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Investment exceeding R$ 100 million marks a new stage for Carolina Soil in Brazil, with an automated factory in São Paulo, advancement of the agricultural substrates market, and a strategy aimed at expanding production capacity, standardizing industrial processes, and serving chains that depend on more uniform seedlings.
Carolina Soil is preparing to open a new automated agricultural substrates factory in Pardinho, in the interior of São Paulo, with an investment exceeding R$ 100 million and scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2027, in an operation aimed at doubling its production capacity in Brazil.
Since 2021 under the control of the Danish group Pindstrup, the company is directing its expansion towards the market of solutions used in seedling production, with an industrial plant expected to operate with state-of-the-art equipment, automation, and greater control over the manufacturing process.
The move comes during a period of growth in the Brazilian plant substrate market, which moved R$ 517.2 million in 2025, an increase of 22.8% compared to the previous year, according to data released by Abisolo, an entity representing industries in plant production technology.
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São Paulo creates over 202,000 formal jobs in four months, leads the national balance, and records an average admission salary of R$ 2,693.01
In the same period, the biofertilizers and special fertilizers sector recorded a decline, while substrates showed positive performance mainly influenced by price increases and the scarcity of imported raw materials used by the industry, according to information attributed to Abisolo.
New substrate factory expands Carolina Soil’s operation
The São Paulo unit was structured to expand Carolina Soil’s production scale and reorganize part of the company’s industrial operation, with a line aimed at reducing variations between batches and serving production chains that depend on greater uniformity in seedling production.
Currently, the company maintains an industrial unit in Santa Cruz do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul, where it supplies substrates for different agricultural crops and concentrates part of the production intended for nurseries and producers using seedlings on a commercial scale.
With the factory in Pardinho, the company aims to strengthen its presence in another productive region of the country and seeks to bring part of the operation closer to consumer markets served by the plant production segment, especially in chains that require regular supply.
The automation planned for the new plant was reported as one of the central points of the investment, with the potential to reduce manual stages, improve the control of mixtures and packaging, and increase the predictability of products delivered to rural producers.
In the industrial substrate process, greater control over formulations, moisture, homogenization, and conditioning is treated by the sector as a relevant factor to reduce contamination risks and decrease fluctuations that can affect the performance of seedlings in nurseries.
In addition to physical expansion, the project also includes the need to qualify workers to operate more complex industrial equipment, as the incorporation of new technologies requires technical support, quality control, and monitoring of production parameters.
Agricultural Substrate Market Follows Seedling Production
Agricultural substrates are materials used to support the initial development of plants, mainly in seedling production, a stage considered strategic in crops that depend on uniformity before final planting in commercial areas or protected systems.
These inputs are used in activities such as commercial forests, coffee, vegetables, tobacco, flowers, and other crops that use nurseries to organize the initial phase of plants before transferring to the field or cultivation environments.
The demand for substrates follows the performance of these production chains, according to the evaluation of Carolina Soil’s CEO, Anderson Schaefer, who relates the demand for these products to the growth of sectors that use seedlings in different production models.
When nurseries work on a larger scale, producers tend to seek inputs with controlled composition to support germination, rooting, water retention, aeration, and plant health, factors linked to technical management in the initial stage of crops.
According to institutional information from Carolina Soil, the company serves different segments in Brazil and other Latin American countries, operating in crops such as tobacco, vegetables, forestry, flowers, strawberries, cocoa, coffee, citrus, and sugarcane.
In the Brazilian market, the demand for substrates is also associated with the need for standardization in the nursery, as differences in the seedling phase can interfere with plant development and increase the requirement for products with more controlled composition.
Cutting-edge Technology Enters Plant Production
The expansion announced by Carolina Soil combines an increase in volume and a change in the factory’s operational standard, with the expectation of modern equipment and automated operation to support industrial efficiency, quality control, and more organized use of resources in the production process.
For the company, the standardization of substrates is a relevant point because the product needs to meet different cultures, varied production environments, and specific technical requirements, making industrial control part of the supply to the seedling market.
With greater control over production, the company seeks to reduce fluctuations between batches destined for nurseries, according to the strategy disclosed for the new unit, without altering the purpose of the products used in the initial stage of plants.
Automation also appears in the project as a tool to organize the industrial flow and reduce waste, in a segment where delivery regularity, formulation control, and input reliability are evaluated by nurserymen and producers.
Anderson Schaefer, CEO of Carolina Soil, stated in recent interviews that the investment is part of a long-term strategy to keep up with the sector’s growth and expand the offer of solutions aimed at plant production in the country.
Danish Group Strengthens Presence in Brazil
The entry of the Danish group Pindstrup into the control of Carolina Soil in 2021 integrated the Brazilian operation into an international company specialized in substrates, focused on developing solutions for different cultures and production systems.
Since the acquisition, the company has been operating within an expansion strategy directed at the national and Latin American market, maintaining the industrial base in Brazil and incorporating the international experience of the controller in the segment into the production planning.
Pindstrup’s presence also helps contextualize the investment in industrial technology, as the group operates globally in the substrate sector, while Carolina Soil maintains knowledge about regional demands and characteristics of Brazilian agricultural chains.
This combination is related to the decision to expand production capacity at a time when the substrate market recorded revenue growth, even in a scenario of difficulties for other agricultural input segments.
The positive market result in 2025 indicated a greater participation of substrates in the set of technologies used in plant production, although part of the increase was explained by price increases and not just by potential volume expansion.
Abisolo attributed part of the financial growth of the segment to the price increase associated with the scarcity of imported raw materials, which requires caution in reading the numbers and prevents treating revenue as an isolated indicator of consumption.
Factory in Pardinho Aims for More Predictable Production
With the Pardinho factory, Carolina Soil intends to meet the demand for substrates with greater regularity and lower risk of failures in the initial stage of crops, according to the strategy disclosed by the company for the new unit in São Paulo.
For nursery operators and producers, the predictability of the input can influence planting planning, nursery organization, and seedling monitoring, especially in crops that require a development standard before going to the field.
The São Paulo unit also expands the company’s operational capacity in a market where deadlines, logistics, and product availability are part of the purchasing routine for companies and producers who depend on regular supply throughout the year.
By expanding production beyond Rio Grande do Sul, Carolina Soil reduces industrial concentration in a single region and now has an additional production base to serve different plant production hubs in the country.
The investment also reflects a change in the industrial profile of the substrate segment in Brazil, with companies incorporating automation, standardization, and traceability to meet production chains that adopt more technical processes in seedling formation.
In the operation planned for São Paulo, the new plant reinforces a strategy aimed at increasing scale and controlling the production process, within a market that moved more than half a billion reais in 2025.
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