Michael Ravensdale Joins GoodLeaf Farms as Vice President of Horticulture Development, Innovation and Quality

GUELPH, Ont. — GoodLeaf Farms is pleased to introduce Dr. Michael Ravensdale as its new Vice President in charge of horticulture development, innovation and quality.

Coming to GoodLeaf from the cannabis industry, Dr. Ravensdale brings an extensive background in plant science and molecular genetics to the indoor vertical farm operation, with a focus on collecting and leveraging important data points to both understand what is happening in the business and how to make it better.

“The success of GoodLeaf Farms is that we are a true value-add business that is focused on execution; our secret sauce is working hard every day to produce consistency in our products at a high level,” says Dr. Ravensdale. “That’s what distinguishes GoodLeaf; being high-tech is a table stake in our sector. We focus on preparation and precise execution on a daily basis, and use data to ensure we are on the right track.”

He sees the value of indoor vertical farms as a complement to traditional open-field farming, providing a year-round replacement for crops that may not be economically feasible in Canada’s short growing season and are typically imported.

“Over the past few years, we have seen supply chain challenges around food and continued inflation and price increases with food,” says Dr. Ravensdale. “At a fundamental level, societal stability is built on the premise that everybody can eat.”

A graduate of the University of Guelph, Dr. Ravensdale acquired his master's degree from the Ontario Agriculture College extension at the Vineland Research Station in the Niagara Region, a PhD from the University of Dundee in Scotland and post-doctoral work in Australia and Ottawa looking at genetic engineering for disease resistance and data mining of large genomic and transcriptomic  datasets.

Besides making better use of the data collected at GoodLeaf’s indoor farms — its flagship farm in Guelph, Ont., and the farms in Calgary and Montreal that will open later this year — Dr. Ravensdale will also drive new product innovations at GoodLeaf.

“The sky is the limit — or maybe in our case the ceiling height — that is one of the most exciting things,” he says. “This is just the beginning of crops that are suitable for indoor production. We will explore things that are hard to produce consistently in an outdoor environment or products that need a sterile environment for medical uses. But these are processes that take years, not weeks or even months.”

GoodLeaf’s expansive and growing portfolio of baby greens and microgreens — including premium fresh options of GoodLeaf’s unique Spring Mix, Micro Radish and Micro Spicy Mustard Medley are currently available in most leading retailers in Ontario, including Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Longo’s, Whole Foods and many independent retailers and food service operators.