3rd 'vegetable factory' boom under way

The tainted gyoza scandal and the recession have led to the third boom in what is known as "vegetable factories."

But this time, it could be here to stay.

Vegetable factories are gardens grown often under artificial light in idle factories and other facilities. The temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide emissions and other factors are thoroughly controlled at these sites, and cultivation continues throughout the year, even in cramped environments.

"Because initial investment for starting a vegetable factory is high, it's difficult to yield profits in a short term," said Junko Sakai, a researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc., which will start a study group in late May of companies that want to enter the industry.

"However, as a business that is profitable in the mid- and long terms, it has the potential of being entrenched in the country," Sakai said.

The first vegetable factory boom came in the 1980s, when a supermarket chain and other organizations began research on whether vegetables could be produced under artificial light.

Advanced hydroponic technology fueled the second boom in the late 1990s.

But the vegetable factory business did not take root because of the heavy start-up costs and the difficulties in securing sales channels for the produce.

The turning point came after imported Chinese frozen gyoza tainted with pesticide sickened Japanese. Since the scandal broke last year, consumers have preferred made-in-Japan vegetables under the belief that they are produced under stricter quality control.

Also fueling the trend are companies wanting to use factories that have closed down due to the recession.

The agriculture ministry plans to triple the number of vegetable factories in Japan to 150 over the next three years. It also intends to reduce production costs at these plants by 30 percent in the same period.

Japan has about 30 "completely controlled" vegetable factories, in which cultivation is possible with fluorescent lighting, even on basement floors.

There are also about 20 "sunlight-based" factories in glass greenhouses.

Businesses supporting newcomers in the field are also growing.

Mitsubishi Plastics Inc. plans to start in 2011 an enterprise to sell equipment and know-how necessary for running vegetable factories.

In preparation, the company intends to soon acquire the hydroponic culture division of a failed trading company that specialized in agricultural materials.

Taisei Corp., a major construction company that started building vegetable factories in the 1990s, has tied up with a venture business and begun providing assistance to newcomers in setting up factories and finding sales channels.

Taisei said it has received about 70 inquiries from precision machinery makers, electronic parts manufacturers and other companies that want to make use of their idle facilities.

Currently, vegetable factories account for 0.6 percent of the 500,000 tons of lettuce produced domestically.

At a public industrial park in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, cultivation of organic lettuce began in February in a warehouse of a semiconductor parts manufacturer.

Heads of lettuce now fill a 17-meter-long, three-level shelf.

Yasai Kobo, a company set up last September by a former employee of major mayonnaise maker Q.P. Corp. and others, uses fluorescent lighting instead of sunlight and nutrient-rich solution in place of soil.

The company expects the vegetable factory to produce 45 tons of lettuce annually.

"Lettuce grown indoors systematically has fewer germs. They are good for at least three weeks," said Kazuyuki Shudo, Yasai Kobo's vice president.

Although wholesale prices of Yasai Kobo lettuce, which has been shipped to local supermarkets since early April, are 1.3 to three times as high as those from outdoor farming, they are selling well, according to Yasai Kobo.(IHT/Asahi: May 8,2009)