An hour’s drive from Modesto and stretching 2,900 acres is Ingomar Packing Company. The smell of tomatoes drifts in the evaporating steam of boilers and tall steel operating towers overlook fields of green and strips of ruby red. Past steel warehouses, a wetland sprawls across the land and thrives with avian life. This is the world of company CEO Greg Pruett MBA ’84 who has been in California’s tomato industry for over 30 years.
California produces 90% of the nation’s tomatoes, a feat Pruett attests to California’s special climate. The soil and dry summers of San Joaquin and Sacramento Valley coupled with advanced technology and supportive educational systems has given California a leg up in tomato production. However these perfect conditions come with a caveat.
“We have one Achilles heel and that Achilles heel is water,” Pruett said. “The ongoing drought conditions are making it very difficult for all farmers in the valley. It's putting a lot of pressure on prices causing them to go up and forcing some crops out because as the price of water goes up some crops can compete and some can't.”
While the tomato has been keeping up, Pruett has taken to implementing more sustainable means of keeping his business thriving. One way Pruett is conserving water is through his partnership with Botanical Water Technologies. The Australian based company purifies and filters water condensate from plants to create drinkable water for those in need.
“This botanical water system is enabling us to take a portion of that condensate water, water that comes from the tomatoes, and run it through a reverse osmosis process that makes the water potable and eligible to be sold as drinking water in the state of California,” Pruett said. “It's pretty cool because it creates a loop [and] it gives a higher use to the water.”
According to Pruett this system of recycling water from plant life can be done globally. He believes that the systems could be effective in citrus farms and especially sugar cane farms. Every little bit counts for Pruett, especially with the water situation in California continuing to prove challenging.
“We recognize that water is a limited resource in California,” Pruett said. “We need to do our part in using water effectively and using it at its highest use. So this was a great opportunity for us to take advantage of the vast quantities of water that we have and with a limited process be able to convert it to potable water and help people and communities that are water deficient that are literally our neighbors.”
Currently Botanical Water Technologies has units in Australia and the United States. While usage of these units has not become widespread Pruett hopes for more water-intensive crop farms to implement the tech. For Pruett who’s tomatoes consist of 95% water the integration of Botanical Water Technologies was the next step to improving Ingomar’s sustainability.
“The water situation, and the water challenges in California aren't going away,” Pruett said. “So this seemed to me to be a great opportunity for us to do some part in trying to alleviate the issues.”
Another of Pruett's sustainable investments was buried drip irrigation. Through this system a drip tape ten to twelve inches below ground feeds the plants above with water and fertilizer.
Additionally since 2000 Pruett has taken to developing the land behind his plant into acres of wetlands. These wetlands have become a flyaway and natural habitat for many avians. Aside from being an environmental habitat, Pruett explained that the wetlands have also been influential in improving their company’s sustainability.
“It also naturally cleanses the water so that after the water flows through the wetlands, we're able to return the water back to the factory and create a loop which reduces the net amount of water that we're consuming,” Pruett said. “So it's pretty cool, there's not a lot of things where you can develop an environmental habitat and also do it in a way that provides us with a lower cost [for] quality water coming back to our factory.”
While these methods and practices have improved yields and reduced water loss Pruett continues to look into other alternatives to combat California’s steadily intensifying droughts. According to Pruett there’s lots of opportunity for improvement in water efficiency and usage as well as sustainability as a whole.
“Our customers are very focused on sustainability,” Pruett said. “We supply the biggest food brands in the world and they have a responsibility to make sure their suppliers are improving.”