Growmentum allows growers to track, down to the second, all of the tasks and activities performed on their crops. Photo: Growmentum
Sometimes the most innovative ideas develop almost by accident. That’s essentially what happened to Drew Lytton and Cody Childers, co-founders of Growmentum, Greenhouse Grower’s 2024 Technology of the Year. A few years ago, the two of them were working as consultants with the team at Metrolina Greenhouses on a software tool. Along the way, one of Metrolina’s team members asked Lytton and Childers about the possibility of developing a program that could accurately track tasks and responsibilities across the greenhouse. It needed to be something that managers could access at any time, without overriding someone else’s information.
By 2023, Lytton and Childers had officially launched Growmentum (the company and the product), a first-of-its-kind software solution that allows growers to track, down to the second, all of the tasks and activities performed on their crops.
“Through our collaboration with Metrolina Greenhouses, Growmentum’s platform has proven instrumental in streamlining operations and optimizing labor usage,” says Lytton, CEO of Growmentum. “In the first year alone, our technology helped drive a more than 5% reduction in labor costs within one year, with opportunities for compounding benefits.”
Making the Tech Match Grower Needs
Through a successful trial launch with Metrolina and subsequent conversations with other growers, Lytton and Childers say it became abundantly clear that there was a need for a solution to effective task management and measuring labor utilization in the horticulture industry.
“We felt we had a product that could address those concerns, but because our background is in technology and not horticulture, we had to make sure that we correctly understood the nuances of the challenges growers face,” Lytton says. “That was the most critical thing we worked on at the beginning.”
Childers says that as the two of them spent more time with Metrolina, and learned more about the pain points growers face, their eyes opened even further.
“If you’re not directly involved in horticulture, you don’t realize how complex the processes are and how much coordination between the plants and the growing team is necessary,” Childers says. “As technology providers, we know we’re not the plant experts. But we can build and provide the tools to make growers’ jobs easier.”
How it Works
Growmentum equips growers with a platform that is designed to simplify the complexities of labor forecasting and task management, transforming operational dynamics across the greenhouse. By breaking down intricate workstreams into manageable tasks, it fosters a more organized and efficient work environment, enabling teams to operate swiftly and at reduced costs.
The platform’s data analytics capability allows for precise prediction of labor needs — ranging from annual to weekly to daily planning — by utilizing both historical and real-time data. This accuracy, shown visually through a real-time dashboard, not only ensures optimal labor utilization but also enhances overall productivity.
Additionally, Growmentum is designed to offer critical insights into labor patterns and identify bottlenecks, empowering growers to make informed decisions regarding capital expenditures or process improvements. This comprehensive approach streamlines operations while driving significant advancements in agricultural productivity and profitability.
“The simplest way to look at it is that it’s a very fancy, integrated to-do list of who’s responsible for which activities in the greenhouse, when they should be done, and whether they are actually done,” Childers says. “It can also be customized or configured to work with a lot of different greenhouses.”
When it comes to customization, Lytton says the company will perform a workshop session with the grower and configure the platform based on the crop, the containers, the volume, and the facility design.
“In addition to helping with that coordination, it also provides valuable labor metrics to understand how productive different parts of a grower’s processes may be,” Lytton says. “It can help them identify bottlenecks and make decisions on when to invest in automation or capital improvements to reduce inefficiencies.”
Childers also notes that, like most new automation platforms, Growmentum is not designed to make your team feel like they’re being tracked. Rather, it’s designed to help your team perform better while making it easier to demonstrate and share information on how to improve efficiency using specific examples.
“It can make things easier across the team because you can see when someone’s doing something the right way or you might identify a way to do it better,” Childers says. “You could even track which areas of the greenhouse may be the busiest.”
Other features within the Growmentum platform include:
- Purpose-built for the horticulture industry
- Works on any device with an internet connection
- Single source of truth for all crop-related tasks
- First-of-its-kind collaboration tools for assigning, coordinating, and tracking tasks
- Ability to integrate with ERP or timesheet systems
- The ability to compare planned vs actual labor on every single task, crop, area, manager, etc.
- Improved accuracy for labor forecasting year over year
What’s Next
Lytton says the next step for the Growmentum team is finding effective ways to onboard and package the solution.
“There’s a range of different-sized operations in this industry, and they are varied in how they’re structured,” Lytton says. “We continue to adjust the product roadmap so that it can become even more integrated into a grower’s operation. For us, it’s all about continuing to innovate, based on grower feedback, and make this a better tool.”
What Excites You the Most About the Future of Floriculture?
“I’m really excited to see growers continuing to use technology as a lever to where, with the same amount or less inputs, they’re able to provide more output and higher quality than they currently are.” – Drew Lytton, co-founder and CEO
“There’s something to the human experience of having some connection and exposure to nature and plants. I think anything the horticulture industry can do to provide even just a little dash of nature makes a huge difference. And I think technology can play a role in that. It’s amazing that for as long as humans have been cultivating plants, the industry still finds a better way to do it year after year.” – Cody Childers, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
“I’m looking forward to seeing how data-driven decision-making is revolutionizing floriculture. Growers now have the insights to make precise adjustments that boost productivity and profitability, all while maintaining the artistry that defines this industry. It’s an incredible time for innovation, and I’m thrilled to see how far we can take it.” – Marissa Marshall, Vice President of Business Development
“I’m most excited about how technology is empowering growers to work smarter, not harder. The ability to optimize every aspect of greenhouse operations means we’re not just improving efficiency but also elevating the quality of plants being produced. It’s thrilling to be part of an industry that’s constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.” – Jackie Lytton, Director of Marketing
