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IGrow PreOwned 1/15/21 IGrow PreOwned 1/15/21

AVF Presents Advisory Board For 2021

The Advisory Board will support and advise AVF Board of Directors in all strategic developments, oversee the implementation of annual objectives and create a valuable ecosystem for the members to advance the Vertical Farming industry globally

AVF is honored to introduce our Advisory Board members for the year 2021, they are experts in their own fields and represent different sections of the indoor farming industry and academia.

Ali Ahmadian is the CEO of Heliospectra and the chair of AVF’s Advisory Board for 2021.
Ali combines his passion for people and technology with 20 years of international business leadership experience to his position at the helm of Heliospectra.

Ali is globally recognized for his successful track record of developing new business and delivering profitable growth in a multitude of geographies. He has lived and worked in five different countries on three different continents over the course of his career. Highly skilled in integrating cultural and commercial experiences, he excels in establishing partnerships with different stakeholders and driving diverse teams to peak performance. Prior to joining Heliospectra, Ali was Vice President of Tetra Pak in Asia Pacific and served as a member of Tetra Pak’s global executive team.

Luis Trujillo is an Area Sales Manager at Hoogendoorn Growth Management.

He has more than 25 years of experience in markets with a strong focus on innovation and technology. He is currently with Hoogendoorn America.

Jasper den Besten is a professor at HAS University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

He is researching new cultivation systems, with a focus on cultivation without daylight. Since 2009, HAS University has been involved in very applied LED-lit climate cell research.

Hemant Julka is the Co-founder and COO at Veggitech in the UAE, a professional with over 3 decades of experience in business and technology.

He is a social entrepreneur with a vision to make a positive impact in transforming communities at the grass-root level. The Agro-Tech startup company, VeggiTech, is disrupting the Agriculture industry with protected Hydroponics and grow light-based Hydroponics.

Max Loesel is the CEO of Agrilution and one of the Co-founders of the AVF.

He is a young entrepreneur and has been engaging with activists for sustainable living to preserve our planet for years. He has pioneered a fully automated Vertical Farming home system with Agrilution.

For more information:
Association for Vertical Farming
info@vertical-farming.net
www.vertical-farming.net

Publication date: Wed 6 Jan 2021

IGrow PreOwned 8/28/20 IGrow PreOwned 8/28/20

“If We Really Want To Make A Change, We Should Intensively Invest In Innovation and Technique In Africa”

Christine Zimmerman discusses vertical farming trends

Christine Zimmerman Discusses Vertical Farming Trends

Vertical farming is a rapidly growing industry, and there are many challenges and opportunities. In this interview with Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Chairwoman at the Association for Vertical Farming, she discusses the latest trends and developments within the vertical farming sector worldwide.

What are the latest trends within vertical farming?

Zimmermann-Loessl stated that there is a very clear trend in automation and fully automated systems. Especially in the USA, Japan, and Europe. “The main trend here is that we see robotics and AI machine learning that will even play a bigger role than it does now. Another trend is scaling, as people start to understand the necessity of vertical farming. I still hear from the majority of greenhouse growers, to have a fully automated greenhouse, the vertical farmers say: no we can be more efficient and it can be much more controlled. However, there are so many input factors that cannot be perfectly controlled in a greenhouse. In order to have reliable minimal resources and yield, vertical farming is a better solution.”

Zimmermann stated that once the energy problem issue is solved, they can connect the issue with solar and teach students about it in the AVF demonstration center. Using solar is possible and there are the costs to have the proof of concept.

Have you seen positive developments in vertical farming regarding COVID-19?

As there are strict hygiene standards, higher than in any other farm, there is a very clean environment. “We are beyond ahead COVID-19 measurements and this needs to be communicated even better.” According to Zimmermann, a great advantage of indoor farming the high hygiene standards. Working with a hygiene room quality and improving these standards. “We have seen a lot of growth, also at the AVF as we gained 11 members. Start-ups have the ambition to grow out of that start-up phase.”

She also notes that vertical farming has had more understanding of politics and politicians, but also on a national- and municipal level. They understand that there is a need to secure the future, being less dependent on external factors. “We had to communicate all these advantages even better. The majority doesn’t know them yet and we have to improve that”, she adds.

What is the quickest growing country in terms of vertical farming techniques?

“That’s a tough question. I think that in Germany really took off in the past two years. We have Fraunhofer Institute in Aachen with two brand new systems that haven’t been on the market before with that high level of innovation. The Orbiplant, from Fraunhofer, shows how economical VF can be today. It is built from material on the market for automation or transport systems highly automated and allows cheap production prices. Another company, Lite+Fog, where I see innovation at a level of experience with a new system design and water-saving fog for the roots instead of hydroponics.

Zimmermann continues that Japanese farming company Spread, its Techno farm, is really the state of the art. It’s a proven operation and they produce for the market. “However, Orbiplant and Lite+Fog are still in a demo size compared to the commercial farms of SPREAD and the fully on-demand farms now. We have a differentiation to make between these three.”

And in terms of newly constructed farms?

"I have visited Farminova, Turkey, and it’s very interesting to see how in such an agricultural country a company takes on the innovative food business. Cantek Turkey, the owner Hakan Karaca decided to go into vertical farming and built a system in one of his warehouses, near Antalya, to bring the topic forward. They see the need for sustainability and innovation.” Zimmermann said that Italy is also becoming an interesting country for vertical farming. Companies such as Planet Farms and Ono Exponential Farms that have fully automated new constructions. “People need to build up their trust in technology and the produce from it. In Europe, they have a prejudice against artificial environment by technology, but in Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore they don’t. They’re much more open to it, also in the new farming technology because it offers safe, fresh, local products. They see the shrinking traditional farming in their countries and growing imports."

Are we at a maturity stage in vertical farming yet?

“Not at all. When we started we were in an infant stage. Now we are at age 12 to 14. From an age perspective, we are not mature enough yet. It would be really good to have official government backing. Not just money-wise, but also policy-wise. We want more agriculture sustainable methods. One of these is indoor vertical farming. Once that statement comes, it would help VF implementation a lot.”

Why do you think that governments haven’t done that yet?

“It’s all about the necessity. ‘Why do we need it? We have greenhouses. We have industrial agriculture. Now, with severe droughts, even in Europe, more politicians see the need. I am part of the dialog forum for the 'Future of Agriculture', where all major stakeholders gather in Berlin twice a year. I get to meet all the associations from traditional farming and few of them have heard of vertical farming. Not to talk about embracing, saying it could be a part of agriculture production. However, it’s still a long way to go for communication, marketing, and raising awareness.

"We need more innovation- and vertical farming centers around the cities and rural areas to enable our hands-on learning and demonstration. If we do that, farmers will see it and understand it better. We start with the farmers. More young people are coming in the industry. We will rely on vertical farming systems to maintain reliable food production. It will play a major role if we want to protect the ecosystem when we have over 10 billion people on this planet.”

What would you address as the most frequent struggles within the industry?

“Investment is still a major struggle. Either banks don’t understand the business model of high-tech farms, because they have only know traditional agriculture business models. Or investors don’t have a sufficient understanding of vertical farming. They want a quick ROI and don’t know that they need patience. So, in order to find the right investor and money, it’s not that easy. If you want to scale, you have to have a proof of concept. But more money is needed to go to that next level.

"It ‘seems easier’ in the USA and Asia. Looking at the UAE, which is taking off with vertical farming, partially because the government is supporting it now too. Their food supply chain is in the hand of a couple of people and they were used to importing all food. It takes time to build a new food chain and trust in new suppliers."

In what underdeveloped countries do you see the most potential for vertical farming?

“Absolutely, we just founded our regional chapter by our team. We cannot serve the interest in India anymore, so we decided to have a local team there. It’s taking off like crazy. Now, we have two members in Africa and we get at least two requests per week. In South Africa, it can be seen that there’s a lot of equipment development. Which gives them the highest level of technology compared to the rest of Africa.

"We see a lot of the need to train farmers and really implement vertical farming in Africa. We just received new proposals from Cameroon to train 1200 farmers on vertical farming in the Northwest. So far, our partner in Cameroon has built the center already and we only need the equipment yet and training can start. It’s great to see what they do. If we really want to make a change, we should intensively invest in innovation and technology in Africa. We can grow forest there, instead of turning more land into agriculture and reduce CO2 even more. They are willing to do that and know what they need. It’s not up to us to tell them what they do. If AVF would have the financial power, we’d be there tomorrow to help them."

Where do you see the most positive reactions towards vertical farming?

"In Asia, we can find mature markets, especially in Singapore and Japan. People are willing to buy and understand the concept. China is an important market from a global perspective. A lot of projects in vertical farming are happening there, but the government policy to protect traditional agriculture has such a big importance for the government. Therefore, it’s very tricky to launch vertical farming in the right way. They have megacities and over 1.3 bln people so the demand is huge. But, they only have 12% of land and so there are many opportunities for farming. However, there’s a huge challenge for vertical farming as it’s very hard to implement it on a bigger scale."

For more information:
Association for Vertical Farming
Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Chairwoman
czl@vertical-farming.net
www.vertical-farming.net

Publication date: Wed 26 Aug 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© HortiDaily.com

IGrow PreOwned 6/18/20 IGrow PreOwned 6/18/20

The Road Ahead For Vertical Farming

"In the next 10-15 years, it will rise as one of the dominant forms of agriculture." In a recent webinar presented by the Association for Vertical Farming and Heliospectra, the opportunities and challenges facing the vertical farming industry in 2020 and beyond were highlighted, resulting in quotes like the one introducing this article. Moderated by AVF Chairwoman, Christine Zimmerman-Loessl, the three guests, Nate Storey (Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer of Plenty), Joel Cuello (Professor of Biosystems Engineering, University of Arizona) and Ali Ahmadian (President & CEO, Heliospectra) shone their light on where the industry is headed.

"On the cusp of growth"

According to Joel, the vertical farming industry has had a historic run in growth and proliferation globally in the last five or so years. "Going forward, especially in terms of the enormous COVID-19 disruptions in fresh produce chain, vertical farming will continue growing", he says. "It should be economically viable, but it shouldn't just be a growth story, but also of sustainability and resilience."

Nate adds that currently, the vertical farming industry is still in its infancy. "We're on the cusp of growth and expansion as an industry. By and large, the world is still skeptical because vertical farming isn't a dominant form of production yet, but in the next 10-15 years it will rise as one of the dominant forms of agriculture."

Tech catches up with vision

Having moved on from the stage of pioneers and visionaries (who were, in a sense, "too early", because they saw the potential for vertical farming, but the tech didn't match up to their visions), Nate says that "we're now at a point where the tech matches the need; technology has caught up with the vision", adding that it's not going to be a pain-free road. "Folks will be challenged by the economic fundamentality of the business. We need to either offer a differentiated product, or a product that is cost-competitive with the field, so they're accessible to people."

At Plenty, he says, the primary tech inputs are LED and semiconductors. "As costs go down, we reap the benefits - same with data storage, genetics, etc. So we have created our own tech cost curve around indoor ag, which drives costs down and quality up." As a result, the yield for the same amount of energy increased by 12x at Plenty, Nate explains.

There's still a world to win when it comes to the proper use of tech, however. Ali: "50% of vertical farms today are profitable, while the other 50% are struggling. The main reason why vertical farms are struggling is because farmers underestimate the true cost of labor: many farmers overlook the way in which growing techniques make workers more or less efficient."

A small test of Mother Nature: "Get your act together"

Of course, the elephant in the room wasn't ignored by the panel. COVID-19 has had an impact on all industries, and vertical farms are no exception. "In the US, the fresh produce supply chain has been dramatically upended by COVID", Joel says. "Lots of growers were suddenly left without a place to deliver their produce. They need to establish new contacts, which is hard to do, so lots of fresh produce goes to waste."

At the same time, in a lot of major cities in the US, there's been a huge increase in demand for produce from vertical farms. The same thing happened in Europe, although there the dependence on seasonal workers from outside the EU has proven problematic, Joel explains, with a shortage of workers, again leading to produce going to waste.

Nate points out that in many cases the food supply chain is global now. "We've been pushing yield increases in the field to the max, but it's a system under stress, operating at the max all the time - break a link and the whole system comes crashing down." With instabilities like climate change, Nate argues the industry has a lot of buttressing to do. "COVID was a small test of Mother Nature, basically saying 'get your act together'. As the COVID situation affected the Bay Area (where our flagship farm is), our sales have doubled - indoor produce is a supplement to produce from the field, and retailers are realizing the usefulness of indoor produce."

The crucial role of governments

With the COVID crisis, governments have been giving more attention to indoor/vertical farms now. According to Ali, this will open up huge opportunities for current and future vertical farmers.

Nate agrees. "Government recognition is super important - it's a capital intensive business." At Plenty, they're building agricultural infrastructure, comparable to electricity and water. Nate even goes so far as to say that in the future, food production will become one of those utilities. "Government has to play an important role in getting the industry off the ground, cutting red tape and supporting producers, like with loans and capital to help the industry get started. Government support will be a critical step for this industry."

Christine agrees that the role of governments is important, but they also need to be made aware of the opportunities of vertical farming, they need to be informed of what it is and what it isn't. "Governments always say: 'Human beings can't live on salad - so where do we go with this vertical farming industry? Will we produce things like corn and maize in a vertical farm? What is the blueprint of the future?" So informing and educating is also of the utmost importance.

Attracting investors

The same goes for attracting investors, another important pillar under the industry. According to Nate, "folks are starting to view vertical farming not as an if but a when question - what we've earned over the last decade or two is the recognition that this is a necessary thing. It's driven by incredible demographics changes, so it's an inevitability. We are proving that it can be an extremely profitable venture."

As a result, more people are starting to think about investing in this. "The money out there is going to get smarter and smarter about this industry", Nate adds. "Investors tended to be super-specialized in agriculture; now folks who don't come from that background are also approaching the space, having enough info to start making huge investments. So, access to capital will grow, but there is a gap between the capital which is more risk-tolerant and the capital with very little risk tolerance. We'll have to build relationships with risk-tolerant capital."

For more information:

Association for Vertical Farming

Marschnerstrasse,
81245 Munich,
Germany
info@vertical-farming.net
vertical-farming.net