Known for tomatoes, Owatonna's Bushel Boy adds indoor strawberries

With more space to test new crops, Bushel Boy Farms is now growing and selling strawberries — its first attempt to market anything other than tomatoes in its 30-year history.

The Owatonna-based company specializes in greenhouse farming that allows it to grow produce all year in Minnesota. A recently completed expansion has opened up new possibilities for the enterprise. Once its strawberry business is well-established, Bushel Boy plans to launch into other berries and veggies, too.

"This is our third crop of strawberries; the first was to really fine-tune the growing aspect and prove out the market acceptance, which did well beyond what we expected," said Chuck Tryon, Bushel Boy's president since October 2020. "These are more what you'd get out of a garden or pick-your-own field: smaller but much more flavorful and sweeter."

The company's first strawberries were harvested in early 2020, and the latest batch of indoor-grown berries are now for sale in the Twin Cities at retailers like Lunds & Byerlys and Kowalski's Market.

"With the success of strawberries, consumers have given us permission to be more than just tomatoes," Tryon said. "We're looking at other berries and vegetables — like cucumbers, peppers, eggplants — that we could grow well."

Founded in 1990, Bushel Boy has been growing rapidly since it was bought by Shakopee-based Rahr Corp. in 2018.

Bushel Boy spent $35 million on a new campus in Mason City, Iowa, that opened late last year. The 16.5-acre greenhouse in Iowa boosted the company's production capacity to 30 million pounds per year from 20 million pounds, and there is room to add two more greenhouses in Iowa to meet increased demand.

It also added a 4.5-acre research and development greenhouse at its Owatonna headquarters where it can experiment with new varietals and species.

The recent expansion, when coupled with a boost in at-home eating during the pandemic, has boosted revenue 25% this year, with another 25% bump expected next year, said Tryon, who declined to share specific financial data.

Space for indoor tomato growing in Minnesota has nearly doubled since 2009 to 1.9 million square feet, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. In 2019, greenhouse-grown tomato sales in the state totaled $15 million.

Strawberries are a relative newcomer to Minnesota's commercial greenhouse market. In 2019, there was just 2,000 square feet of indoor space dedicated to growing the berries in Minnesota.

Bulk tomatoes still account for about three-quarters of Bushel Boy's sales, while 20% is packaged "snacking" tomatoes. The remaining 5% is now strawberries, Tryon said.

"We're going to look for things like strawberries that are on trend with what consumers want as a local option," he said. "They want to know where it came from and that it's fresh."