"We Want To Offer A Sustainable And Regional Alternative To Cresses”

Urban & vertical farming-projects are becoming more and more present in the current, modern agriculture. For example, the South-German city of Munich has recently got their own regional cultivation project: under the name of Munich Micros, an ambitious team of innovative growers brings around 25 types of local cultivations to market. After the success in regional wholesale and food service industry, the cultivation company intends to steadily increase the production capacity as well as the product range.

The success story started 4 years ago when the growers were deepening their knowledge of the advanced vertical-farming-technology in Canada and the United States. This brought forth the idea of getting a similar cultivation project off the ground in the German region of Munich. “The theme of vertical farming, also known as indoor farming, first came to mind in my kitchen. Little by little, we worked out the idea and ended up with a test project which led to our first production. After receiving positive feedback from many different star chefs we ended up in the current production hall in Munich-Planegg last year. In May of 2018 – after three years of experimenting – we could finally set up our company and had a product at our disposal that could compete with the best in the world”, co-founder and company director Kevin Jühlcke says.

In no time at all, the high-tech cultivation company has been able to realize a successful distribution channel. A part of the harvest is being traded right away, according to Jühlcke. "Our USP is the fact that we can offer breeds that are not available anywhere else. On top of that, we also offer the guarantee of the product being locally produced. At its core our product is comparable to Koppert Cress, at the same time however, we are polar opposites. After all, Koppert is a giant industrial group and our ideas about offering sustainable and regional alternatives are in stark contrast to theirs.”

Exclusivity in wholesale   
Most of the microgreens are being sold by two exclusive wholesale companies – Hermann Fischer KG and Früchte Feldbrach GmbH – and mainly ends up in local bars and restaurants, and institutions. Due to the regional production and modern cultivation methods, there is still a lot of interest in a new product range, says Andre Bukethal on behalf of Früchte Feldbrach, located near the wholesale market in Munich. “Thanks to our exclusive cooperation with regional cress-growers we now also have an interesting USP on the wholesale market. Besides that, to a trader like us, it’s also important to actively support regional growers when they take an initiative if we can.“

The new product range is not only making a name for itself in Munich and its surrounding area: after all Früchte Feldbrach has also been able to find a few new customers in the area of Regensburg, says Bukethal. “Around this time, restaurant owners are creating their new menus and because of that are looking for new, regional specialties they can offer. For this reason, we are promoting our product once more, and quite clearly, via word-of-mouth advertising as well as via our new and improved company website.”

Sales outside of the region?
Parallel to the steady development of the Munich Micros GmbH brand it will eventually become inevitable that we will also start selling our product outside of the region's borders. In this case, as well, people are trying to find an innovative solution with which the regional character of the cresses won't be compromised. Jühlcke: “The next step, of course, is to also supply our products outside of Munich. Ideally, we can eventually start outsourcing our production by opening up multiple indoor farms in the locations we need them to be. This way we can also sell regional cresses there. The dilemma, however, is that we are currently operating in such a High Quality-segment that growing too big would not be ideal either. In certain situations, the risk of growing too big will lead to a loss of product quality.”

At the moment, the terrain we operate on still offers plenty of opportunities to expand on our current capacity. The team of growers is working on a fitting and modern solution to realize this increase in scale. “One of our owners is an expert in the field of automation and together we work on a concept with which we will be able to use sealed containers and solar energy to cultivate despite outside temperatures. We could also move the containers to a different location if needed and have the production coordinated on location by 1 or 2 employees. This is where we as a company are trying to head towards.”

25 Cresses-breeds, available 365 days a year  
On the current location – despite the weather conditions – we are already continuously producing the same amount of products. “We can produce the same quality product 12 months a year. With 18 mono varieties and an additional amount of mixed breeds, our core product range exists of 25 varieties that are available year round. In certain cases, we also provide exclusive cresses breeds to individual restaurant owners. Compared to the Koppert Cress-catalog, we have also developed some entirely new breeds like leaf mustard, basil mix with 5 varieties and a special protein mix intended for vegetarian cuisine. The next step is to realize the production of sweet cresses: we are currently developing a new type of wheatgrass with a sweet and pleasant taste.”

According to Jühlcke there is not only a notable trend regarding healthy foods but also an increasing trend concerning the transportation and origin of the product. “What hides behind a product? Where does it come from? These are the most important themes within the fresh produce industry together with the uncompromising freshness of the product. Everything that is delivered per day has been harvested in the early morning of that same day. This means that our products need to go through the entire supply chain in just a couple of hours.” Jühlcke knows that is also customary to provide this same service with their new products: “Our product range will be developing in the direction of edible flowers, different types of lettuce, herbs, and baby-vegetables in the years to come.”

This article previously appeared in the 4th edition, the 33e volume of the AGF Primeur trade journal. See www.agfprimeur.nl.   

For more information:  
Munich Micros
www.munich-micros.de 

Kevin Juehlcke 
munich.micros@gmail.com 

Andre Bukethal 
a.bukethal@fruechte-feldbrach.de 

Publication date: 6/28/2019 
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