๐ฑ July 2026 โ Building the Infrastructure of Trust ๐งโ
Some months are about big visible wins. Big orders, new partnerships, exciting launches.
July was about something quieter, but arguably more important: building the systems that let us grow responsibly, prove it, and waste nothing along the way.
Two things defined this month. Let's walk through them. ๐
๐ง Facility Expansion: Electrical Now 50% Complete
The Phase 2 expansion has been underway for months now, and July brought a concrete milestone: our electrical infrastructure is officially 50% complete.
If you've ever wondered what "expanding a hydroponic facility" actually looks like day to day, it looks a lot like this: someone on a scissor lift, working overhead for hours, running new circuits through the ceiling of a 5,000 sq ft building.
Every new rack we add needs power. Every new grow zone needs its own lighting circuit, its own water control connection. None of that is glamorous work, but all of it is the foundation everything else depends on.
Half the electrical build is done. Plumbing starts next, and food safety documentation is running in parallel โ which brings us to the second major thread of July.
โ Kicking Off Our Food Safety Certification: PrimusGFS
This month, we officially began working with a food safety consultant to start our PrimusGFS certification application.
If you're not familiar with it, PrimusGFS (Primus Global Food Safety) is one of the most widely recognized food safety certification standards in North America โ the kind of third-party audit that major retailers, distributors, and institutional buyers require before they'll bring on a new supplier.
Why this matters:
Right now, our reputation is built on relationships. Chefs who've tasted the product. Retailers who've toured the facility. Word of mouth across Metro Vancouver's food scene.
That's worked well to get us here. But it has a ceiling.
Larger retailers, food service distributors, and institutional buyers (think hospitals, universities, larger grocery chains) typically require certified food safety documentation before they'll even have a conversation. No certification, no meeting. It's a hard gate, not a soft preference.
This is a multi-month process, and July was step one: engaging the consultant, mapping our current processes against PrimusGFS requirements, and identifying the gaps we need to close.
Once certified, doors open that are currently closed to us. That's the whole point.
โป๏ธ Nothing From Our Grow Room Goes to Waste
While the electrical and certification work moved forward, another core piece of how we operate quietly continued in the background: our zero-waste commitment.
After every harvest, we're left with root mats โ the dense webs of roots and hulls left behind once the microgreens are cut. Most producers throw these away.
We don't.
Every root mat from our facility goes to a local Richmond farm, where it becomes feed for goats, sheep, and chickens. What's leftover growing medium and root structure to us is a nutritious, natural snack to them โ and it doesn't cost a thing beyond the drive to deliver it.
๐ฎ A Small Hint for August
We're not ready to say more yet, but August is shaping up to be one of our most public-facing months yet.
We'll just say this: an elected official is coming to see the facility firsthand, and we're planning our very first public tasting event.
More details soon. ๐
โ The Oh Micro! Team, Richmond, BC
P.S. โ If you're a distributor, retailer, or institutional buyer who's been waiting on certification before reaching out โ hang tight. We're working on it.