Ritz-Carlton utilizes “Crop Box” technology

NAPLES, Fla. – In the back service area of the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort of Naples sits a gray box, however it’s no ordinary box, it’s called a “Crop Box” and the team at the Ritz call it their “grow house,” creating some of the freshest produce around.

George Fistrovich, Executive Chef of the Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples and his culinary team use a lot of produce in their restaurants, “we literally use about 65,000 heads of lettuce per year in all our outlets,” said Fistrovich. That’s lettuce they’ll purchase for their resort restaurants, or now thanks to the Crop Box, grow on site.

The grow house at the Ritz-Carlton allows Fistrovich and his team to grow about 22,000 heads of lettuce along with other micro greens, cabbage and vegetables, making the sky the limit when it comes to vertical hydroponic growing. Tripp Williams and his company Williamson Greenhouses, created this particular Crop Box and technology, helping clients like the Ritz maximize their production.

“Hydroponics has been around for a long time but as far being able to build it in a box and maximize the production is a pretty unique thing,” said Williamson. The uniqueness of the technology, starts with the planting of the seed, placed in a sponge like cube and then grown with no dirt, as water runs down a canal over the plants roots.

Once grown, the Ritz culinary staff is then simply able to harvest the ingredients and take them right to the kitchen for service to the guests. “Seed to table, farm to table, this is right outside the table, so you can’t get any closer, you can’t harvest it any fresher,” said Fistrovich.

The entire process is grown, harvested and enjoyed by the guests, all on hotel property. The Ritz-Carlton Naples is the first hotel in the United States and in their brand to operate a Crop Box. The Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort of Naples is located at 280 Vanderbilt Beach Road in Naples.