When entrepreneur Matt Liotta said good-bye to one baby and hello to the next, he was looking for something else to do, naturally. The 34-year-old Ansley Park resident sold his telecom company, One Ring Networks, about the same time he and his wife Jennifer, a senior associate at Alston & Bird, welcomed their first child into their lives.
The selling of his company enabled him to spend quality time with daughter Meredith now 3 and he took over a lot of the grocery shopping duties from his wife. Little did he know that perusing the aisles of the local market would give birth to his next brainchild PodPonics, a hydroponic lettuce farm.
“After the birth of Meredith I became aware of the local food movement and started paying attention to where produce was coming from and what was on it,” explained Liotta. “Reading the labels in the produce section I realized that so much of our food was being shipped to us from all parts of the world,” said Liotta. “My onions are from Peru? Grapes from Chile? How much jet fuel was used to get them here?”
Liotta began researching hydroponics, a method of farming that requires no soil or pesticides, only nutrients, light and very little water. And it uses a fraction of the space needed for traditional farming. He soon discovered that most of the country’s lettuce is shipped from Salinas, California, the “salad bowl” of the United States. He then designed a growing system for lettuce housed in five recycled shipping containers and set up shop in an abandoned parking lot on Ponce de Leon Avenue just north of the Claremont Lounge above the Cactus Car Wash.
“When we told people where we were located, we’d get some of the oddest reactions,” laughed Liotta. “It just proves that produce can be grown pretty much anywhere on earth.”
They’re also debunking the myth that organic lettuce in the grocery store today is better than theirs, explaining that that bag of lettuce was constantly watered, washed three times and probably in chlorine. PodPonics lettuce is not washed because there is no need.
“Think of all the water that was used. We use no pesticides and we’re not affected by changes in the weather. We’re not breaking down the soil either. We don’t need soil,” said Liotta.
In less than a year’s time, PodPonics outgrew their parking lot and gradually expanded operations to the Southside Industrial Park, and now utilizes 16 shipping containers with more standing by. Expanding to Southside allows the business continued growth and makes use of land that has lain dormant for many years while creating jobs and opportunity to help revitalize the economically depressed Southwest area of Atlanta.
They have a production capacity of 50 tons annually of locally grown, pesticide-free salad mix as well as arugula, watercress and other micro-greens. Bell peppers and spinach will be added to the menu later this year. These crops were selected since they are relatively high-volume, tend to travel long distances have good margins and are among the most polluted in terms of pesticides.
“Most spinach comes from California and if you go to Whole Foods or Publix right now you will find most peppers are from Peru or even Holland,” said Daniel Backhaus, PodPonics Sales & Marketing Strategy.
In addition to supplying Fresh Point, North America’s largest produce distributor, many local restaurants such as Rathbun’s, Miller Union, Local Three, Leon’s Full Service and 4th & Swift serve up greens so fresh you’ll want to slap them. Area specialty markets Boxcar Grocer, Candler Park Market, Sevananda Coop, and Savi Urban Market were recently added to the roster as well.
With all the talk of going green, Liotta doesn’t necessarily see himself as a world changer.
“Our family of course tries hard to eat healthy and do our part towards sustainable living, but I didn't start the company solely to provide healthier, safer produce,” explained Liotta. “It was more the intersection of better produce, a more environmental approach to agriculture, and a good business opportunity. However, I do hope that my children will be as proud of me and my wife as I am of my parents.”
When entrepreneur Matt Liotta said good-bye to one baby and hello to the next, he was looking for something else to do, naturally.
The 34-year-old Ansley Park resident sold his telecom company, One Ring Networks, about the same time he and his wife Jennifer, a senior associate at Alston & Bird, welcomed their first child into their lives.
When Matt Liotta sold his telecommunications company in 2008, he became a Mr. Mom of sorts. In addition to taking care of his daughter, Meredith, now 3, he took over the grocery shopping duties from his wife. Little did he know that perusing the aisles of the local market would give birth to his next brainchild, PodPonics, a hydroponic lettuce farm.
“Reading the labels in the produce section, I realized that so much of our food was being shipped to us from all parts of the world," said Liotta, who lives in "My onions are from Peru? Grapes from Chile? How much jet fuel was used to get them here?”
Liotta, 34, began researching hydroponics, a method of farming that requires no soil or pesticides, very little water and a fraction of the space needed for traditional farming. Plants are grown inside a climate controlled environment and fed a diet of nutrients and water. Inspired, he designed a growing system in five recycled shipping containers and pitched his plan to investors. They came on board and quickly set up shop in an abandoned parking lot on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
“When we told people where we were located, we’d get some of the oddest reactions,” said Liotta. “It just proves that produce can be grown pretty much anywhere on earth.”
In less than a year, PodPonics outgrew its parking lot and expanded operations to the Southside Industrial Park. It now utilizes 16 shipping containers and has a production capacity of 50 tons a year of salad mix, arugula, watercress and other micro-greens. It's already on the menu at Rathbun’s, Miller Union, Local Three, Leon’s Full Service and 4th & Swift, and it's available for purchase at specialty markets Boxcar Grocer, Candler Park Market and Sevananda Natural Foods Market. Plans to grow bell peppers and spinach later this year are in the works.
Ian Winslade, chef at Murphy's Restaurant in Virginia-Highland, said PodPonics is more consistent and fresher than lettuce shipped from California, where most lettuce is grown. "Our customers appreciate the fact that it doesn't have any chemicals on it and have remarked that it tastes fresher and cleaner," he said.
Liotta likes to tout the quality and sustainability of his product, but he also acknowledges it's just plain good business.
“It was more the intersection of better produce, a more environmental approach to agriculture, and a good business opportunity," he said.
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