percent greater than soil-based options, while using less land, water, fertilizer and pesticide than conventional agriculture,” says Rockwool Chief Marketing Officer Mirella Vitale. “In the best of senses, ‘less is more’ when it comes to future-proofing crop production.”
Grodan Managing Director Hub Janssen adds, “Together with our data-driven digital systems to continuously monitor crops’ health and growing needs, Grodan’s stone wool substrates allow professional growers to steer crop cultivation efficiently and sustainably, sometimes with 10 or more growing cycles in a year. That also includes being able to recycle the stone wool substrates after fully exhausting its capacity. In a nutshell, this is the essence of Grodan’s new ‘Designed to grow’ brand initiative.”
Shifting the regulatory emphasis
As part of the branding launch, Grodan and Rockwool Group note that current regulations impacting some types of CEA production focus almost exclusively on production methods. While this is important, they stress, that emphasis is rapidly becoming insufficient as demand for crop production increases and available resources shrink. The companies suggest the regulatory focus must shift from production methods toward impact on crop production — including impact on resources such as land, water and biodiversity. More information on Grodan’s brand positioning, including a new video, can be found at www.grodan.com/designedtogrow.
Image courtesy Grodan