Kalera CEO Makes an Impact on the Future of Farming

By Lea Hart

August 10, 2021

When he enrolled in North Carolina State University’s College of Management, Daniel Malechuk (’03) didn’t picture himself working in the food industry, but he couldn’t be more proud today of his role in the future of sustainable farming.

Malechuk was named CEO of Kalera in 2019. Based in Orlando, Florida, Kalera grows leaf plants – mainly lettuce – in a vertical farming system inside clean room facilities. That means no pesticides or genetic modification, and the process uses five percent of the water that traditional farms use.

A video on Kalera’s website notes that 80 percent of land suitable for farming in the U.S. is already in use. Due to the growing population, it’s expected that the U.S. will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050.

What’s more, the video goes on to point out that 95 percent of U.S. produce is grown in Arizona and California, and can take weeks to reach the consumer. That depletes vitamins, increases the risk of spoiling and the risk of contamination. Kalera’s approach localizes farming, bringing the product closer to the community.

From dreams of working in the sky to a career working for the planet

Malechuk enrolled at NC State with dreams of being an aviator. He was the recipient of a prestigious Park Scholarship and began a major in aerospace engineering. However, he enrolled prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and felt, post 9-11, that an aviation career didn’t look as promising.

At the same time, a mentor of his in the College of Management (now Poole College of Management), Professor Art Padilla, regularly encouraged him to consider a business degree instead. When he made the switch, Malechuk said he knew he’d made the right choice.

“I fell in love with the business degree,” he said.

Upon graduation, he went to work for Aldi USA as a district manager and quickly climbed the ladder to become director of corporate buying. While Malechuk didn’t plan to work in the food industry, he said he was excited by the management profile and career opportunities that it presented to him at such a young age.

His next role took him around the globe as vice president at Keysource Foods, a seafood company. He saw shrimp harvested in Vietnam and traveled on mussel boats off the coast of Ireland.

What’s so unique about a business degree and what I love about it is, it can open so many doors; it is one of the broader degrees

“What’s so unique about a business degree and what I love about it is, it can open so many doors; it is one of the broader degrees,” Malechuk said. “I don’t think I could have appreciated how true that is.”

During that time, Malechuk and his family had the opportunity to live in Apex, NC and he never forgot the Wolfpack, enjoying season tickets to athletic events.

He was recruited from there to run the retail division for Shamrock Foods, and his family moved to Arizona. During his time there, Malechuk pursued his executive MBA from the University of Arizona.

When the opportunity at Kalera presented itself, Malechuk admits he had never heard of vertical farming before, but he jumped at the opportunity for many reasons.

“This was a really exciting opportunity to, one, do something so cutting-edge, and two, to have that first opportunity to be CEO,” he said.

While his title is CEO, Malechuk calls himself something else most days.

“Right now, I call myself a farmer,” he says with a laugh.

But it’s fine with Malechuk, who ties it back to NC State’s roots as an agriculture school.

“I’m excited about feeding people,” he said. “It’s a noble cause and a great reason to get up in the morning.”

Demand and growth mean opportunity at Kalera

It’s also a great time to be leading Kalera. The company has a fascinating history. Its founders had initially worked on several different projects, including being a part of a sustainable city located in Florida, before pivoting to focus on indoor farming.

Daniel Malechuk in the Kalera facilities

“Historically, produce is farmed outside,” Malechuk said. “It’s susceptible to weather, fires, contaminants and more – it’s been a challenge.”

As sophisticated as the supply chain has become, he points out that there is also the issue of transporting and delivering it.

By growing produce locally, Kalera changes that business model. The company is currently expanding rapidly with facilities up and running in Orlando, FL and Atlanta, GA , where they have produced 12 times more leafy greens than the entire state of Georgia produced a year earlier. They’re expanding to Houston, Seattle and Honolulu to name just a few other locations, and recently took the company public on the European stock exchange, with plans for a NASDAQ IPO in the U.S. in the future.

I can’t imagine not having exposure and access to culture, people, learning and new experiences. I don’t know that I could have appreciated how much a business degree could give me those opportunities.

It’s been an opportunity for Malechuk professionally in more ways than one. The company was very small when he joined, and he’s had the opportunity to build a team and a culture from the ground up.

“It really has challenged me in a lot of ways,” he said. “It’s been a lot of neat and unique opportunities.”

Though it’s a very different path than the one he envisioned as a high school graduate enrolling at NC State, it fits Malechuk’s personality. As someone who has always had a sense of wanderlust, his various roles have taken him through all 50 states and 67 countries. While it’s not as a pilot, it still provides the same sense of satisfaction.

“I can’t imagine not having exposure and access to culture, people, learning and new experiences,” he said. “I don’t know that I could have appreciated how much a business degree could give me those opportunities.”

Tying it all back to NC State

Malechuk says his degree from NC State has been critical to his current success. He concentrated in marketing in his undergraduate, and said he’s applied everything he learned at NC State at some point during his career. And that includes experiences outside his degree framework as well.

“I don’t know that there was anybody that enjoyed their time at NC State more than I did,” he said.

He took extra Physical Education courses just because he enjoyed them, including scuba diving, and even put that to use during a business trip.

Malechuk was active with the Park Scholars. He calls that experience life-changing, noting the doors it opened and the opportunities it provided for mentorship and relationship-building. He’s hired and hopes to continue to hire NC State students and Park Scholars at Kalera as well.

He was president of the Bragaw Hall Council, served as a resident advisor, was active in the Catholic Campus Ministry, and participated in intramural sports, to name a few other activities.

“Through all of those things, the friendships that you develop and the maturing that you go through – that’s equally as important as the degree,” he said. “It helped me understand how to multi-task and become a dynamic leader in multiple different avenues.”

Malechuk and his wife of 15 years live in Florida currently with their four children, three girls and a boy.

While he is clearly invested in his career, Malechuk is also a big believer in balance and works as a team with his wife in that respect. He strives for balance among what he calls “the five F’s:” faith, family, friends, fitness and finances, saying he always tries to be cognizant that putting too much into one takes away from the others.

He and his family are active in their Catholic Church, and Malechuk enjoys fishing and boating. He got certified in Scuba Diving through NC State, still loves to travel and loves being active.

And, though he didn’t become a career aviator, he has his pilot’s license and enjoys flying.

While he’s committed to Kalera right now, Malechuk hopes things may come full circle one day in the future.

“I would love, perhaps someday, to become a professor in the business school at NC State,” he said. “I’d like to have that same experience of mentoring and leading students that I received, and to replicate what I had from some of the great professors there.”

Lead Photo: Daniel Malechuk, class of '03 graduate from Poole College

Babylon Micro-Farms Partners With Harvest Table, Providing Fresher, Hyper-Local Food Options To Top Universities Across America

July 30, 2021

Babylon Micro-Farms, the intelligent, accessible and market-leading indoor micro-farm company, is excited to announce their partnership with Harvest Table Culinary Group, the pioneering collegiate food service company. To kick off the partnership, Babylon installed their micro-farms in Harvest Table colleges and universities, including University of Virginia, Wake Forest University, Elon University, and Springfield College, serving over 40,000 students.
 

With the food hall climate continuing to evolve year to year, several universities are beginning to increase the amount of sustainable and healthy food options for their students across campus. Babylon is stepping in to help make university life more sustainable and healthy, with the installation of their micro-farms in the food halls. These micro-farms produce the freshest, high-quality selection of crops for kitchens to use in preparing their menus. Food from Babylon Micro-Farms is not only good for your health, but also for the environment, as they grow food locally with few pollutants, less water, food waste, and is pesticide free.

Harvest Table Culinary Group has a track record of culinary excellence, taking pride in their fresh and responsibly-sourced ingredients. President of Harvest Table, Mary Thornton comments, “Our partnership with Babylon Micro-Farms enables us to bring the Harvest Table effect to life for our students and their guests across the country. As we return to a new normal in the fall, there is a ripe opportunity for collaboration with student groups to further support the cause of local foods.”

Since 2017, Babylon Micro-Farms has delivered a simple, yet engaging indoor growing experience, helping companies such as hospitals, senior living communities and universities showcase their commitment to providing fresh, nutritious produce and sustainability to their students and other customers. The goal through their on-site farming service is to make growing simple for anyone. Babylon is the most affordable, efficient, and advanced vertical farming platform available, remotely managed through the cloud with unparalleled customer service. To date, the company operates a network of 45 farms in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA with a further 106 farms due to be installed by Q1 2022.
 

Babylon’s CEO, Alexander Olesen shares, “Harvest Table represents the thought leader in the education space and we're extremely happy to partner with them. This partnership demonstrates how we can grow at scale and this is the first step in our plan to get into as many universities as possible.”

Sprout AI Inc. Vertical Farming Aims To Provide Sustainable Solutions To Global Food Production

Begins Growth Initiatives After Completion of Go Public Transaction and Financing

July 29, 2021

Source: Sprout AI Inc

Calgary, Alberta, July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire – Sprout AI Inc. ("Sprout AI" or the "Company") (CSE: SPRT) is a technologically focused, sustainable vertical farming company that has developed scalable controlled aeroponic cultivation habitats. Sprout AI’s technology will provide solutions to the ever-increasing complexities surrounding the current and future supply of sustainable global food production and supply chain.

Sprout AI is committed to both environmental and social sustainability. With a lowered carbon footprint, Sprout AI provides solutions to many of the negative environmental impacts generated by conventional farming methods, including over-fertilization, long transport distances, and biodiversity disturbances. Social sustainability is enhanced through increased food security from a simplified supply chain, especially during Covid-19, higher density production in a world with declining arable land per capita, and a food supply less susceptible to drought, floods, wildfires, disease, and overall climate change.

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The Company’s vision is to be a leader in sustainable vertical cultivation technology by ensuring each harvest is of high quality, high yield, and with minimal product variability. The adaptive AI monitored aeroponic system generates less waste and requires a fraction of the water needed for outdoor, aquaponic, or hydroponic farming. As growth statistics from across the globe are collected, the learning technology will continue to perfect the growing formula, reducing the growth cycle and increasing future output. Additionally, the self-contained habitats reduce cross-contamination and disease which reduces the risk of large crop failures.

The Sprout AI habitats are highly relevant in urban and remote areas alike, and can be assembled in any structure throughout the world that meets, or can meet, food-grade requirements, mitigating the need for a purpose-built structure and allowing it to take advantage of virtually any vacant indoor space.

The Value of Sprout AI

• Local Availability. Achieve consistent, year-round local supply of indigenous and non-indigenous produce that is agnostic to seasons, climates, weather and geographies.

• Environmentally Friendly. Up to 95% water savings(1), significant reduction in fossil fuel required to plant, sow, fertilize and transport crops, and reduces land use and biodiversity disturbances.

• Risk Mitigation. Mitigation against natural disasters such as hail and wildfires that can wipe out entire crops, droughts and infestations that can adversely impact yields, and supply chain impacts such as Covid-19.

• Consistent Quality. Controlled, repeatable growing conditions allow for consistent quality produce that can be rapidly delivered to local markets and reduces the number of perishables from long range shipping.

• Meeting Organic Preferences. Consumer preferences are evolving to more natural, organic products(2). The controlled environment of vertical farming reduces the need for chemicals and pesticides.

• Enhanced Food Safety. Tracking and recall of local produce serving a local market is more manageable than produce grown in international jurisdictions and shipped to a broad network of international markets.

• Feeding a Growing Population. Up to 100x more productive than traditional methods(3), providing a solution to feed a growing global population amid a decrease in arable land per capita(4).

The Sprout AI Business Model and Growth Initiatives

Sprout AI is focused on a two-pronged approach to continue to commercialize its technology. Both paths are intended to provide ongoing, recurring revenue; (i) turnkey unit sales to third parties with ongoing support, and (ii) the construction of proprietary vertical farms owned 100% by Sprout AI or in a joint venture or partner format. These proprietary farms will utilize Sprout AI technology and be branded under Beyond FarmsTM, a trademark owned by Sprout AI.

Since completing the go public transaction and financing on July 5th, 2021, Sprout AI has aggressively expanded its resource base, and has begun to fulfill its first third party sales of Sprout AI units. Sprout AI has also begun discussions with potential partners for the construction of a sustainably operated Beyond FarmsTM vertical farming facility in Canada, and potentially other jurisdictions around the world.

More information about the business of the Company can be found in the final long-form prospectus of Sprout AI dated May 31, 2021, and the listing statement dated June 30, 2021, both available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About Sprout AI

Sprout AI is a vertical farming technology company in the business of planning, designing, manufacturing and/or assembling sustainable and scalable AI-controlled vertical cultivation equipment for indoor vertical farming. The adaptive technology produces an environment with improved growing parameters and early detection of adverse conditions resulting in consistent and repeatable crops, with shorter cultivation cycles independent of geographic climates. The self-contained multi-level rolling rack technology increases the cubic cultivation area while mitigating the risk of outside and cross-contaminants.

For more information about Sprout AI, please visit http://sproutai.solutions

Chief Executive Officer
Chris Bolton
Sprout AI Inc.
Phone: +011 (507) 6384-8734
E-mail: mainweb@sproutai.solutions

Investor Relations Contact
Colleen McKay
Tel: (289) 231-9026
E-mail: cmckay@sproutai.solutions

Website: http://sproutai.solutions

Address: International Business Park, Unit 5B, Building 3860
Panama Pacifico, Republic of Panama

THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE, NOR HAS OR DOES THE CSE'S REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, with respect to the Company. The forward-looking information included in this news release is not based on historical facts, but rather on the expectations of the Company's management regarding the future growth of the Company, its results of operations, performance, business prospects, and opportunities. This news release uses words such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions to identify forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information reflects the current beliefs of the Company's management, based on information currently available to them.

This forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements relating to: the intentions, plans, and future actions of the Company; statements relating to the business and future activities of the Company and anticipated developments in operations of the Company. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate and are subject to risks and uncertainties.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Whether actual results, performance, or achievements will conform to the expectations and predictions of the Company is subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors, including: global or national health concerns, including the outbreak of pandemic or contagious diseases, such as COVID-19 and including the evolution of new variants of COVID-19, the duration and effect thereof and delays relating to vaccine development, procurement and distribution; risks relating to the effective management of the Company's growth; liabilities and risks, including environmental liabilities and risks associated with the Company's operations; the Company's ability to attract and retain customers; the competitive nature of the industries in which the Company operates; and the other risk factors described in the Company's final long form prospectus dated May 31, 2021.

If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results might vary materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or results, except to the extent required by applicable Canadian securities laws. Accordingly, potential investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, or the information contained in those statements.

All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

1. Columbia University Earth Institute. “How Sustainable Is Vertical Farming? Students Try to Answer the Question”

2. Fortune Business Insights. “Organic Foods Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Raw Material/Commodity (Fruits and Vegetables, Cereals and Grains, Others), By End-use (Bakery & Confectionery, Ready-to-eat food products, Breakfast Cereals, Processing Industry, Others), By Distribution Channel (Direct Market, Processing Industry) and Regional Forecast 2019-2026”

3. Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production. Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu and Michiko Takagaki.

4. The World Bank

Wire Service Contact
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Los Angeles, California
www.InvestorWire.com
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Editor@InvestorWire.com

Sobeys To Boost Supply of Vertically Farmed Produce

By Russell Redman

July 26, 2021

Under an expanded partnership with Sobeys, vertical farming company Infarm plans to build four new production sites to be able to supply fresh produce to more than 1,000 of the Canadian grocer’s stores.

Infarm said Monday that it aims to construct Infarm Growing Centers in Calgary, Alberta; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Hamilton, Ontario. Near Toronto, the Hamilton facility will be Infarm’s largest production site in North America, with a growing capacity of 37,000 square feet, the company said.

Sobeys and Infarm formed their partnership last year, with a goal of providing locally grown, indoor-farmed produce to the Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based retailer’s customers nationwide. The deal was the first of national scope between a Canadian retailer and a vertical farming company, according to Infarm.

“We are passionate about bringing Canadian families the best, freshest, most delicious produce every single day. The expansion of our exclusive partnership with Infarm demonstrates our commitment to delivering that in a technologically advanced and sustainable way,” Niluka Kottegoda, vice president of customer experience at Sobeys, said in a statement.

“We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and our store teams about the current Infarm product grown in our stores,” she added. “We are thrilled to expand into the Infarm Growing Centers, as they allow us to exponentially offer these great local products to a multitude of communities across Canada all year round.”

Berlin-based Infarm combines vertical farms with Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning technology to create a resilient alternative food system. Situated across urban markets, Infarm’s smart modular farms are designed to grow fresh produce for city inhabitants.

The growing centers house farming units that can each save up to 10 million liters of water annually versus soil-based agriculture for similar crops, while producing the equivalent of up to 100,000 square feet of land, Infarm reported. The company noted that 90% of electricity used throughout the Infarm network will be from green-certified sources by September 2021, part of its plan to use 100% renewable or green-certified energy.

Sobeys' partnership with Infarm is the first national-level deal between a Canadian retailer and a vertical farming company.

With their expanded partnership, Infarm and Sobeys will extend the availability and distribution of vertically farmed produce to another four of Canada’s 10 provinces by 2023. That will boost production volume in Canada by more than sevenfold, in tandem with current Infarm Growing Centers in Vancouver and Victoria/Vancouver Island in British Columbia. According to Infarm, the deal stems from rising retailer demand for its produce, including from the Sobeys, Safeway and Thrifty Food supermarket banners of Empire Co. Ltd., the parent company of Sobeys Inc.

Infarm said that, by 2025, it expects to scale to 100 growing centers, with a growing capacity of 3 million square feet. As a result, over the next five years, Canadian consumers can expect to see a range of new Infarm produce items — such as tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, mushrooms, pre-cut salads and potted plants — added to the current selection of herbs, leafy greens and microgreens now available in grocery store aisles, the company said.

In turn, Infarm’s Canadian team of 97 employees stands to grow more than 50% to 160 by the year’s end, working from sites in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. 

“We’re delighted with what has been an extremely positive and successful partnership with the Sobeys family of retailers,” stated Erez Galonska, CEO at Infarm. “This expansion deal represents one of the largest rollouts of any vertical farming company in North America to date as we aim to offer local, high-quality produce to people everywhere.”

Founded in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and brothers Erez and Guy Galonska, Infarm operates more than 1,300 farms in stores and growing centers worldwide and has partnered with over 30 major retailers in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland. U.S. retail partners include The Kroger Co., Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh. International grocery retail partnes include Aldi Süd, Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, E. Leclerc, Edeka, Farmdrop, Intermarché, Irma, Kaufland, Kinokuniya, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Migros, Selfridges, Selgros and Summit.

VB Ready To Double Capacity For Little Leaf Farms Again

July 5, 2021

Devens, Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms' mission is to provide fresh, locally grown lettuce grown sustainably all year round to their New England consumers. To be able to achieve this goal, it is extremely important to grow and supply products in a sustainable way all year round.

This is why Little Leaf Farms asked VB again to build the most modern and innovative greenhouse to date to grow leafy greens. A system that provides the smallest possible chance of disease, an optimal growing climate, and no need for human hands to be involved in the cultivation process. After three consecutive phases for LLF realizing an ultramodern greenhouse is a challenge that VB knows how to handle. 

Inside the Little Leaf greenhouse

The climate on the US East Coast is a challenge: winters during which -25 C is no exception, and summers during which the mercury rises to +38 C. A considerable amount of energy is required to be able to cope with these extremes. The solution had to be more sustainable than transporting the lettuce by truck from the West Coast to the New England area.

With an advanced automatic cultivation system that systematically moves through the greenhouse, the sustainability challenge has been overcome. In collaboration with a team of specialists, as well as the customer, VB was able to take an in-depth look during the design process at what was needed to create an optimal growing climate inside the greenhouse.

The Little Leaf Farms greenhouse in Devens

Active cooling system
VB has integrated a unique active cooling system, with which the inside of the greenhouse can not only be kept cool during the winter through the use of outside air, but also stays cool during the hot summers. LED lighting helps compensate for the shortage of natural light during the winter. With the use of sun protection screens, excess sunlight is blocked during the summer.

The result? The climate conditions can be optimized for the cultivation process, the growth process is accelerated, there is more control over the nutrition the plants receive, available cultivation space is used in the most efficient manner, and virtually nobody needs to enter the greenhouse.

Edward Verbakel (VB) & Paul Sellew (Little Leaf Farms)

Doubling and doubling again
The first greenhouse in Devens MA was completed in 2016 and shortly after two additional phases were built by VB for Little Leaf Farms to reach 10 acres of modern growing space.

In the course of 2021 LLF and VB were able to agree again on the construction of the new Little Leaf Farms greenhouse facility in McAdoo Pennsylvania. With this expansion Little Leaf is doubling its capacity to 20 acres. Construction will start this summer and completion is expected for early Spring 2022.

 McAdoo facility, Pennsylvania

For more information:
Edward Verbakel
VB Group
info@vb.nl
www.vb.nl

USA: NEW JERSEY - Livingston Considers Resident's Sustainable Hydroponic Pilot Project Proposal

By ELISE PHILLIPS MARGULIS

June 7, 2021

LIVINGSTON, NJ — As the Township of Livingston continues to brainstorm ways to make the best use of its open spaces, Keith Hines and sustainable agriculture expert Tom Erickson recently proposed a hydroponic pilot project that would use a nutrient solution and water in lieu of soil for a community garden.

After the duo’s initial proposal to implement the project at the Essex County Riker Hill Art Park fell through, the township is now looking into the possibility of doing so at the recently purchased Strahman Hill Park property.

Erickson recently presented a slideshow to the township illustrating how hydroponic technology works and demonstrating how hydroponic farming utilizes rain and solar power to grow healthy produce that can be donated to local food pantries.

“The project itself uses horticulture hydro-culture techniques to sustainably produce crops in an efficient organic manner with no impact to air, water or local environment, which is pretty important to us,” said Erickson, who also explained that hydroponics have a zero-carbon footprint. “We also plan on using the latest low-cost electronics to add a layer of control and monitoring that allows participation of the town administrators, fire, and police.”

According to Erickson, the hydroponic project could also provide unique educational opportunities for students interested in agricultural engineering and environmental sciences.

Erickson’s slideshow, much of which can be seen in the photos above, depicted a concept drawing of a greenhouse, plant-growing racks inside the greenhouse, the low-cost computer that would run the program, piping to transport the water and nutrient solution, sensors, a water pump, an aeration pump, a storage battery to operate the system at night and on rainy days, multiple solar panels and more.

He also demonstrated that easy-to-install solar kit power all water flow, aeration, lighting, monitoring, and security and that a basic, low-cost computer can monitor temperature, humidity, and liquid levels, security cameras, and sound or motion detectors.

“Our mission is to supplement the local food pantries in a sustainable, organic and efficient fashion with low environmental impact and potential for education,” said Erickson. “I think this has high potential to team up with the high school, the elementary school and open up doors to learning and training at the educational level.”

Hines, who is known in the Livingston area for his philanthropic endeavors, thanked the township council for considering a project that he feels would be important to the entire community.

“It's obviously incredibly high-tech stuff and really fascinating in terms of what can be accomplished with the technology and the fact that it's not going to have any footprint at all,” said Mayor Shawn Klein, who was impressed that the project has the potential to generate nutritious food for people who don't have access to it without causing problems with fertilizer or run off. “I think it sounds great, and hopefully we'll have a lot of success and be able to expand even in the same footprint as the county park or maybe even in town.”

To learn more or to view Hines and Erickson’s full presentation to the Livingston Township Council, CLICK HERE. (The slideshow can be found about 23 minutes into the hyperlinked video.)

Vertical Farming: Sustainable Food Never Tasted So Good

Richard Howells | Brand Contributor

May 5, 2021

There’s a lot of good press these days about the potential of vertical farming to help address climate change. The idea is to use hydroponics and other techniques to grow food “soil-lessly” (if that’s a word) in vertically stacked layers.

Vertical farming enables the ability to grow food closer to large population centers and also reduces the “food miles” associated with distribution thus reducing the carbon footprint.

But not so fast.

Mark Korzilius from &ever GmbH – a vertical farming startup with a farm in Kuwait and one coming in Singapore – disagrees with the food miles argument. Here’s why.

Quality first: Iceberg no more!

In a recent interview on the Climate21 podcast with Tom Raftery, Korzilius urges us to “forget about transportation in order to justify vertical farming.” Instead, the focus needs to be on bringing the best product to the consumer. Quality, in this case, means healthy, leafy greens.

“You want to have high nutrients, high in secondary metabolites, everything that is extremely valuable for your body,” said Korzilius.

To most of us, the antithesis of healthy leafy greens is iceberg lettuce. However, as Korzilius explained, it tends to be cut, bagged, and refrigerated for distribution.

“This is where a lot of the carbon footprint comes from,” said Korzilius. “And let’s be honest, iceberg in foul-smelling bags is less than appetizing.”

Instead, &ever follows a “harvest on demand” process. It distributes its leafy greens as potted plants – like you might see with basil or other herbs in your grocery store. Korzilius claims that the customer receives the best-tasting, locally grown leafy greens available, without plastic or refrigeration needed. The chef at the Four Seasons in Kuwait, reportedly, thinks the coriander is the best he’s ever tasted!

Greater control and higher yield, too

&ever’s operations are entirely indoors, where the climate is controlled. This is crucial for successful yields. Growing spinach, for example, is notoriously difficult with vertical farming. But by experimenting with the right seeds, lighting, and temperature, &ever has found the right recipe.

One key advantage is that &ever can grow without pesticides – which, in the end, is just another form of energy. It can also optimize light spectrums to achieve desired results. Many of its crops run on 18 hours of light and six hours of darkness.

The result is higher yields over the course of a year. &ever can grow 18 cycles a year, compared to maybe seven for a traditional greenhouse. And, says Korzilius, it can do it with 85% less water.

Complexity managed

Korzilius also makes the point that tracking all the variables – such as light, temperature, water, production cycles, energy costs, growing recipes, and more – makes for a lot of complexity. SAP is working with &ever to help manage it all. Vertical farming is a high-tech endeavor where control is the key to success. We’re proud to help be part of the solution. Hopefully, this approach to growing food will help minimize carbon output while also delivering delicious food – from (vertical) farm to table.

Listen to the podcast here and be sure to check out the latest research from Oxford Economics on how to “Build a Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chain.”

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Richard Howells

I've been working in the supply chain management and manufacturing space for over 25 years, and I'm responsible for driving the market direction and positioning of SAP’s Supply Chain Management and IOT solutions. Prior to joining SAP in 2004, I spent 15 years with Marcam Solutions where I was VP of Marketing for the companies Process ERP solutions. I have also implemented ERP and SCM systems at companies such as Nestle, Gillette, Colgate Palmolive, Rohm & Haas, Wyeth, Royal Worcester Spode and Dairy Crest. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Mid Glamorgan in the UK. Follow me @howellsrichard

Lead photo: Vertical farm and its employees taking care of plant growth. Plant food production in vertically stacked layers. GETTY

How Do We Build Sustainable Local Food Systems?

Let's Work Together to Build Sustainable,

Local Food Systems With a Global Impact

Food Tank, in partnership with the Danone Institute North America, is hosting a very special virtual event, "One Planet. One Health," to discuss solutions to build more sustainable local food systems on Thursday, May 6, 2021, at 12 p.m. ET.

We’ve curated a terrific lineup of speakers, including luminaries like N. Diane Moss (Project New Village), Dariush Mozaffarian (Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy, Tufts University), Jose Oliva (HEAL Food Alliance), A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa, First Nations Development Institute), Tambra Raye Stevenson (WANDA), and more.

I’ll be moderating. You can register here.

Also, I strongly urge eligible nonprofits to apply for the Danone Institute North America grant program to help local communities live the "One Planet. One Health" vision.

Danone Institute North America will award a total of up to $160,000 for this initiative. Individual team grants of $30,000 plus a $10,000 incremental award for the team with the strongest communications plan will be awarded for work to be conducted over a two-year period. The call for entries is open now through June 6, 2021. For information and to submit an application, visit Danone Institute North America here.

Danone Institute North America launched the "One Planet. One Health" Initiative grant program in 2019 to support local projects that strengthen food systems, reflecting Danone’s belief that the health of people and the health of the planet are interconnected.

"The pandemic has not only sparked a health crisis but also has emerged as one of the most destructive economic and societal challenges of our time," says Leslie Lytle, President of Danone Institute North America and professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Please let me know if you apply for the grant, and join me for free on May 6 by registering HERE.

All the very best,

Dani

Vertical Farming Startup Oishii Raises $50m In Series A Funding

By Sian Yates

03/11/2021

Oishii, a vertical farming startup based in New Jersey, has raised $50 million during a Series A funding round led by Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II.

The funds will enable Oishii to open vertical strawberry farms in new markets, expand its flagship farm outside of Manhattan, and accelerate its investment in R&D.

“Our mission is to change the way we grow food. We set out to deliver exceptionally delicious and sustainable produce,” said Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga. “We started with the strawberry – a fruit that routinely tops the dirty dozen of most pesticide-riddled crops – as it has long been considered the ‘holy grail’ of vertical farming.”

“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone. From there, we’ll quickly expand into new fruits and produce,” he added.

Oishii is already known for its innovative farming techniques that have enabled the company to “perfect the strawberry,” while its proprietary and first-of-its-kind pollination method is conducted naturally with bees.

The company’s vertical farms feature zero pesticides and produce ripe fruit all year round, using less water and land than traditional agricultural methods.

“Oishii is the farm of the future,” said Sparx Group president and Group CEO Shuhei Abe. “The cultivation and pollination techniques the company has developed set them well apart from the industry, positioning Oishii to quickly revolutionise agriculture as we know it.”

The company has raised a total of $55 million since its founding in 2016.

Sustainable Agriculture Technology Can Help Egypt’s Water Crisis

The project of an Egyptian student consisting of using the Sinai environment for sustainable agriculture with the use of less water may be a solution to Egypt’s water scarcity problem.

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A picture shows the UAE's al-Badia Farms in Dubai, an indoor vertical farm using innovative hydroponic technology to grow fruits and vegetables all year round, on August 4, 2020. - Badia Farms is the Middle East's Based in downtown Dubai, the farms ground-breaking methods sustainably grow crops without sunlight, soil or pesticides. The farm uses 90% less water compared to open field farming. The companys vision is to revolutionise the agricultural industry in Middle East to provide a solution for the regions food security. Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images.

March 6, 2021

Egyptian student Nada Ayman's project dubbed the Cultural Desert Gravity Center uses the Sinai environment as its main agricultural tool. It also won the 36th Cycle at the 2020 World Architecture Festival.

The project — designed to be built as a cultural center in Wadi el-Weshwash in the town of Nuweiba in south Sinai — uses the surrounding environment, including the mountains, to build an integrated center providing organic nutritional products and natural herbs used in manufacturing medicines and fragrance products. A tourist and entertainment complex offering various educational and entertainment activities is also on the horizon, said Ayman.

Ayman, a student at the Faculty of Applied Arts at Zagazig University, told Al-Monitor via phone she chose the project based on the spiritual meaning of mountains.

She noted, “I was nominated by my professors to participate in the architecture competition. The World Architecture Festival has been in place since 2006, and it has a section dedicated to interior design.”

Ayman said the project consists of a hydroponic farm, which is a system to grow crops without soil. The roots of the plants grow in a liquid nutrient solution that is recycled and reused repeatedly through plants. The hydroponic farm produces medicinal plants, used in the manufacture of medicine, and crops that bear fruit to be served with meals in the farm’s restaurant.

Ayman added, “This type of agriculture uses 70% less water than regular agriculture to produce 100% organic products without using soil or fertilizers. Edible products are served at the restaurant of the farm, while herbal and fragrance products are used to manufacture therapeutic oil for the therapeutic center.”

She chose Wadi el-Weshwash because it is located next to a region of rich valleys whose water and minerals can be utilized in organic agriculture.

The design of the complex features a library, a restaurant and an art studio, Ayman said, noting that the design reached the final stage of the competition and was chosen among five others.

Atef Suweilem, a professor of agricultural engineering at Zagazig University, said the hydroponic agricultural method consists of either growing the seeds of plants or herbs in a nutritive water solution containing the main 12 to 16 nutrients plants need — or growing the plants in an inert solid material so they do not interact with the nutritive solution. Using this method does not require the use of chemical fertilizers, the surplus of which usually seeps into the soil in traditional agriculture, according to Suweilem.

Hydroponic agriculture also protects the plants from pests that live in the soil, as is the case in traditional agriculture, he said, adding that ancient Egyptians were the first to know hydroponics, and perhaps the papyrus plant is the most prominent example of this type of agriculture.

Suweilem said hydroponics is an ideal way to deal with water scarcity and climate change, stressing the need for Arab countries that suffer from a shortage of agricultural lands due to their desert nature, including Egypt, to rely on this type of agriculture.

Yasser Ahmed, an expert in agriculture and a former professor at the Egyptian Agricultural Research Center, stressed the need for Egypt to turn to hydroponics in the near future, as it helps save water and energy and increases productivity. Ahmed said hydroponic agriculture uses 95% less water compared to traditional agriculture. Leaf crops consume about 30% less water than traditional agriculture, and if the cultivation of these crops is expanded on the hydroponic farm, that method can be used widely, he said.

“This is the future of agriculture. We do not want to depend on imports. We hope we will have local production throughout the year, regardless of climate change, weather, rain or drought,” Ahmed said.

Of all sectors in Egypt, the agricultural sector consumes the largest share of water — meaning it consumes roughly more than 85% of the country’s share of irrigation water. Although Egypt has lost some of its fertile lands due to urban sprawl, there is an attempt to balance this through the expansion of agricultural areas in the desert. The total cultivated land was estimated at 9.3 million acres — 3.2 million acres of which are in lands recently reclaimed by the state and 6.9 million acres in other lands, according to the latest 2019 statistics of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.

Agriculture is essential to the Egyptian economy, as its added-value represents about 14.5% of the gross domestic product. In 2016, agricultural income reached 256.9 billion Egyptian pounds ($16.3 billion). The sector also employs 29.6% of the working population and represents 11% of all exports. Because of the water shortage, the government issued measures in January 2018 to limit the cultivation of water-intensive crops such as rice.

Rasha Mahmoud

@R_ma7moud200

TOPICS COVERED Agriculture and farming Water Issues Sinai

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/03/egypt-project-agriculture-sinai-water-scarcity-crisis.html#ixzz6oQLQrjPl

Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network

by Jennifer Marston

Image from: Little Leaf Farms

Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.

Little Leaf Farms says the capital is “earmarked” to build new greenhouse sites along the East Coast, where its lettuce is currently available in about 2,500 stores. 

The company already operates one 10-acre greenhouse in Devins, Massachusetts. Its facility grows leafy greens using hydroponics and a mixture of sunlight supplemented by LED-powered grow lights. Rainwater captured from the facility’s roof provides most of the water used on the farm. 

According to a press release, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its retail sales to $38 million since 2019. And last year, the company bought180 acres of land in Pennsylvania on which to build an additional facility. Still another greenhouse, slated for North Carolina, will serve the Southeast region of the U.S. 

Little Leaf Farms joins the likes of Revol Greens, Gotham Greens, AppHarvest, and others in bringing local(ish) greens to a greater percentage of the population. These facilities generally pack and ship their greens on the day of or day after harvesting, and only supply retailers within a certain radius. Little Leaf Farms, for example, currently servers only parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. 

The list of regions the company serves will no doubt lengthen as the company builds up its greenhouse network in the coming months.

Where Vertical Farming and Affordable Housing Can Grow Together

Some vertical farms grow greens in old warehouses, former steel mills, or other sites set apart from the heart of cities. But a new series of projects will build multistory greenhouses directly inside affordable housing developments.

“Bringing the farm back to the city center can have a lot of benefits,” says Nona Yehia, CEO of Vertical Harvest, a company that will soon break ground on a new building in Westbrook, ME, that combines a vertical farm with affordable housing. Similar developments will follow in Chicago and in Philadelphia, where a farm-plus-housing will be built in the Tioga District, an opportunity zone.

Inside each building, the ground level will offer community access, while the greenhouse fills the second, third, and fourth floors, covering 70,000 square feet and growing around a million pounds of produce a year. (The amount of housing varies by site; in Maine, there will be only 15 units of housing, though the project will create 50 new jobs.)

In Chicago, there may be a community kitchen on the first level. In each location, residents will be able to buy fresh produce on-site; Vertical Harvest also plans to let others in the neighborhood buy greens directly from the farm. While it will sell to supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals, and other large customers, it also plans to subsidize 10% to 15% of its harvest for local food pantries and other community organizations.

“By creating a large-scale farm in a food desert, we are creating a large source of healthy, locally grown food 365 days a year,” Yehia says.

How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week

Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”

Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s. 

Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.

Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”

Indoor Farming Company With Backing From Ubben Aims to Solve The Problems With America’s Produce

Image from: AppHarvest

Company: AppHarvest Inc. (APPH)

The agriculture technology company focuses on building an indoor farm in Appalachia. The company combines agricultural techniques with cutting-edge technology and including access for all to nutritious food, farming, and building a homegrown food supply. The company operates a 60-acre controlled environment, agriculture facility in Morehead, Kentucky, which grows juicy beefsteak tomatoes and tomatoes on the vine. It also operates a 60-acre indoor farm, outside Richmond, Kentucky, where it cultivates fresh fruits and veggies.

The company’s technological systems monitor the pollination across all 68 bays and 684 rows of plants. AppHarvest is only the fourth U.S. public Certified B corporation. A B corporation is a company that has (1) achieved a high standard of social and environmental performance as measured by the B Impact Assessment, (2) verified their scores through transparency requirements, and (3) made a legal commitment to consider all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Any company can apply to be one.

Stock Market Value: $3.3 billion ($33.26 per share)

Image from: CNBC

Activist:

Inclusive Capital

Percentage Ownership:  

12.05%

Average Cost: 

n/a

Activist Commentary: 

Inclusive Capital Partners was formed in 2020 by ValueAct founder Jeff Ubben, to leverage capitalism and governance in pursuit of a healthy planet and the health of its inhabitants. The firm seeks long-term shareholder value through active partnership with companies whose core businesses contribute solutions to this pursuit. Inclusive is a returns driven fund with a focus on environmental and social investing.

Their primary focus is on environmental and social value creation, which leads to shareholder value creation. It is the successor to the ValueAct Spring Fund, which was launched in January 2018 and merged into Inclusive in 2020.

Inclusive is building a huge network and has accessed experts in industries such as energy, electrification, water, agriculture, food production, particulates, education and human rights. Just like ValueAct’s constructive, patient investment style, Inclusive will seek to earn the trust of managers, board members and institutional investors.

Jeff Ubben serves as the portfolio manager and Eva Zlotnicka serves as vice president. Eva has a pre-existing relationship with ValueAct through their interactions with Morgan Stanley, where she served as a VP and U.S. lead for the Global Sustainability Research Team. At Morgan Stanley, she worked to help address and raise awareness of environmental and social issues both inside and outside of corporations.

What’s Happening:

Jeff Ubben was appointed to the company’s Board in connection with the company’s business combination with Novus Capital.

Behind the Scenes:

This was initially an investment of ValueAct Spring Fund, which was converted into Inclusive Capital in 2020. Jeff Ubben first met AppHarvest founder Jonathan Webb in 2017 and has been involved with the company since the 2018 Series A round, working with Webb to put the management team together and develop a strong balance sheet. The company went public on February 1, 2021 through a $100 million SPAC transaction and a $375 million PIPE investment. Jeff Ubben is on the board where he can continue to help the company execute.

AppHarvest plans on having 12 facilities by 2025. The goal here is to make Kentucky the Netherlands of North America. The Netherlands (at 16,000 square miles) is the second largest agricultural exporter in the world, using greenhouse technology to feed two-thirds of all of Europe. In comparison, the state of Kentucky is 40,000 square miles and the US is 3.8 million square miles. AppHarvest’s motivation is first and foremost to benefit society, but if successful would have extraordinary financial returns as well.

As of 2018, 69% of fresh vine crops in the U.S. were imported, mostly from Mexico. These crops are pesticide-laden and grown using labor practices not up to U.S. standards. Moreover, they sit at the border for days and are driven 2,000+ miles to their destination, using tons of diesel fuel and resulting in less fresh produce. AppHarvest produces crops with no pesticides with greater nutrient density, and from their central location can reach 70% of the U.S. population in one day resulting in 80% less diesel fuel and much lower emissions. However, the larger environmental and economic benefit is in how the crops are grown — using 90% less water and yielding thirty times more per acre. 

Moreover, AppHarvest’s resources are nature based – the greenhouse structure allows them to use 12 hours of sunlight per day and they collect the heavy Kentucky rainfall for their system resulting in a much less adverse effect on the water supply while greatly decreasing their cost of production by not having to pay for water. The greenhouse system also eliminates any weather or seasonal constraints, allowing the company to grow more efficiently 365 days per year.

While the company has no historic revenue, they just made their first delivery of beefsteak tomatoes on January 19, 2021, to customers that include Walmart, Kroger and Publix

Bringing The Future To life In Abu Dhabi

Amid the deserts of Abu Dhabi, a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators are sowing the seeds of a more sustainable future.

Image from: Wired

A cluster of shipping containers in a city centre is about the last place you’d expect to find salad growing. Yet for the past year, vertical farming startup Madar Farms has been using this site in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, to grow leafy green vegetables using 95 per cent less water than traditional agriculture. 

Madar Farms is one of a number of agtech startups benefitting from a package of incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) aimed at spurring the development of innovative solutions for sustainable desert farming. The partnership is part of ADIO’s $545 million Innovation Programme dedicated to supporting companies in high-growth areas.

“Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with our mission to ‘turn the desert green’,” explained H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, in November 2020. “We have created an environment where innovative ideas can flourish and the companies we partnered with earlier this year are already propelling the growth of Abu Dhabi’s 24,000 farms.”

The pandemic has made food supply a critical concern across the entire world, combined with the effects of population growth and climate change, which are stretching the capacity of less efficient traditional farming methods. Abu Dhabi’s pioneering efforts to drive agricultural innovation have been gathering pace and look set to produce cutting-edge solutions addressing food security challenges.

Beyond work supporting the application of novel agricultural technologies, Abu Dhabi is also investing in foundational research and development to tackle this growing problem. 

In December, the emirate’s recently created Advanced Technology Research Council [ATRC], responsible for defining Abu Dhabi’s R&D strategy and establishing the emirate and the wider UAE as a desired home for advanced technology talent, announced a four-year competition with a $15 million prize for food security research. Launched through ATRC’s project management arm, ASPIRE, in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation, the award will support the development of environmentally-friendly protein alternatives with the aim to "feed the next billion".

Image from: Madar Farms

Global Challenges, Local Solutions

Food security is far from the only global challenge on the emirate’s R&D menu. In November 2020, the ATRC announced the launch of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), created to support applied research on the key priorities of quantum research, autonomous robotics, cryptography, advanced materials, digital security, directed energy and secure systems.

“The technologies under development at TII are not randomly selected,” explains the centre’s secretary general Faisal Al Bannai. “This research will complement fields that are of national importance. Quantum technologies and cryptography are crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, for example, while directed energy research has use-cases in healthcare. But beyond this, the technologies and research of TII will have global impact.”

Future research directions will be developed by the ATRC’s ASPIRE pillar, in collaboration with stakeholders from across a diverse range of industry sectors.

“ASPIRE defines the problem, sets milestones, and monitors the progress of the projects,” Al Bannai says. “It will also make impactful decisions related to the selection of research partners and the allocation of funding, to ensure that their R&D priorities align with Abu Dhabi and the UAE's broader development goals.”

Image from: Agritecture

Nurturing Next-Generation Talent

To address these challenges, ATRC’s first initiative is a talent development programme, NexTech, which has begun the recruitment of 125 local researchers, who will work across 31 projects in collaboration with 23 world-leading research centres.

Alongside universities and research institutes from across the US, the UK, Europe and South America, these partners include Abu Dhabi’s own Khalifa University, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first graduate-level institute focused on artificial intelligence. 

“Our aim is to up skill the researchers by allowing them to work across various disciplines in collaboration with world-renowned experts,” Al Bannai says. 

Beyond academic collaborators, TII is also working with a number of industry partners, such as hyperloop technology company, Virgin Hyperloop. Such industry collaborations, Al Bannai points out, are essential to ensuring that TII research directly tackles relevant problems and has a smooth path to commercial impact in order to fuel job creation across the UAE.

“By engaging with top global talent, universities and research institutions and industry players, TII connects an intellectual community,” he says. “This reinforces Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s status as a global hub for innovation and contributes to the broader development of the knowledge-based economy.”

Pontus Submits Building Permit Application for Surrey Aquaponics Facility

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Pontus Protein Ltd. ("Pontus" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce it has made significant progress towards the development of its state of the art, integrated aquaponics facility located in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada (the "Facility").

Image from: CNW Group/Pontus Protein Ltd

The Company has submitted a construction application to the City of Surrey for its 20,570 square foot aquaponics facility. The approval process is estimated to be completed within 6 weeks and is expected to be followed by the immediate commencement of construction of the Facility's leasehold improvements. Accordingly, the leasehold improvements are to consist of a complete retrofit of the Facility to establish Pontus' solar-powered, water recycling CEVASTM aquaponic system.

The installation of all required equipment for the growth and production is forecasted to take between four and six months to complete. Upon completion, the Facility will be approximately 20 times the size of Pontus' prior prototype facility. The prototype facility has been used to test and develop the technology for the Company's proprietary growing process.

The Facility, as seen in the image above and video below, will utilize an array of additional technologies to create a clean and sustainable aquaponics ecosystem. Solar energy panels will be installed to capture renewable energy and power the closed-loop water system, which recycles up to 95% of all water inputs. The implementation of the Facility's unique, sustainable technology in conjunction with Pontus' proprietary CEVAS™ automated growth technology will allow the Company to emphasize biosecurity in its agricultural production processes, removing the need for additional chemicals, pesticides, and other non-native components.

Pontus CEO, Conner Yuen states: "Entering the construction application process is a major milestone for the Company as we move toward the commissioning of the Facility. Our aim is to create a state of the art process that will incorporate the latest in sustainable agriculture technology. The ability to implement this highly efficient technology solves many issues we see with current methods of food production such as land scarcity and low yields and contamination.

Pontus' biosecurity and renewable food sources are intended to create a proactive solution to these issues by reducing the potential for contamination and the need for pesticides. Pontus hopes the Facility will revolutionize how traditional agriculture is conducted and show the power of technological food advancements."

Plant-based Protein Powder Market

The Company's plant-based protein powder is a premium entry into the global protein and supplements market, which is currently valued at USD$15 Billion and is expected to grow to USD$20 Billion by 2025 according to Grand View Research. This growth is expected to be fuelled by many North Americans reducing or eliminating the regular consumption of animal products. The North American plant-based protein market is also anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14% from 2019 through 2025.

About Pontus Protein Ltd

Pontus Protein Ltd. makes pure plant-based protein powder sourced from nutritious water lentils, farm-grown in Vancouver, BC, with development plans to expand to Surrey, B.C.. Not only does Pontus Protein Powder exceed certified organic standards, but it's also gluten-free, pure and allergen safe. It's jam-packed full of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and ALL the essential amino acids.

This is not your average lentil, these are water lentils; a crop that can be harvested every 24 hours in an indoor aquaponic farm that uses 95% less water than traditional agriculture, using Pontus' proprietary Closed Environment Vertical Aquaponics System (or CEVAS™) aquaponic agritech technology. This is wonderful news for a planet populated with us hungry and health-conscious humans.

Farm In A Box Planned For Bridgeport's East End

Image from: CT Post

BRIDGEPORT — You will not find any vast acres of fertile soil and crops in the East End neighbourhood. So the state, city and area activists have teamed with an entrepreneur on what they all said they believe is the next best thing: farmland in a box.

Joe Alvarez, founder of High Ridge Hydroponics of Ridgefield, describes it on his website as “an indoor, vertical, hydroponic, shipping container farm to be located in the most urban settings throughout the world.” And the East End — which has been labeled a “food desert” because of the lack of fresh edibles easily available to residents there — will be that urban setting.

“We’re very excited about this,” Keith Williams, head of the East End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone community group, said during a teleconference Friday announcing a $49,999 state grant for Alvarez’s project. “Fresh vegetables. Healthy. That’s what we’re all about — healthy eating.”

High Ridge’s container will produce young micro-greens from broccoli, kale, cabbage, arugula and other plants to be sold at the East End NRZ’s market as a salad mix.

“These greens are harvested after only 10 to 14 days from being planted, which is extremely quick (and) they are super concentrated in nutrition,” Alvarez said.

Friday’s teleconference included several dignitaries who pledged to do everything they can to ensure High Ridge’s success in town, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, state Sen. Marilyn Moore, state Rep. Andre Baker, Mayor Joe Ganim and Edward Lavernoich of the Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation.

“I hope this project has a lasting and positive impact on your community,” Bysiewicz said. “And I hope it will become a model for other urban areas in our state to grow their own food using innovative technology and techniques.”

“This is not just a shipping container in the city,” Hurlburt said. “This is a much larger, deeper and richer project that we get to celebrate today.”

State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, was also included, but wearing a different hat. Gresko works for Ganim continuing a mission started by former Mayor Bill Finch to turn Bridgeport from an ex-manufacturing hub into a leader in the green and environmentally sustainable economy.

It was under Finch that the East End was previously promised an urban green house on the site of the former “Mt. Trashmore” illegal dump. That project, dubbed “Boot Camp Farms” because it would hire veterans, was announced in 2013 and was also supposed to have financial backing from the state. But the developers had no prior experience in that field and the proposal never broke ground.

Alvarez, according to his online biography, “studied environmental science at Fordham University in New York City, graduated in May of 2017 (and) has worked as a private organic gardener, an aquaponic farmer, built greenhouses, maintained greenhouses and designed several custom hydroponic growing systems.”

Hurlburt said he felt confident the new project would be a success.

Alvarez “has limited experience but he knows what he’s doing. ... I know how much Joe was calling us and emailing us and how badly he wanted this grant to make it a reality. I know his heart is right where it needs to be to make it a success.”

“We’re all in this together to make sure Joe has the support he needs to be successful,” Hurlburt emphasized.

There are still important details to be finalized, including getting a site for the shipping container and additional money to cover the full, nearly $150,000 cost. Gresko said that the NRZ was negotiating to use some property and that “when the time comes” Bridgeport will “match” additional private funds Alvarez obtains.

“We’re going to keep an eye on this and troubleshoot as we go forward any issues,” Gresko said.

Alvarez said he hopes to complete construction by the fall. And the colder months are when his crops will be the most needed, said Deborah Sims, who operates the NRZ market.

“After farmer’s market season is over, we have difficulty sourcing (fresh food),” Sims said.

“Three hundred sixty five (days) we’re going to have the greens available,” said Gresko.

Baker recalled how his East End funeral home has hosted some farmer’s markets and called the High Ridge project “a long time coming.” He also told Bysiewicz he hoped similar initiatives to offer more fresh food to his constituents will follow.

“Lieutenant governor, we’re going to be leaning on you and the governor for more support,” he said. “You’re going to hear more from us.”

Ensuring Singapore's Food Security Despite the Odds

Image from: Reuters

As with most issues that impact national security in Singapore, it often seems that the odds are stacked against us.  Food security — access to safe and nutritious food — is a challenge on several fronts. 

Singapore is a small city-state with limited resources, with only 1 per cent of land available for food production, and over 90 per cent of food is imported from an increasingly disrupted world. The Covid-19 pandemic has further amplified the gravity of safeguarding food security.  The city-state has been proactively planning for long-term food security through the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) strategy of “three food baskets” — diversifying food sources, growing locally and growing overseas.  This approach has served the Republic well in securing a supply of safe food.

DIVERSIFIED SOURCING IS KEY

Singapore’s food importers leverage the nation’s connectivity and the global free trade environment to import from multiple sources in about 170 countries and regions worldwide.  Should there be a disruption to any one source, importers are able to tap alternative food sources and ensure supply remains stable. Lockdown measures brought about by Covid-19 underscored Singapore’s vulnerabilities to supply disruptions in food. 

It was not by luck that the Republic’s food supply remained stable and market shelves continued to be promptly restocked — it was the result of a deliberate whole-of-government strategy to diversify food sources. To keep the nation’’s diversified food supply lines intact amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, SFA worked closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to monitor Singapore’s food supply situation. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these economic agencies worked with like-minded countries to maintain open trade links.

LOCAL PRODUCTION AN IMPORTANT BUFFER

SFA drives innovation in local farms with the ambitious goal of producing 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030 as part of our “30 by 30” plan.  To meet this goal, we need a holistic and long-term approach to space-planning, boosting agri-food technology and developing local agri-specialists. To facilitate and support the establishment of high-technology and productive farms in Singapore, SFA tenders out land based on qualitative criteria such as production capability, production track record, relevant experience and qualifications, innovation and sustainability.

In addition, a masterplan for the greater Lim Chu Kang (LCK) region, spanning about 390ha of land, will be undertaken in consultation with stakeholders over the next two to three years.  The redeveloped LCK agri-food cluster will produce more than three times its current food production.

Building on the above efforts to grow Singapore’s high-tech agri-tech sector, SFA will continue to partner with the Economic Development Board and ESG to attract best-in-class global agri-tech companies, as well as to nurture promising homegrown agri-tech companies into local champions and help them to expand overseas.

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE, UNDERUTILISED SPACES

Urban food solutions are expected to play a key role in global food security.  While there are progressive enterprises operating out of farmlands and industrial estates, some agricultural game-changers are also taking root in unconventional areas — indoors, on rooftops and in underutilised spaces.

SFA worked with the Singapore Land Authority to introduce an urban farm at the former Henderson Secondary School site, which was transformed into Singapore’s first integrated space comprising an urban farm, childcare centre and nursing home within a state property.  The farm space within the site was awarded in May 2019 to social enterprise City Sprouts, and it has become a vibrant destination for the young and old to learn about urban farming and enjoy a relaxing day out.

Citiponics, the first commercial farm located on a multi-storey car park in a residential neighbourhood, harvested its first yield of vegetables in April 2019.  In September 2020, another nine sites atop multi-storey car parks were awarded for urban farming. 

The successful bidders included proposals for hydroponic and vertical farming systems with a variety of innovative features, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology and automated climate control.  These sites have the potential to collectively produce around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables annually.

Image from: Ciitiponics

TAPPING TECH

The Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) supports local farms in their capability development and drive towards higher productivity.  Through APF, SFA co-funds the adoption of farming systems to better control environmental variables, test-bed technologies and boost production capabilities. Between October 2014 and September 2020, a total of almost S$42 million has been committed to 115 farms.

The Covid-19 pandemic presented greater impetus to speed up local food production capacities. In September 2020, SFA awarded S$39.4 million to nine companies under the 30x30 Express Grant to quickly ramp up food-farm outputs over the next six months to two years. With advanced robotic and digital systems increasingly being used in farming, Singapore’s vegetables farmers have also become innovative agri-engineers and specialists in their own right.

With support from the 30x30 Express Grant, urban farming engineering solutions firm Indoor Farm Factory Innovation will set up an indoor vegetable farm with a vertical integration growth system up to 8m in height in a fully controlled and pesticide-free environment.  The farm will leverage artificial intelligence farming systems integrated with IoT monitoring, dosing irrigation and an advanced environmental control system to achieve optimum growing conditions all year round.

Seng Choon, a chicken egg farm that has been in business for more than 30 years, has also proved itself a modernist in its operations.  The company uses a computer that scans eggs to ascertain if they are clean; while feeding systems, temperature controls and waste cleaning systems have been automated with SFA’s support. Singapore’s efforts at ensuring food security would not be complete without support from consumers.  To boost recognition of local produce among consumers, SFA brought the industry and public together to create a new “SG Fresh Produce” logo. 

Farmers have been using this emblem on their packaging since August 2020. A website was also launched to provide a trove of information on locally farmed food. While the Covid-19 pandemic has led to import restrictions, it also helped to accelerate support for local produce. With public support for local farmers and other key measures, Singapore can beat the odds in ensuring food security in this ever-evolving, ever-disrupted world.

Feeding Leeds: A Fair and Self-Sustaining Food System for the City

Image from: University of Leeds

A bold vision for feeding the population of Leeds would transform the city into a far more food secure, fair and sustainable place to live.

Analysts from the University of Leeds’ Global Food and Environment Institute studied the city’s food system to assess its resilience in the face of supply chain and delivery disruptions caused by severe weather, climate change and events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.

The urban food system includes all the activities involved in the production, distribution and consumption of food within a city. 

They mapped and analysed publicly available data relating to agricultural production and human health in the metropolitan district and discovered that 48.4% of the city’s total calorific demand can be met by current commercial food production activities. 

This is relatively high for such an urbanised space, but there is little diversity in what is being produced. Three cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats) dominate the Leeds production system, reflecting a post-war food system that focused on energy supply. This means that most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the city are transported in from elsewhere. 

The researchers’ findings also show that the most deprived areas of the district, which have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, are also likely to be the first to be impacted by supply disruptions. The resulting food shortages can increase prices, and people on low incomes may not have the option to travel to larger supermarkets or afford to bulk buy. 

The researchers say there are no quick and easy options for significantly increasing the security, fairness, or sustainability of the food system supplying Leeds. 

But they say the metropolitan district’s sizeable number of farmers, manufacturers, suppliers, and food services could all contribute to improving its food resilience by creating a system which provides easy access to healthy foods, shares energy, reuses water and nutrients and repurposes local infrastructure and resources. 

Caroline Orfila, who led the study, published today in the journal Food Security, is Professor of Plant Biochemistry and Nutrition in the School of Food Science and Nutrition. She said: “Our work demonstrates the inequalities in food production and dietary health. 

“The local food production system can only provide around 50% of the calories needed by the population, highlighting that ‘eating local’ is not currently possible for everyone. In particular, the local food system would not provide sufficient protein or fats. The lack of food diversity suggests current food production is also unlikely to meet vitamin and mineral requirements. 

“Any disruptions to food production, distribution or retail, from flooding, longer term climate change, COVID-19 or Brexit, is likely to impact those in deprived areas the most. 

“Disruptions tend to cause shortages in some food categories, which then increase food prices. People on low incomes spend more of their income on food; any increases in food prices will limit what they can afford to buy. 

“People in deprived areas have limited choice of where to buy foods, they may not have private transport to access larger supermarkets or access to online shopping. They may also not have the cash flow or storage space to buy items in bulk, relying on what is available. 

“Interventions are needed to level up those areas.” 

Researchers identified more than 1,000km2 of warehousing, derelict land, and unused floor space in abandoned buildings, with direct or possible connections to renewable energy and water. 

Half of this land lay near food banks, community centres and numerous food processors and outlets. 

The land could potentially be used for no waste innovative farming techniques, including vertical food farms, where crops are grown in vertically stacked layers; green walls, where plants grow on vertical surfaces, and rooftop agriculture, where fresh produce is grown on top of buildings. 

The study found that within the metropolitan district of Leeds there is substantial food activity with more than 5,500 businesses and charities supplying fresh and prepared food, including fast food providers, restaurants, and supermarkets. Some 23 food banks are located within the inner-city area. 

There are almost 100 hectares of allotment controlled by Leeds City Council, and approximately 39 hectares of private allotment and community growing areas in the Leeds Metropolitan District. 

Lead author Dr Paul Jensen, also from Leeds' School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, said: “We found there are numerous underutilised city assets that could be incorporated into a resource efficient urban food ecosystem, which could include a mix of vertical farming, hydroponics, or more conventional growing methods. 

“Most notably, many of these areas are within those suffering most from food poverty, diet related health issues and a limited intake of fruit and vegetables - those who are usually the first to suffer during a crisis situation.” 

The research identified locations for ‘food hubs’ that connect producers to consumers and discuss the need for a coordinated approach between producers, government, charitable groups and consumers in creating a more sustainable food system. 

The research was carried out with FoodWise Leeds, a not-for-profit campaign by Leeds City Council, the University of Leeds, businesses and charities to address food health and sustainability issues. 

FoodWise Leeds co-ordinator Sonja Woodcock, said: “This past year has highlighted how vulnerable the local food system is. Taking a coordinated approach and implementing available policy levers, such as including local food within public procurement contracts, increasing access to land for both commercial and community food growing, as well as investing in cooking and food skills will help to create a more resilient and fair local food system.” 

Professor Orfila added: “These findings are significant because it shows the vulnerability and inequality of UK cities and urban food systems. The situation in Leeds mirrors the situation in many other cities worldwide.” 

Professor Steve Banwart, Global Food and Environment Institute Director said: “The results of this study provide essential evidence to guide access to nutrition for the entire population. The project dramatically changes our view of what is a city and what is a farm and catalyses our partnerships to build a more resilient community.”

Further Information

‘Mapping the Production-Consumption Gap of an Urban Food System: An Empirical Case Study of Food Security and Resilience’ and is published on 8 February in the journal Food Security. It is available online here:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-021-01142-2. 

For media enquiries, contact University of Leeds press office via pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk.

Advice For New Vertical Farmers: Grower Spotlight on Andrew Worrall

Last week we spoke about running a farm at LettUs Grow. What excites you about vertical farming? 

It’s the future of the industry. Also, the amount of salad that these farms can produce for their local community. We want to be able to eat salad all year round and we import to make that happen. However, just a small farm can easily provide for its local community, very efficiently and all year round. The sustainability element is also exciting: with our salad there’s no food miles, it’s very minimalistic. You could use an electric van or bike to distribute this crop if you wanted to. It’s a step forward in terms of what we need to do to take care of our planet. 

What do you think are the biggest downsides to vertical farming?

It’s still a new technology and it can be expensive. The biggest roadblock facing the industry is that we need more people and companies to collaborate together to make sure we can build these farms at a sensible rate, so we can provide farms to anyone. We want to be able to provide farms to people, communities and countries that don’t have a lot of money, so that they can provide affordable fresh produce to local people. 

How has vertical farming impacted your life?

Massively!  I wanted to find my passion, a job that I loved - that was very important to me. It’s satisfying to be in a position now where I’m very happy to be doing what I do and I look forward to going into work. I was happy to make the move from London to Bristol. I would have moved even further if it meant being able to continue working within this industry.

Image from: LettUs Grow

How do you see vertical farming playing a part in the future? 

When indoor farming first came about, it had a reputation of being competition for outdoor farming, which just isn’t the case. There’s so much we can’t grow that outdoor farming can provide, such as cereal crops. I’m glad we’re at a stage where indoor and outdoor farms can start to work together to optimise both methods. With these new relationships, there should be a good increase in the amount of indoor farms you’ll be seeing. What LettUs Grow offers with DROP & GROW™ is an exciting project because that’s a 40ft shipping container which can be placed pretty much anywhere. It’s not that big - it could go in a car park or behind a restaurant, but actually provide quite a lot of salad to that area. 

How much of our food should be grown this way? 

Good question. If you had asked me a while back I would have just said salad, but now I’ve changed my mind. Indoor farming can have a massive impact on propagation, especially aeroponics, because of how we aerate and nourish our roots. We could start lettuce for greenhouse projects and we can also propagate tomatoes, strawberries and tree whips. Propagating trees in this way could potentially be hugely beneficial and it’s something we want to do more of. 

We can also quickly grow large amounts of microgreens, baby leafs, herbs and we can grow fruiting crops like strawberries. We are slowly chipping away and it’s really exciting. I’m waiting to see if I can ever say I’ve grown or propagated every crop that can be grown in these farms! 

What do you think are the biggest benefits of vertical farming? 

How fast these crops can grow! The turnover can be as short as 5 days from seed, depending on the crop. Also how clean it can be - I’m very dedicated to making sure these farms are built to ensure they are easy to be maintained and clean. The most exciting part is the crop growth rate though - it’s incredible how fast our crop grows from seed to plate. In a very well maintained growing calendar, which Ostara® is great for supporting, you can optimise your beds so that the day you harvest can also be the day you germinate onto that same bed. Your farms can be forever providing salad at very fast rates. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

What was the biggest change you encountered during your years indoor farming?

Moving from being a production grower to an R&D grower. It has been a great change! As a production grower I knew what I needed to know about growing the plant safely and getting it onto a plate so it was good for the consumer. Now I’m fully optimising, learning and understanding the plants completely, so that I can help the grower that I used to be. We spend a lot of time on crop recipes to make sure that whoever we sell our farms to can start up very quickly and they won’t have to spend months developing their crops. If they have the customers and clients behind them, they can buy DROP & GROW and start producing salad as soon as it's been commissioned. 

What was the biggest change you encountered in the industry?

More and more people are speaking about what’s going on in the industry and getting involved. I get so many messages on LinkedIn with people who want to get into this career. It’s exciting to see that indoor growing is a career people can access now. When I was developing my skills I didn’t know I would end up in indoor farming. There are more opportunities than ever before. For example, our Crop Technician is doing a placement here for 2 years. The aim is that they can gain the skill sets and knowledge they need to then go off and do the same practice in any farm they want. 

What advice do you have for people who are looking to start a career in growing? 

Reach out to companies who are already out there. You could start off part-time or as an assistant. If you are patient and dedicated then it’s a journey I promise you won’t regret. It takes a lot of work, but the outcome is amazing - you’ll be learning so much about this new technology. You’ll also build great relationships: there are so many amazing people in this industry who are so interesting, with different backgrounds, who are willing to share their knowledge. You can always learn more and other people are a great source of that. 

What about for those looking to start a vertical farming business?

Do your homework.  There are people out there who you can reach out to and it’s very easy to get information. It’s very easy to get excited about the idea and jump straight into it, because it is exciting and can be very rewarding, but it’s really important to do it step by step. Know how to scale properly, learning the differences between a small and larger farm. Understand how many people you’ll need and the logistics. I’d also advise people to get some practical work experience before you buy. You want to start the company knowing the tricks of the trade. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

LettUs Grow Blog: www.lettusgrow.com/blog/advice-for-vertical-farmers