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VIDEO: Will This Y Combinator-Backed Startup’s Urban Home Farms Take Root In India?
UrbanKisaan leverages hydroponic technology for home growing kits, as well as a network of urban farms for online delivery and retail channels
Inc42 Staff
27 Aug'20
UrbanKisaan leverages hydroponic technology for home growing kits, as well as a network of urban farms for online delivery and retail channels
During the lockdown phase, the company claimed to have seen 10x growth in terms of demand for its fresh produce, compared to pre-Covid times.
Based in Hyderabad, UrbanKisaan has installed close to 30+ vertical farms and plans to expand to Bengaluru, Chennai among other cities
There’s a minor revolution underway in many of India’s biggest cities. We are talking about hydroponic farming and this soil-less method is fast becoming the answer to solving the problem of carbon footprint in food. Call it hydroponic farming, soilless farming, vertical farming or anything else — for many it is the long-awaited answer to responsible eating.
In this backdrop, agritech and hydroponics startups are quickly finding niches in various produce categories and cities. Despite their shared ethos for sustainable food production, the likes of UrbanKisaan, Barton Breeze, Hydrilla, Simply Fresh, Acqua Farms, Letcetra Agritech, BitMantis Innovations, Future Farms, Ela Sustainable Solutions, Agro2o, Junga FreshnGreen, Pindfresh are working in this field through different models and targeting different niches — from large-scale hydroponics farming in rural areas to small home farms for the cities.
Working on the philosophy of bringing farms closer to home is Hyderabad-based UrbanKisaan. With the vision of making hydroponic technology more affordable and accessible for the masses, UrbanKisaan offers home-grow kits or vertical hydroponic farms. And by creating mini-farms in cities and revitalizing farmlands with hydroponic technology, the startup also supplies fresh produce to customers through Swiggy, Zomato, Dunzo, and other retail channels as well as in the D2C model on subscription and on-demand basis.
“We are the only startup in the hydroponic landscape to have taken a hybrid approach, where we have 20,000 sq. ft. research and development facility, along with 15+ in-house scientists working on newer innovations and products,” claimed cofounder and CEO Vihari Kanukollu elaborating on how the company is looking to differentiate itself in the burgeoning hydroponic market.
However, UrbanKisaan is not alone in the game, Simply Fresh, another Hyderabad based agritech startup, also grows and supplies a line of medicinal plants and fresh produce from its greenhouses. Similarly, Chennai-based Future Farms works on hydroponic technology at a commercial level, where it designs integrated full-stack solutions for alternative farming in the country. The vibrancy of the hydroponic models and the large ground area that needs to be covered across cities and villages has made it possible for multiple startups to thrive in this space.
Needless to say, the market opportunity is huge, as ‘urban farming’ is catching up at a rapid pace globally. According to MarketsandMarkets, the global hydroponics market is expected to reach $16.6 Bn by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 11.9% from $9.5 Bn in 2020. The growth of the sector is said to be driven by the increase in population and the need for food security through alternative high-yield farming techniques, given the depletion of water across the globe.
Plus, the rise in awareness and demand for a healthier lifestyle is said to have opened doors for a plethora of possibilities for hydroponic startups to reap the benefits in the long run.
UrbanKisaan earns revenue from its multiple channels which allow it to reach all kinds of consumers — from those who want a taste of the hydroponic produce to those who want to grow it themselves. Its urban farms are strategically located next to retail stores to facilitate hyperlocal deliveries and its DIY home kits are for the latter set. Additionally, it is also supplying its technology to local farmers to reutilise farmland.
The startup was founded in 2017 by Kanukollu, Srinivas Chaganti, Dr Hari, Shiva Prasad and Dr Sai Ram, a scientist who has been instrumental in developing the nutrient solution for their state-of-the-art vertical farming technique. In March 2020, the company also raised $1.5 Mn in seed funding from Y Combinator.
Home Farming In The Times Of Covid
During the lockdown phase, the company claimed to have witnessed 10x growth in terms of demand for its fresh produce, compared to pre-Covid levels. Further, cofounder Kanukollu said that the disruption in the supply chain and consumers leveraging on the hyperlocal delivery modes, along with the change in consumer lifestyle, for the consumption of fresh, organic produce has resulted in the surge in demand.
The Covid-19 pandemic temporarily halted the movement of produce across India and highlighted the gap in the food supply chain. This allowed agritech startups such as UrbanKisaan that specialise in hydroponic farming to tap a tremendous opportunity and bring efficiency in the supply chain.
With its hyperlocal urban farms model, Kanukollu claimed UrbanKisaan is not only bringing transparency to the vegetable supply chain but also lowering the carbon footprint, reducing food waste. Most importantly, their farming technique also claimed to save 95% water, and grow the produce 30x compared to traditional farms.
Its home kits are priced anywhere between INR 9,900 and INR 19,900 with about 50+ varieties of leafy vegetables and exotic vegetables supported by these kits, including spinach, coriander, mint, basil, bok choy, lettuce, parsley, fenugreek, capsicum, tomato and kale among others.
Further, the company claimed to have semi-automated the entire process and has designed the kits in such a way that it requires limited resources to manage it. “Once installed, it requires 15 min/week of effort to take care of the plants, thereby making it seamless for consumers to grow their own fresh produce,” said Kanukollu.
A Tech Upgrade For Rural Farmers
In addition to this, UrbanKisaan also works with local farmers who own greenhouses, where it helps them in setting up vertical farms from scratch to producing and supplying fresh fruits and vegetables.
Cost-wise, the poly house or greenhouse setup would typically cost farmers anywhere between INR 35 to INR 50 Lakhs per acre, of which, the government may subsidise up to 80%. Once this is installed, which is a fixed cost, for setting up of hydroponic setup, it would cost the farmer additionally INR 50 Lakhs. But, UrbanKisaan told Inc42 that it looks to reduce this cost at INR 15 to INR 20 Lakhs.
UrbanKisaan claims to have installed close to 30+ hydroponics farms in the state, across its various offerings. In the coming days, it plans to expand into other cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai among others, along with growing its team, adding newer varieties of hydroponic seeds, fruits and vegetables, and enhancing its technology capabilities.
Kanukollu is looking at creating a centralised monitoring system through UrbanKisaan for these various hubs and farms. “We are heavily investing in artificial and machine learning tools, where once the network of the urban farm increases, we will be able to monitor and control their farms remotely and provide a real-time update to customers.”
Agtech Sector Blooms As More Dollars And Startups Rush In
Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years
Christine Hall | August 20, 2020.
Twitter: ChristineMHall
Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years.
In fact, in each of the last two years, venture capitalists invested $4 billion in startups in the agtech space, according to Crunchbase data. Based on the $2.6 billion already given out as of Aug. 14 of this year, 2020 is poised to repeat or even exceed the previous years.
Better Food Ventures Partner Seana Day began tracking agtech startups more than five years ago. She said that farming is an area that isn’t typically tech-enabled. In fact, COVID-19 reminded the world about the food supply chain, she added.
“There was a disconnect between demand signals and supply, which is why you saw empty grocery shelves,” she said. “At the same time, the dairy farmers were dumping milk because they didn’t have a process in place to massively produce small consumer packaging.”
Day estimates that global food and agriculture fund managers have about $130 billion in assets under management, which is driving a surge in investments as well as a shift in thinking.
Farmers have historically been resistant to change, Day said, but at the end of the day, they are rational business people. That means that if a startup can show a farmer a product or service that will boost the return on investment—increasing revenue or decreasing costs—the company will have a better chance of making the sale.
The challenge comes in for tech companies that offer apps meant to save time and increase job productivity, areas that aren’t necessarily needed for farmers, she added.
There is also a shift in legacy food companies thinking digitally. Day points to Tyson Foods as an example. The meat producer earlier this month promoted Dean Banks to CEO. He joined Tyson as president last December from Alphabet’s high-tech incubator X.
“That is a huge signal from a company making bold moves, saying ‘we want to be a leader in this space,’” Day added.
New investments
This year has been particularly busy for the agtech innovation sector, as startups secured both big and small investments.
One of the largest went to Farmers Business Network, which raised $250 million in Series F funding earlier this month. Day said the San Carlos, California-based company was one of the pioneers in e-commerce models, helping farmers optimize their financial performances by finding demand for supply.
Meanwhile, Berkeley-based Pivot Bio announced a $100 million funding round in April, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Temasek, to scale its microbial nitrogen technology. The company said the technology increases crop yields, and in turn, farmers’ revenues. Biodesign startup Geltor brought in $91.3 million in a Series B round in July, led by CPT Capital, to make proteins, such as collagen and elastin, but without animals. The startup’s products are used in beauty, and food and beverage products.
One of the newest is iFarm, a Finland-based startup providing indoor farming technology for growing fresh greens, berries and vegetables. On Thursday, it announced that Gagarin Capital led its $4 million investment with other investors including Matrix Capital, Impulse VC, IMI.VC and several angel investors.
iFarm, founded in 2017, has more than 50 ongoing projects with clients in Europe and the Middle East for 2020, Max Chizhov, co-founder and CEO, told Crunchbase News. The company will use the funding to develop its iFarm Growtune tech platform; expand into new regions in Eastern and Northern Europe and the Middle East; and will experiment with growing strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radishes and other crops.
“We think this is an interesting time to be in agtech, and we think we are in the right time and right place, especially as there is more attention on food and agtech and a pipeline of investments,” Chizhov said. “We are focusing on how to change the supply chain, and we believe we are one of the solutions to solve this problem.”
Last week, we also reported on a new company, Unfold, which is focused on vertical farming. Bayer’s investment arm, Leaps by Bayer, and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek infused $30 million into the new company.
Unfold’s President and CEO John Purcell said he is bullish on the farming sector, seeing a need for genetics in vertical farming. The company has an agreement for certain rights to germplasm from Bayer’s vegetable portfolio that includes lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
“Technology has to catch up with the promise,” he said. “There has been an overall trend in produce moving toward vertical farming and greenhouse, but the hard part is you have to have the tech to make it feasible.”
The “tech” in question is lighting, mechanics and a system in place. Then it has to be competitive with the other forms of production so potential customers will see its value, Purcell added.
New areas of agtech
Purcell sees three promising areas for the agtech industry:
Major urban areas, where there is a desire for local, fresh food;
Self-sufficiency, or helping places where there is limited arable land; and
Produce supply chains, or getting food from the farm to fulfillment centers.
Ashley Tyrner, founder and CEO of Farmbox Direct, thinks there should be one more area: food as medicine. She is in the process of raising $10 million for her East Coast-based organic and natural produce delivery service.
Tyrner said she saw her business grow more than 2,000 percent during COVID-19. In that time, Farmbox also began working with Medicare to provide box services to patients identified as those who need to eat healthier to manage chronic disease.
“The climate has changed in Silicon Valley, and VCs are welcoming because we are doing food as medicine,” she added. “We were the first to find an insurance company to work with us to help patients change their eating patterns. We are creating a new space here.”
In the area of crop protection is Canada-based MustGrow Biologics, an agricultural biotechnology company taking natural compounds from mustard seeds and turning them into pesticides that fortify the soil.
The pesticide industry is valued at $65 billion, but most are synthetics, Corey Giasson, president and CEO of MustGrow, told Crunchbase News in an interview. The biologics side of the pesticide industry is growing, but is still worth only about one-sixth that amount, he said.
The slower growth is due to biologics in the past not being as effective as synthetic fertilizers, so MustGrow has been doing a lot of studies to show that its product works.
“Farmers want to use products that are healthy and safe, but need something effective to grow a crop that will suppress pests,” he said. “We also have a growing population globally, and we need to feed people, doing it in a safe, environmentally sustainable way.”
New opportunities
Crunchbase data shows that is the most active agtech venture investor, having made 20 venture investments in the agtech space since it was founded 10 years ago. It was most recently involved in India-based Intello Labs’ $5.9 million Series A round. The company uses image matching and machine learning to measure the quality of crops.
A new player is FTW Ventures, led by Brian Frank, who on Thursday announced he is raising his first “problem-focused fund” aimed at early-stage food and agricultural startups.
Frank already raised the $4 million fund, in which he will invest in 15 to 20 deals at about $200,000 to $250,000. He has already made five investments, the most recent in April as a part of Plantible Foods’ $4.6 million seed round. He was also an investor in Plantible’s pre-seed round. The San Marcos, California-based B2B food technology company is developing plant-based protein.
Frank predicts some of the hotter areas will include hardware and automation, software and SaaS, novel products–such as Plantible–and personalized nutrition. He also said that consumers are driving the way food makes its way from the farm to the fork.
“I came into this sector from mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with a deep-seated passion for food,” he said in an interview. “There is a major shift in consumer trends as they look for more resilient and sustainable food. Climate change is both an effect of food and it impacts food. Plants can’t just move to a new climate, so we need to help them.”
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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VIDEO: iFarm Raises $4 Million To Automate Urban Farming With AI And Drones
The Finnish startup has developed a vertical agricultural system called iFarm Growtune. By growing food closer to consumers and in spaces where conditions can be carefully controlled, iFarm promises to produce food that is fresher while reducing environmental impact
August 20, 2020
Image Credit: iFarm
iFarm has raised $4 million to expand its automated system that uses AI and drones to grow fruits and vegetables in enclosed spaces. Gagarin Capital led the round of funding, which included investment from Matrix Capital, Impulse VC, IMI.VC, and some business angels.
The Finnish startup has developed a vertical agricultural system called iFarm Growtune. By growing food closer to consumers and in spaces where conditions can be carefully controlled, iFarm promises to produce food that is fresher while reducing environmental impact.
As companies rethink logistics and the environment in the wake of the pandemic, self-contained urban farms hold growing appeal.
“The main advantage of indoor farms is that you can be growing all year round, wherever you are,” said iFarm co-founder and CEO Max Chizhov. “And you don’t need a special technologist or agronomist who knows how to use software or grow stuff.”Automation, AI, robotics, and farming are increasingly converging. Paris-based Agricool installs automated systems shipping container to grow strawberries in urban areas. Naïo Technologies builds autonomous farming robots, a Berkeley lab is developing AI systems for polyculture gardening, Burro makes an autonomous vehicle to transport grapes during the harvest, and Enko Chem uses machine learning to help farmers protect their crops without pesticides.
Meanwhile, iFarm is working with clients, typically businesses or farmers, to set up systems in warehouses, factories, basements, and other spaces.
The iFarm system places seedbeds in long racks that are stacked up to 5 meters high. An array of sensors monitors and adjusts the lighting and humidity. Drones are equipped with computer vision to track the crops’ growth and provide further data for the system’s algorithm.
The company developed the algorithm by feeding it scientific data about plant growth, along with data obtained from working farms. The company’s platform can measure the size and weight of plants to help farmers modulate growing conditions. It also uses computer vision to spot potential diseases, which helps growers avoid the use of chemical treatments. In some cases, the system adjusts the microclimate automatically, but it can also provide recommendations to staff.
iFarm currently helps customers create farms ranging from 3,000 square meters to 5,000 square meters. The company has helped develop 11 farms in Finland, Switzerland, the U.K., the Netherlands, Andorra, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Chizhov said iFarm will use the new funding to continue the development of Growtune and expand into new countries in Europe and the Middle East.
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Indian Grower Capitalizes On Market Opportunities With AI
Things are looking up for the greenhouse produce market in India. "We see an increase in demand in the Indian market, especially in many cities where we supply", says Sachin Darbarwar, founder of Simply Fresh
Sachin Darbarwar, Simply Fresh
Things are looking up for the greenhouse produce market in India. "We see an increase in demand in the Indian market, especially in many cities where we supply", says Sachin Darbarwar, founder of Simply Fresh. Last year, the grower invested $30 million in expanding the greenhouse operation, and that investment appears to be paying off.
"With more awareness on hydroponic farming and more emphasis on food safety, consumers today are selective in their buying and prefer produce, which is clean, safe, and traceable", Sachin tells us. "With the current global scenario and special focus on health and immunity, we only see this demand increasing in future."
Sachin and Shweta Darbarwar, founders of Simply Fresh
Simply Fresh not only supplies its produce to the local market, however: "We have exported our produce to the UAE, and will shortly resume our exports to countries like the UK, USA, and South East Asia."
So they look across the border, and not just when it comes to exporting their produce. "Our greenhouse structure was designed and delivered to us by Cravo, a Canadian company that specializes in retractable greenhouses", Sachin tells us. They source their seeds from various domestic and international suppliers as well, like Rijk Zwaan. "Depending on crop type we reach out to different vendors to get the best variety of seeds to have high-quality produce for our consumers."
Nutraceuticals
Under their nutraceutical vertical, Simply Fresh grows varieties of medicinal plants. "These have three times more alkaloid content than field grown plants, and serve as raw material for nutraceutical companies", Sachin explains. "The choice to grow these has been a successful move as we are able to provide medicinal plants which are traceable and with higher alkaloid content, which reduces the cost of extraction. Also, all our fresh produce and medicinal plants are safe, traceable and grown using sustainable farming techniques without any use of pesticides."
It's been a bit of a pioneering project to grow those "non-traditional" greenhouse crops: "They are very challenging as globally there are not many growers who have grown this and can share best practices/knowledge on how to grow them and how they behave without soil", Sachin tells us.
Farm in A Box
Like any modern grower, Simply Fresh also makes use of AI, having implemented it in creating data points and making decisions on data points. "For example, we use AI in forecasting yield, predicting seeding charts, space utilisation, traceability, managing crop workflows and knowledge line."
The Farm in A Box (FiAB) platform, developed by the grower, plays a central role in this strategy. "It helps us track everything from the very initial stage of sending, plant profiling, monitoring plant health and nutrient level requirement at each stage of the plant growth.
"We also use the same FiAB platform to plan and forecast the yield required for future and for our internal CRM management, to collect and process orders received from different vendors from various cities."
The company is constantly developing the platform, and in future FiAB may become available for other growers to use as well.
That's not the only thing they have in store for the future: Simply Fresh will be further expanding, growing to 40 acres on their current site in Phase 2 of the expansion.
For more information:
Simply Fresh
www.simplyfresh.co.in
Publication date: Wed 22 Jul 2020
Author: Jan Jacob Mekes
© HortiDaily.com
KOREA: LG Shows Off Blockchain-Powered Farming System at Seoul Metro Station
South Korean electronics giant LG has created a very public showcase for its blockchain-powered food and agriculture traceability platform – at one of Seoul’s busiest subway stations
July 22, 2020
Source: LG U+
South Korean electronics giant LG has created a very public showcase for its blockchain-powered food and agriculture traceability platform – at one of Seoul’s busiest subway stations.
Per Paxnet, LG’s telecoms subsidiary LG U+ and its IT services arm LG CNS have teamed up for the venture, which will see the companies create a “smart farm” within Sangdo Subway Station. The station sits on Line 7 of the capital’s subway system and is located in Dongjak, an affluent south-central region of the South Korean capital.
The smart farm will be kitted out with the latest in high-tech agricultural wizardry, but its true purpose appears to be the promotion of LG CNS’ Monachain blockchain network. The company has developed a platform for agriculturalists, retailers, and customers that makes use of the network – whereby all members of the supply chain feed data into a decentralized ledger, purportedly ensuring traceability at every step.
The agricultural sector in South Korea is worth over USD 7 billion, per Bank of Korea statistics released earlier this year. What is more, the government has shown a keen willingness in subsidizing IT-powered farming innovation drives. Seoul has previously unveiled plans to create 4,300 jobs in the emerging smart agriculture sector by 2022.
Last year, LG CNS stated that it would develop an agricultural goods distribution platform that makes use of the Monachain platform – in association with the government-run National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service and local authorities.
The company has also attempted to extend its blockchain-powered food traceability operations to school lunch programs in the country.
As previously reported, the company is currently testing its own digital token, and has formed partnerships with other major blockchain players in the nation, including chat app giant Kakao’s Klaytn blockchain project.
Visitors to the Sangdo Station-based farm will be able to see how agriculturalists at the site maintain optimum growth conditions day and night using blockchain-powered solutions that help monitor lighting, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, pollution and more.
The two LG subsidiary companies have teamed up with an IT firm named Farm8 for the venture, and say that they will extend the reach of the platform to smartphone-powered remote crop cultivation in indoor smart farms. The parties say they will use innovations including monitoring sensors connected to WiFi networks, smart CCTV systems, Big Data, and AI-related technology.
The First DigiConference of the MENA Food Security Forum Series Will Focus On The Latest Trends And Innovations in Agriculture - June 29-30, 2020
The first DigiConference of the MENA Food Security Forum series will focus on the latest trends and innovations in agriculture and the opportunities in improving the quality and quantity of domestic produce
Event Overview
In recent years, governments across the Middle East have developed a robust food security strategy for their nation to ensure access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round. Improving the local produce has been one of the top priorities for these authorities and this has been complemented by the innovations in the agritech space that have helped farms to improve their products in the arid environment.
The current lockdown due to COVID-19 has increased the need for the MENA region to be self-dependent and is rapidly reforming food security readiness.
This has fast-tracked the move by the agriculture sector towards implementing technologies such as vertical farms, hydroponics, aeroponics, automation, artificial intelligence, and other agritech innovations to ensure faster harvest cycles, reduced usage of water and fertilizers and improve effective space to yield ratio.
With this said, authorities across the MENA region are offering incentives on all aspects of agriculture to encourage farmers, operators, and food producers to adopt innovations that contribute to the nation's food security strategies.
The first DigiConference of the MENA Food Security Forum series will focus on the latest trends and innovations in agriculture and the opportunities in improving the quality and quantity of domestic produce.
This DigiConference will bring together C-suite executives from government, non-government organizations, private sector and consumers across the Middle East and North Africa along with global tech players involved in the development and adoption of AgriTech innovation to engage in thought-provoking discussions and share latest best practices, challenges and thought leadership on ways to improve the domestic agriculture produce.
Register Here
WEBINAR: Agritecture And Indoor Ag-Conversations To Present "Megatrends In Indoor Farming" - June 24 @ 2 PM EST
Indoor Ag-Con, LLC is pleased to announce “MegaTrends In Indoor Farming,” the latest topic to join its new Indoor Ag-Conversations monthly free webinar series
“MEGATRENDS IN INDOOR FARMING’ WEBINAR “
ON JUNE 24, 2020 @ 2 PM EST
LAS VEGAS (June 9, 2020) – Indoor Ag-Con, LLC is pleased to announce “MegaTrends In Indoor Farming,” the latest topic to join its new Indoor Ag-Conversations monthly free webinar series. Hosted by Agritecture Consulting, this panel discussion will cover megatrends in food, agtech, and vertical farming. Scheduled for Wednesday, June 24 at 2 pm EST, the program will be moderated by Agritecture Founder & CEO, Henry Gordon-Smith, and include panelist Menachem Katz, former head of WeWork Food Labs. Additional panelists to be announced soon.
“From Covid-19 to climate change to food security concerns, there are a number of factors accelerating megatrends shaping the indoor agriculture marketplace,” said Nancy Hallberg, co-owner, Indoor Ag-Con. “We’re excited to have Henry Gordon-Smith and his expert panel share their insights into these key trends and the opportunities they can offer for our growers, suppliers, and other industry members.”
Indoor Ag-Con LLC, producers of the premier event for the indoor vertical farming industry, created the new Indoor Ag-Conversations series to share content originally planned for its May 2020 in-person annual conference that was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During the 60-minute webinar, Gordon-Smith and his panelists will take a deep dive into some of the megatrends impacting indoor vertical farming, including plant-based proteins and other consumer-driven food demands, automation/artificial intelligence, urban farming/local food, food security and more. Indoor Ag-Conversation webinars are free to industry members. To register for the upcoming June 24, 2020 session, visit www.indoor.ag/webinar. Indoor Ag-Conversations presenters include:
Moderator Henry Gordon-Smith is a sustainability strategist focused on urban agriculture, water issues, and emerging technologies. His firm, Agritecture Consulting, primarily helps entrepreneurs with vertical farming feasibility studies, recruiting, and systems design. He serves on the advisory board of numerous AgTech startups, including Smallhold and Foodshed.io.; serves on the board of directors for the not-for-profit food access organization Teens for Food Justice in NYC; has spoken on the topic of urban agriculture in 4 continents; and has been interviewed about urban and vertical farming for the WSJ, Futurism, Men’s Health, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Arabian Business, CNBC, and many more media outlets.
Panelist Menachem Katz has 20 years of food industry experience in roles ranging from operations to technology and logistics to culinary. He started his career as an Executive Chef, first at Artichoke Restaurant in Tel Aviv, and then at 1868, a restaurant chain in Jerusalem that he co-founded. From there he served as Executive Chef for multiple companies; co-founded and led Culinary & Operations at Goodmeal, a delivery startup; led operations and expansion at Kettlebell Kitchen; and most recently, served as Head of WeWork Food Labs.
More details on the upcoming Megatrends session, as well as access to the recording of the June 3 series launch session - "United Fresh Presents Produce Trends & New Business Opportunities For Indoor Growers Emerging From The Covid-19 Pandemic," and other programs joining the new Indoor Ag-Conversations series, can all be found at www.indoor.ag/webinar.
ABOUT INDOOR AG-CON LLC
Founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con touches all sectors of the business, covering produce, legal cannabis, hemp, alternate protein, and non-food crops. In December 2018, three event industry professionals – Nancy Hallberg, Kris Sieradzki, and Brian Sullivan – purchased Indoor Ag-Con LLC, setting the stage for further expansion of the events globally. For more information, visit: www.indoor.ag
ABOUT AGRITECTURE
Agritecture is a global urban agriculture consulting firm, whose mission is to empower impact-driven organizations to develop feasible urban farming solutions, turning their business ideas into practical and sustainable realities. Agritecture has completed more than 100 consulting projects in over 20 countries, working with a range of clients including entrepreneurs, real estate developers, educational non-profits, corporate food- & agri-businesses, and city agencies. Agritecture’s popular blog and social media presence have a total digital following of 100,000. www.agritecture.com
Indoor Ag-Con, 950 Scales Road, Building #200, Suwanee, GA 30024, United States
Fifth Season Opens Flagship Farm And Partners With NHL Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux
Fifth Season, a company that combines vertical farming with proprietary robotics and artificial intelligence to disrupt the country’s produce market and deliver an entirely new category of hyper-local fresh food, announced today it has partnered with NHL Hall of Famer and co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux
Pittsburgh | Business Wire | June 11, 2020
Partnership comes as Fifth Season announces opening of industry-leading vertical farm, expanded partnerships with Whole Foods and Giant Eagle, and its innovative direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform
Fifth Season, a company that combines vertical farming with proprietary robotics and artificial intelligence to disrupt the country’s produce market and deliver an entirely new category of hyper-local fresh food, announced today it has partnered with NHL Hall of Famer and co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux. The company has also launched a new e-commerce website with expanded product offerings and all products shipping from Fifth Season’s newly-opened indoor vertical farm.
The partnership will accelerate Fifth Season’s expansion plans as the company scales the flagship commercial-scale farm in Braddock, PA, a 60,000-sq.-ft. solar-powered farm with twice the efficiency and capacity of traditional vertical farms. The company’s smart design will allow Fifth Season to produce and market over 500,000 pounds of produce in the first year of full operation. Through AI and robotics, Fifth Season's technology tends to each plant’s individual needs at unprecedented levels of efficiency and precision, providing the perfect light, nourishment and environment for healthier produce, higher yield and better flavor.
“Fifth Season’s exciting technology is a game-changer for Pittsburgh,” said Lemieux. “They are positively impacting people's health and happiness by growing large quantities of delicious fresh food, right here in our hard-working industrial communities. Fifth Season is advancing the legacy of our city and I am proud to partner with the team.”
The new, fully-operational farm is accommodating Fifth Season’s increased demand from a growing list of retailers and restaurants, including an expanded retail presence with Whole Foods and Giant Eagle. At the farm, Fifth Season is growing more than 10 unique leafy greens and herb crops with two proprietary salad blends, spinach and arugula hitting shelves first. The company has plans to quickly expand into more leafy green varieties within the year.
“The events over the last several months have revealed that resilient supply chains and consistent access to fresh foods are more critical than ever,” said Fifth Season co-founder and CEO Austin Webb. “The opening of our first commercial-scale farm comes at a perfect time as Fifth Season works to accelerate our plans to reach new and expanding customer bases.”
The company also announced this month the launch of their industry leading direct-to-consumer program, providing both salad greens and salad kits for order and delivery via Fifth Season’s e-commerce website at www.fifthseasonfresh.com. Customers in the Pittsburgh area can place their order directly via the website to have locally-grown and crafted salads delivered right to their homes.
“Consumers want to connect with farms that reflect their values, and they seek convenience in how they receive their fresh food, whether that’s from their favorite grocer, delivered directly to their doorstep, or picked up from the farm,” said Webb. “Everybody prefers locally grown fresh food to flavorless, days-old greens and we’re proud to provide solutions that make choosing local and living healthy easier.”
By delivering its produce within hours of packaging, Fifth Season is setting a new standard for fresh food, at a price competitive with conventional produce. All Fifth Season produce is grown locally and without pesticides and has an average shelf life of weeks, not days. What’s more, Fifth Season’s produce is grown using up to 95 percent less water and 97 percent less land than conventional farming.
These announcements top off a monumental quarter for Fifth Season, which won a World Changing Ideas Award from Fast Company, an honor that highlights projects actively changing what we eat, how we eat and how we get our food. The company also won the Best Build-to-Suit from the NAIOP for its indoor vertical farm design. During the COVID-19 pandemic the company has increased donations of fresh greens and salad kits to essential workers and community organizations throughout Pittsburgh.
About Fifth Season
Fifth Season’s vertical farms combine proprietary robotics and AI with sustainable agriculture to disrupt the country’s $60 billion produce market and deliver an entirely new category of hyper-local, fresh food. Fifth Season’s newest vertical farm in Braddock, Pa., a historic steel town on the edge of Pittsburgh, features a 25,000-sq.-ft. grow room with twice the growing capacity of traditional vertical farms. It is set to grow more than 500,000 lbs. of produce in its first full year of operation. The company’s fresh, tender lettuces, spinach, arugula, “Bridge City” and “Three Rivers” blends, as well as their herbs, receive individualized attention as sensors monitor every condition — humidity, pH, light, nutrient mix — and adjust to each plant’s needs. Fifth Season can even determine the perfect nourishment to give varietals their own buttery or crispy, soft, sharp, or tangy flavor and texture. For more information on Fifth Season, its technology and produce, visit www.fifthseasonfresh.com.
Contacts
Media Contact
Quinn Kelsey
646-677-1810
FifthSeason@icrinc.com
KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENVIRONMENT SPORTS HOCKEY SUPERMARKET FOOD/BEVERAGE RETAIL AGRICULTURE NATURAL RESOURCES ONLINE RETAIL
SOURCE: Fifth Season
Copyright Business Wire 2020.
PUB: 06/11/2020 08:00 AM/DISC: 06/11/2020 08:02 AM
Bridge City Blend (Photo: Fifth Season)
Looking Up: Vertical Farms Fill Produce Supply Chain Lag During Pandemic
The great panic buying of 2020 revealed the time it takes for food to go from farm to shelves. The curtain was pulled back on something the shopper rarely thinks about — supply chain logistics
By Jesse Klein | Green Biz | June 11, 2020
The great panic buying of 2020 revealed the time it takes for food to go from farm to shelves. The curtain was pulled back on something the shopper rarely thinks about — supply chain logistics. As grocery store shelves emptied, the problem wasn’t necessarily lack of food but a drastic shift in demand that caused traditional distribution engines to sputter.
For example, lettuce takes between 30 and 45 days to grow in a field farm. According to a 2001 study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, traditionally grown lettuce travels about 2,000 miles to get to Chicago grocery stores. So by the time prepackaged greens are bought by consumers, that produce can be almost two weeks old. These long lead times caused those empty shelves in March.
Vertical farms have struggled to become a major force in the grocery market. Their products are usually limited to leafy greens, and the high labor costs have made turning a profit challenging for many. But the pandemic clarified their role within a more sustainable food system. Vertical farms, with their hyperlocality and ability to quickly grow new crops, can step in to fill retail shelves when traditional farms falter.
"We are a really critical part of this food supply chain, and we can fill a gap when there is a crisis," said Shireen Santosham, head of strategic initiatives at Plenty, which sells vegetables at 20 locations around the San Francisco Bay area.
Location always has been a core part of the vertical farm appeal and business model. During the pandemic, many have taken advantage of the fact that their growing operations often use abandoned warehouses in urban areas and therefore are much closer to retail stores.
Fifth Season Connection, a vertical farm that leverages robotic technology, operates a 600,000-square-foot vertical farm in the food deserts of Pittsburgh. Its chief category officer, Grant Vandenbussche, called me from inside his delivery truck. He was delivering that day’s produce to grocery stores a mere 24 hours after the greens were picked. His company has seen a 50 percent increase in orders over the past few months, even as its restaurant market has dwindled.
"We have fantastic retail partners that we have really leaned on," he said. "Our partnerships have allowed us to get more onto the shelves and expand our offerings."
The consumer also benefits from the quick turnaround time, especially during the pandemic. According to Vandenbussche, vertical farm greens typically last longer after purchase because they haven’t been out of the dirt for as long as traditional produce. So when every trip to the grocery store feels like a risk, shoppers are looking for products that will last longer than a few days.
According to AeroFarms, its advantage has been the ability to produce baby greens in a third of the time of traditional farms, typically 12 days. AeroFarms operates four vertical farms in New Jersey harvesting almost 2 million pounds of produce a year using aeroponic mist instead of traditional irrigation, resulting in 95 percent less water usage than a traditional farm. According to Marc Oshima, co-founder and marketing director of AeroFarms, most field farms don’t have the nimbleness to respond to a quick change in market demand.
"Because we are inside, we are able to grow all year round," he said. "We can pivot as needed and adjust to the marketplace. We plant, seed and harvest for our customers based on their orders. That allows us to be very customer- and market-driven in how we grow."
Plenty has seen a threefold increase in demand from its retailers since the start of March. The pandemic opened up opportunities with new retail partners for Plenty because the stores were experiencing a disruption in supply chain and looking for alternative means of keeping shelves full, according to executives.
"[The increase in demand] came from both our existing stores as well as from additional stores that called us up and said, ‘Hey, we are having trouble keeping our shelves stocked, could you add some volume with us?’" said Roger Kirkpatrick, director of business development at Plenty.
Plenty was able to meet the demand as it already was gearing up its volume for placement in new stores but coronavirus accelerated the pace, Kirkpatrick said.
Vertical farms are hoping to capitalize on this moment. Shelves empty of a consumer's habitual brands help force consumers over the initial barrier of trying a new product such as those sold by Plenty. Once people do try Plenty's produce, according to Kirkpatrick, they tend to stick with the brand. So even as panic buying has calmed down, Plenty has seen its demand stay level, he said.
And even though the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization guidelines agree COVID-19 is unlikely to be passed through food contamination, vertical farms are using consumers’ increased awareness of the food supply chain to push their product as a safer and better alternative.
"[Consumers] will continue to gravitate towards local clean options because, now more than ever, they're thinking about where is my food coming from, who is touching it and how has it been processed," Vandenbussche said.
