Spuds, Startups and Success: Alberta’s Recipe for Innovation

From french-fries to hashbrowns, success can sometimes be found in something as humble as a potato.   

Cellar Insights is an AgTech startup that builds artificial intelligence sensors used to monitor crop storage conditions, specifically, potato storage facilities. Cellar Insights technology monitors elements such as temperature and humidity to ensure that the potatoes retain their moisture and quality. The sensors can also identify early signs of disease and rot, and the data can be sent back to growers to help crop management, all specific to the qualities and requirements of the potato industry.   

Originally based in New Brunswick, the company relocated to Alberta for the province’s booming potato industry, to access funding and support from organizations like Alberta Innovates to help the company grow.   

Terry Sydoryk, CEO of Cellar Insights, is no stranger to technology and the world of startups. With a background in engineering and twenty-five years' experience in startups and early-stage companies, Cellar Insights is his seventh. He’s also the first to admit that there’s still much to learn.     

“Cellar Insights is my first venture in AgTech,” says Terry Sydoryk, CEO, Cellar Insights. “But we’re not starting from scratch. We've combined our technical experience with potato growers and storage specialists who’ve been in the industry a long time, and we’re building alongside the people who live these storage decisions every day.”  

Navigating Alberta’s AgTech ecosystem was the most daunting challenge for Cellar Insights, but the ecosystem was on its side. Carrot Ventures, an AgTech commercialization firm, referred Cellar Insights to Alberta Innovates.  

Through Alberta Innovates, Cellar Insights worked with Jennifer Wood, a Technology Development Advisor, to make industry connections, submit grant applications, hire new staff — a commercialization associate and a research and development associate — and develop a business strategy to pursue a paid pilot, meaning they get paid while integrating and testing their technology.    

 What kind of team does it take to handle and care for a mountain of 12 million potatoes in a typical 4,000-ton storage facility? 

 A multi-faceted one made up of farmers, processors and consumers. A production line maintaining the quality of Albertan potatoes from field to French fry.   

According to the Potato Growers Association of Alberta (PGA), a hundred and sixty licensed potato farmers grew nearly 80,100 acres of potatoes in 2023. Between 2022 and 2023, Alberta’s potato industry contributed $2.31 billion to the economy and created 7,380 jobs in the province alone.   

A worker loads potatoes from a  potato cellar for delivery to a potato packing plant.

 An example of Cellar Insights work will be familiar to any good Albertan French fry connoisseur:   

“Some of the most important things to know when producing a potato for processing is sugars, starches and densities,” says Sydoryk. “A plump potato is one that fries nice and golden, making the perfect fry. When you have a French fry with a brown end, we in the organization will know that it's a result of high sugar content at the end of that fry.”   

Cellar Insights continues their work to integrate AI technology into Alberta’s potato storage facilities, with the support of Alberta Innovates. They work in tandem with growers, processors and sellers to ensure every fry that hits your plate is crispy, golden perfection.   

“I see Alberta Innovates as one of the key pillars in terms of the AgTech community here in Alberta,” says Sydoryk. “And they are supporting Alberta’s agricultural economy one paid pilot at a time.”  

Learn more about Cellar Insights.