New greenhouse is springboard to Springworks aquaponics farm expansion in Lisbon

a young man with a giant scissors cuts a red ribbon as several people stand around him, nearby are a couple boxes of lettuce and behind them a massive steel building

Photo / Maureen Milliken Trevor Kenkel, with scissors, founder of Springworks Farm, in Lisbon, cuts the ribbon on the aquaponics farm's new 40,000-square-foot greenhouse. From left, board member Bob Porteous, Vice President Sierra Kenkel, Kenkel, board member David Kenkel, Hannaford President Mike Vail and Director of Business Development Emily Donaldson.

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By Maureen Milliken

Springworks Farm in Lisbon cut the ribbon Saturday on a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse, the first step in a five-year 400,000-square foot expansion of the aquaponics growing operation.

"I could not be happier with the progress," Trevor Kenkel, Springworks' founder, said at the Saturday event. The expansion will allow the farm, which produces lettuce and other greens, to double its workforce to 30 and triple its output.

The production ramp-up will also meet the demand of the producer's partnership with Hannaford Supermarkets, which will sell Springworks lettuce in all 184 of its stores in New England and New York.

Hannaford President Mike Vail said Saturday that the partnership has gone beyond the "nice" aspect of focusing on local produce to "a very strong strategic move" by the Scarborough-based chain.

"We've seen the impact on the supply chain" from the COVID-19 pandemic, Vail told the dozens gathered in front of the new greenhouse Saturday. Supply chain challenges, as well as uncertainty about product quality and the expense and environmental impact of transporting lettuce and other produce from California, has made the focus on locally sourced products vital, he said.

Sierra Kenkel, Springworks vice president and Trevor's sister, said they fondly remember their first order from Hannaford, to supply lettuce at five stores.

"This is a very exciting day for us," she told the gathering. Not only will the expansion allow the farm to produce more lettuce and other greens, but also expand its product line, she said.

a diagram showing where seven greenhouses will be built, and what year they were built, beginning in 2015, and ended in 2026

Courtesy / Springworks

A rendering shows the planned expansion at Springworks, in Lisbon.

Climate, local sourcing, and more

Springworks, already New England's first and largest aquaponics grower, will add four greenhouses to the three now on the 168-acre farm, bringing the total greenhouse space at the farm to nearly 500,000 square feet by 2026.

Priority Real Estate Group, of Topsham, built the new greenhouse, and will also be the contractor on the next four. Priority President and CEO Jim Howard told Mainebiz that it's exciting being part of Springworks' growth.

"It's impressive," he said as he stood in the new greenhouse. "We're looking forward to working with them on the expansion."

The $4 million project got a boost from a $300,000 Maine Technology Institute grant last August. The grant was part of the Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.5E, which supports projects that align with the state’s 10-year strategic economic development plan and have significant economic impact, particularly in rural Maine.

Kenkel bought the 168-acre farm in 2014, when he was a student at Bowdoin. The greenhouse that opened Saturday is the third he's built on the site, with the other two opening in 2015 and 2018.

The expansion comes at the intersection of growing climate change awareness and the buy-local trend — Springworks' aquaponics growing method fits in with both.

With aquaponics, nutrient-rich water from tanks of tilapia, a freshwater fish also raised on the farm, is pumped into the growing beds. The plants not only use the fish waste to grow, but clean the water, which is returned to the tanks. No chemicals are needed, unlike other systems, including hydroponics, and the water use is 90-95% less than on a traditional farm.

While traditional farming also takes up a lot of square footage, the aquaponics greenhouse method can produce 20 times the product per acre, all grown inside year-round. Not only do the greenhouses include the traditional "greenhouse" part, but also a propagation room, where the seedlings are grown. Racks of them are stacked nearly to the 24-foot ceiling in the new greenhouse.

"It's a consistent product," Kenkel said. "It's fresh, it's clean, there isn't a lot of waste."

The new greenhouse, where Kenkel said new product will be ready for stores within the month, will triple the output of the farm's products: organic bibb, romaine, leaf lettuce, salad mix, herbs and other greens.

The six 15,000-gallon fish tanks in the new greenhouse, about 10 times the size of the tanks in the old, smaller greenhouse, mean that the 60,000 pounds of fish the farm annual grows will increase, and go from being a fertilizer producer and a wholesale to retail product. Currently, the tilapia are sold to Harbor Fish, in Portland.

A young man holds two bags of lettuce that say Springworks Farm on them next to an older man, also holding two bags of lettuce

Courtesy / Springworks

Springworks founder Trevor Kenkel, left, and Hannaford President Mike Vail celebrate the ribbon-cutting of a new greenhouse at the Lisbon aquaponics' farm Saturday. Vail announced that Springworks produce is being sold in all 184 Hannaford stores.

A 'perfect partnership'

Hannaford originally featured Kenkel's products in five stores in the Lisbon area, but with the production ramp-up, Springworks will be in all 184 stores. That includes the newest one, in Brunswick, which opened Saturday.

The store, at Cook's Corner, in space previously occupied by Bookland, is Hannaford's 64th in Maine and will employ 150 full and part-time workers. Hannaford also has a supermarket in downtown Brunswick.

Kenkel "stumbled onto" aquaponics as a 13-year-old in Montana, when he saw how changes in the environment were having an impact on local agriculture. He was determined to do something about it, and built his first aquaponics system as a teen, with money from a summer job. Now, at 26, he said Hannaford, which has made sustainability a top priority, is a "perfect partnership" for Springworks.

Vail said that Hannaford's commitment to local sourcing is essential as the supermarket chain expands.

He said that, besides looking for quality local products, Hannaford also has an eye out for entrepreneurs that will bring products to the next level. Kenkel is an example of that, distinguishing himself five years ago, when he started with one greenhouse and began deliver products to a few local Hannafords.

"This has really become something special," Vail said.