Key Takeaways
- The Reservoir announces Naturipe Berry Growers as its second farming partner at Reservoir Farms
- Naturipe will manage five acres of strawberries and collaborate on technology integration and field trials
- Reservoir Farms is a nonprofit on-farm startup incubator focused on specialty crop innovation
- The partnership reinforces efforts to connect agricultural startups with commercial farming operations
- Groundbreaking for Reservoir Farms is scheduled for late summer 2025
The Reservoir & Naturipe Berry Growers Aim to Support On-Farm Innovation in Specialty Crops
The Reservoir, a California-based nonprofit dedicated to agricultural innovation, has formed a partnership with Naturipe Berry Growers, a long-standing strawberry grower in North America, to support its flagship project, Reservoir Farms, in the Salinas Valley. This partnership follows an earlier collaboration with Tanimura & Antle and reflects the incubator’s strategy of uniting experienced producers with early-stage agtech ventures.
Under the partnership, Naturipe will oversee the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of strawberries on five acres at the Reservoir Farms site. The site, located at Highway 68 and Hitchcock Road, is designed to support in-field testing and real-world validation of new technologies by giving startups direct access to farmland and growers.
Role of Naturipe and In-Kind Contributions
Support for Operational and Strategic Programming
Naturipe will contribute operational support, infrastructure, and agronomic expertise—an in-kind value totaling several hundred thousand dollars annually, according to the announcement. As part of the collaboration, Naturipe will also serve as a Premier Sponsor of Reservoir Farms and take part in shaping its operational strategy and programming.
Hank Guerrero, Vice President of Ag Operations at Naturipe Berry Growers, stated: “Our partnership is a natural extension of our values—supporting a stronger, smarter, and more sustainable future for specialty crop agriculture.”
Reservoir Farms: A Model for Startup Deployment in Agriculture
Bridging the Gap Between Technology and Adoption
Founded in 2024, The Reservoir launched Reservoir Farms to address a common challenge in agtech: the disconnect between technology development and field-level implementation. By embedding startups into working farm environments, the initiative seeks to accelerate product validation, performance benchmarking, and user adoption.
The Salinas Valley site will host startups working on robotics, automation, and digital solutions, with infrastructure including co-working spaces, equipment testing zones, and variable-sized crop plots. The first crops will include strawberries, leafy greens, and vegetables, following staggered planting schedules to accommodate year-round pilot activity.
Broader Goals for Agricultural Innovation and Regional Development
The Reservoir’s goals for Reservoir Farms include:
- Supporting over 50 early-stage companies within five years
- Creating more than 500 jobs in high-tech agriculture
- Improving labor efficiency, yields, and cost structures for farmers
- Piloting sustainability-focused technologies for water use, soil health, and regenerative practices
Danny Bernstein, Founder and CEO of The Reservoir, commented: “This partnership represents the best of what Reservoir Farms is about—bringing experienced growers together with innovators to build practical, scalable solutions that serve the entire agricultural community.”
Next Steps and Expansion Plans
The official groundbreaking for Reservoir Farms is scheduled for late summer 2025, with additional sites planned across California in the future. With Naturipe and other partners involved, The Reservoir aims to establish a scalable framework for AgTech deployment that connects startups with commercial agriculture in one of the world’s leading specialty crop regions.
