Czech Startup Introduces New Container Farm To The Market

Delivering To Prague, Dubai, And Shanghai

A container farm supplied by GreeenTech will soon be parked in Prague's Smíchov district. The hydroponic container farm will grow herbs, vegetables, and small fruits. The other two containers will go to Dubai and Shanghai. 

"We bring a unique and modern approach to agriculture. With vertical hydroponics we will start food self-sufficiency not only in the Czech Republic," promises co-founder of GreeenTech Karolína Pumprová, who three years ago was at the birth of the Prague urban hydroponic farm HerbaFabrica, which supplies herbs to Prague restaurants. 

The co-founders of Greeentech

She was later joined by entrepreneur Dmitrij Lipovský, who, after a year-long working stay in China, where he focused on ecology and sustainability issues, saw a TV report about the HerbaFabrica farm, and was so intrigued by it that together with Karolína Pumprová and technology director Milan Souček, they created the concept of GreeenTech, a technology, and cultivation company that was officially established last July. Dmitry Lipovsky invested six million crowns of his own money in the start-up and became CEO of the company. 

Modular solution
GreeenTech currently has three divisions, each with its own unique product and business and marketing direction. Urbanio is a modular system whereby the company builds an urban hydroponic farm according to the customer's requirements. The price in this case starts at one and a half million crowns and depends on the number of modules purchased and the environment where it will be built. The technology was to be officially launched at Expo 2020 in Dubai.

GreeenBoxes are containers coming with GreeenTech's technology. The price for the smallest size supplied, 13 x 3 x 3 meters, is in the lower units of millions of crowns. The third division is HerbaFabrica, which sells crops to distributors and end customers. The company intends to offer its franchise in the future.

These containers make it possible to grow crops practically anywhere and anytime, even in the desert. According to Lipovský, the company will produce three containers this year, the first of which will be located in Prague's Smíchov, while the others will also be presented at the EXPO in Dubai. It is to Dubai and also Shanghai that the company wants to expand in the medium term.

"The goal is to build full container farms and to continuously improve our technology. But we are a startup, so we are constantly in a turbulent process," smiles the CEO of the company over the next plans and reveals that the final investment round with external investors is also now underway.

Everything from the container design to the software solution is being developed in-house. Some of the technical equipment is supplied by Siemens CR, which is also a long-term technology partner.

GreeenTech wants its technology to contribute to a sustainable solution to a potential future crisis around food shortages. The founders of GreeenTech promise a recurring harvest of local vegetables full of vitamins and intense flavor. Since the crops do not undergo protective spraying, they are suitable for children and allergy sufferers. 

The business model for GreeenBox and Urbanio technologies work on both a sales and rental basis. "For both options, there is an 'after-sales service, where we supply seeds, substrates, fertilizers, as well as spare components for the technology and remote farm management," Lipovský explains.

He adds that GreeenTech also started offering the HerbaShare service to businesses, shops and restaurants a month ago. This is a structure with a cold box for preserving produce, where the company regularly delivers microgreens and vegetables. "Now we want to focus more on businesses as people come back to the office. We believe this is a really interesting employee benefit and a way to have a vitamin bomb right in the workplace," he concludes. 

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Source: StartupJobs

For more information:
Greeentech
info@greeen.tech 
www.greeen.tech 

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18 May 2021

N.Thing To Export Smart Farms To UAE After $3 Million Deal

By Kim Byung-wook

May 17, 2021

South Korean agriculture technology company N.Thing said Monday that it has recently inked a $3 million deal with Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates to export smart farms.

The contract, set to proceed next month, will allow the firm to construct vertical smart farming containers in the UAE by December this year. The container can reduce the use of water up to 98 percent compared to a typical farm and cultivate crops in any environment, whether that is in Siberia, the Middle East, or Seoul.

“The UAE reached out to N.Thing as food security emerged as a key issue amid the coronavirus outbreak,” a company official said.

In February last year, Sarya Holdings conducted a proof of concept test on N.Thing’s container to verify the technology. During the test, Sarya planted four different vegetables -- batavia, kale, Boston lettuce, and oakleaf -- in eight test containers and observed their growth cycles, nutrients, quality, and more.

The test proved that N.Thing’s smart farm containers built in the UAE can produce up to 1.5 metric tons of crops per container, which was 42 percent more than initial estimates.

N.Thing received the best innovation award at the Consumer Electronics Show last year.

Lead photo: The interior of N.Thing’s smart farm container (N.Thing)

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)

Florida Native Brick Street Farms Takes On Global Agriculture With Multi-Million Dollar Investment

The Ag Tech Innovator Scales its Local Approach to More Sustainably Feed Urban Communities

St Petersburg, FL (May 19th, 2020)- Brick Street Farms announces their new investors, Lykes Bros., a milestone championed by Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried, Mayor Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg, FL, and Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa, FL. With Lykes Bros financial commitment to Brick Street Farms, the AgTech leader will scale its mission to lead the way in disrupting agriculture and reinventing possibilities to sustainably feed more people from urban locations, offer Brick Street Farm’s expertise so we can bring farm to fork in cities and contribute to healthier lives.

COVID-19 and climate change have accelerated existing strains in global food accessibility and supply chains, highlighting the need to rethink the world’s agriculture systems, particularly in dense city areas. In response to this crisis, Crunchbase News has cited that agriculture technology investments have grown 250% in the past 5 years alone. Brick Street Farms has been at the forefront of this industry because of their unique experience in both design and manufacturing of their THRIVE Containers as well as the operation of those farms for financial sustainability.

The AgTech’s ground-breaking approach is to bring to life cultivation centers, also known as Brick Street Farms hubs, which will serve as an all-inclusive onsite farming and retail shopping experience in urban cores. Brick Street Farms is reinventing urban farming with our self-contained, environmentally sustainable THRIVE Containers placed in Hubs. These hubs will grow between 16-20 acres of farmland on 1/3 acre lots. This Climate-Controlled Agriculture (CEA) maximizes output and minimizes water resources.

Brick Street Farms Founder and CEO, Shannon O’Malley observed “We could not be more honored to have Lykes Bros. as our newest investor. Brick Street Farms hubs will be the first of its kind and we can’t wait to share this innovation with the world. Our farming expertise combined with Lykes 121 years of experience in agriculture brings unparalleled leadership to feed more people ‘farm to fork’.”

“Lykes Bros. is excited to be advancing and investing in the future of agriculture. We see Brick Street Farms’ leadership and innovation in the controlled environment sector as the perfect fit for our company. They share our commitment to pioneering the future, and their hub innovation is a bold blueprint for producing healthy food locally and sustainably,” says Mallory Dimmitt, VP of Strategic Partnerships, Lykes Bros.

For more information about Brick Street Farms visit www.brickstreetfarms.com.

About Brick Street Farms

Brick Street Farms produce is grown and sold out of its St. Petersburg, Florida headquarters with a mission to ignite a sustainable farm revolution by dramatically reshaping the global population’s ability to access to clean, healthy food. Built for farming in all environments, Brick Street Farms provides healthy, fresh greens, year-round.

About Lykes Bros.:

Founded by Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes and his seven sons in 1900, Lykes Bros. Inc. is a leading Florida-based agribusiness with cattle, citrus, farming, forestry, hunting, and land and water resources operations as well as major landholdings in Florida and Texas. www.lykes.com.

More Than Simply Housing

While “Housing” is in our name, CASS isn’t just about building homes. CASS is about holistically partnering with people with developmental disabilities to create opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

Employment for people with disabilities is one of the largest hurdles that many folks will ever face. Whether it is obtaining a job, the workplace environment, or transportation to and from the workplace, the enjoyment, meaning, and income that comes from a job is not available to millions of people with disabilities across the nation.

In Summer 2020, we were introduced to a company called Freight Farms out of Boston. Freight Farms converts shipping containers into hydroponic gardens. In these 10’x40’ climate-controlled boxes, over an acre’s worth of produce can be grown year-round. Leafy greens, herbs, root vegetables, and flowers grow extremely well in these containers.

image courtesy of freightfarms.com

As we looked further into Freight Farms, we realized that not only would these container gardens create employment opportunities for our Core Members, but they would give them access and working knowledge of produce, local food, gardening, and more.

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image courtesy of freightfarms.com

By the end of April, our first 2 containers will be delivered to our existing neighborhood on Constance Ave. (just north of Turnstone). We expect produce to be available by mid to late summer 2021.

Are you a restaurant, business, or grocery store interested in sustainable, year-round, local greens and herbs with a greater cause? Reach out to us by emailing robert@casshousing.org today.

AppHarvest Hopes To Build A Garden Of Eden In America's Appalachia

May 15, 2021

AppHarvest, Inc. (APPH)

Summary

• AppHarvest is building out commercial indoor farms in Appalachia.

• APPH, which recently went public via a special purpose acquisition company, has seen its stock price collapse on the back of the flight of capital from growth to value.

• With revenue growth increasing, the company's next challenge is growing into its valuation profitably.

Photo by IP Galanternik D.U./E+ via Getty Images

AppHarvest (NASDAQ:APPH) is building large commercial greenhouses in Kentucky to primarily grow tomatoes indoors. The benefits of this approach would see the company use up to 90% less water than traditional farms, have the ability to attain harvests year-round, use no chemical pesticides, and attain at least 30x more food per acre than conventional farming methods. Essentially, indoor farms allow modern farmers to carefully control the environment to indefinitely allow for near-perfect growing conditions.

This has brought the future of farming forward, a critical need in a world still facing significant population growth rates while beset by the uncertainties of climate change.

However, while AppHarvest's ESG credentials are undoubtedly strong with the company using recycled rainwater for its circular irrigation system, there remains uncertainty over whether its business will be able to profitably grow commodity fruit and vegetable produce. This would be against a domestic market increasingly dominated by Mexico. Imports of tomatoes from Mexico to the USA grew by 125% from 1.6 billion pounds to 3.6 billion pounds between 2002 and 2017. This subsequent decline in US production of tomatoes is a trend AppHarvest hopes to reverse with its indoor farm in Kentucky. This is able to reach 70% of the US population within a day's drive.

This means produce should not only arrive at grocery stores fresher, but they would also do so with a lower carbon footprint. AppHarvest longs would consider this an important point as consumers become increasingly aware of the importance of the food chain to managing climate change and the damaging impact of pesticide use on the natural environment. For example, surface runoff from farms into lakes and rivers have potentially damaging effects on aquatic ecosystems.

AppHarvest September 2020 Investor Presentation (Source)

While AppHarvest inaugural 60-acre Morehead facility primarily grows tomatoes, the company expects to be able to produce leafy greens and cucumbers in the near future with two new facilities planned for 2022.

Strong Geographic Reach And Improved Revenue Visibility

AppHarvest expects revenue to ramp up materially over the next four fiscal years from 2021 on the back of an expansion of its indoor greenhouses. The company has guided revenue to reach $376 million in 2025, a four-year compound annual growth rate from 2021 of 97%. To achieve this, AppHarvest expects to hit 12 active facilities across Appalachia by 2025. The company also expects to attain greater diversification by expanding into growing other fruits and vegetables.

AppHarvest September 2020 Investor Presentation (Source)

Of course, the main barrier to an investment in AppHarvest would be its ability to scale revenue growth profitably. Capital expenditure in new greenhouses should very well see the company increase total acreage and annual production, but its ability to do this profitably would be challenged by the unique costs of indoor growing. From increased electricity consumption to the use of more skilled and variable labour.

Hence, AppHarvest's focus on robotic harvesting emphasised with its recent acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Root AI points to a potentially profitable scale-up.

Virgo, Root AI's Tomato Picking Robot (Source)

AppHarvest does not expect Virgo to entirely eliminate its use of labour. However, the robot can evaluate crop health, precisely predict yield and optimise overall operations by handpicking tomatoes. This will be a material factor in efficient and profitable operations especially if it can work without a high degree of human intervention.

Indeed, the company expects to reach EBITDA profitability in its fiscal 2023, generating positive free cash flow during the same year. With its shares currently trading at $11.91, AppHarvest holds a $1.12 billion valuation. This would place its forward 1-year market cap to sales at 45x. While still high for a farming company, it is down from 162x when it reached all-time highs in February. Further, this multiple drops to 19x using revenue guided for its fiscal 2022. Investors would be right to be wary about paying almost 20 times revenue for a greenhouse farming company so might be prudent to wait for any further potential pullback in shares.

Turning Appalachia Into America's Own Modern Farm

AppHarvest will not be immune to the gyrations of selling a commodity product to a domestic market that has tilted towards cheaper imports over the last decade. The company will not only have to compete adequately on price with traditional farmed fruits and vegetables, but it would also have to do so with a high-tech setup that while big on ESG credentials offers up avenues for increased costs that could eat into any potential profits.

AppHarvest is a long-term somewhat speculative play on a better more modern method of farming. Hence, just as the green revolution of the mid 20th century saw increased agricultural production worldwide. This more modern ESG-focused method of farming promises to usurp the old order.

This article was written by

Winds Research

Vertical Future And Crate To Plate Plot Fleet of Shipping Container Farms In London

Jessica Rawnsley

14 May 2021

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Credit: Vertical Future

Each of The 'Container Farms' Will Be Able To produce Up To Five Tonnes of Leafy Greens And Veg Each Year With Zero Carbon Footprint, The Firms Claim

Urban farming specialists Vertical Future and Crate to Plate are together gearing up to rollout a fleet of indoor container farms in London, with each capable of producing zero carbon fresh salad and vegetables for swift delivery across the UK capital city, they announced yesterday.

Crate to Plate, an urban farming start-up, plans to use the 'container farms' designed by Vertical Future - a technology company focused on controlled-environment-agriculture (CEA) - across several new sites in London's Bermondsey and Stratford.

By using the container farms, Crate to Plate said it would be able to produce up to five tonnes of fresh produce - including lettuce, kale, and rocket - per year, and then deliver it to customers within 24 hours with a zero-carbon footprint, all without any use of pesticides or toxic chemicals. The firm counts Ollie Dabbous, chef-patron of Michelin-starred restaurant, HIDE, as well as independent grocers such as The Notting Hill Fish Shop and Artichoke in Hampstead among its customers.

Vertical Future's innovative farms, built within 40ft shipping containers, allow for highly-controlled indoor growing conditions, harnessing LED lighting, full climate control, and dual irrigation in order to create the optimal conditions for cultivating leafy salad and vegetables. 

Proponents of vertical farming argue producing crops in such circumstances can reduce the amount of countryside land used for farming, better protect crops against the impacts of increasingly volatile outdoor climate conditions, and cut down on transport and logistics typically needed to ferry food from farms to urban centres. They also require far less water and zero pesticides. 

"Our Container Labs create the optimal growth environment for growing fresh produce and can be deployed close to point of consumption, using minimal space," said Jamie Burrows, Vertical Future's CEO. "Using zero chemicals and growing crops in a controlled environment enables our partners to meet demand all-year-round, as opposed to regular food production systems which are reliant on seasonal limitations."

By shifting towards using Vertical Future's 'Container Labs', Crate to Plate's founder Sebastien Sainsbury said the firm would be able to scale up its systems across the UK while offering more efficient growing capabilities to improve both output and product quality.

"It's been incredibly encouraging and exciting to align with other dynamic, innovative, and enterprising British business, which will help us to scale up our vision and execute our exciting opportunities both nationally and internationally," Sainsbury said.

U.S. Secretary of Education Names May Ranch Elementary School 2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School

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The U.S. Department of Education announced today that May Ranch Elementary School in Perris, California is among the 2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award honorees. 

May Ranch Elementary School was nominated by The California Department of Education and exemplified achievement across the three pillars of the award. May Ranch has reduced its environmental impact and utility costs through installation of solar structures, removing significant amounts of turf, composting green waste and food scraps, and planting indigenous, water-wise plants.  Students in Transitional Kindergarten through 5th Grade participate in a sustainable agriculture program leading to cross-curricular, real-life application, and hands-on learning. The school garden extends both indoors and outdoors and consists of a 2,737 square-foot outdoor garden with multiple garden beds and fruit trees as well as indoor aeroponic towers and a Nutrient Film Technique vertical farm.  To support school-wide health and wellness, students maintain and grow lettuce in the aeroponic towers and vertical farm and provide the lettuce to the cafeteria salad bar.

“May Ranch is inspired by the students and community it serves and will continue to grow school-wide sustainability. Understanding the need to combat obesity and the City of Perris’ status as a food desert, we will relentlessly continue to expand our garden and sustainability education, hands-on learning opportunities, and outdoor experiences for our students,” states May Ranch Elementary Principal, Aimee Conwell.

Quote from other local officials or partners, as appropriate.

Across the country, 27 schools, three early learning centers, five districts, and five postsecondary institutions are being honored for their innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education. 

The honorees were named from a pool of candidates nominated by 20 states. The selectees include 24 public schools, five charter schools, one magnet school, and three nonpublic schools. Over half of the 2021 honorees are in communities where over 40 percent of the student body are eligible for free and reduced lunch.   

The list of all selected schools, districts, colleges, and universities, as well as their nomination packages, can be found here. A report with highlights on the 40 honorees can be found here. More information on the federal recognition award can be found here. Resources for all schools to move toward the three Pillars can be found here.  

A Note on the Award Name for Communications

ED's award is called "U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools" and has "District Sustainability Award" and "Postsecondary Sustainability Award" categories, in addition to the original school award. It is abbreviated ED-GRS.  "Green Ribbon Schools" without the "U.S. Department of Education" is not ED's award, but instead is a separate program overseen by another organization. A selected school is a "2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School." A selected district is a "2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School District Sustainability Awardee." A selected postsecondary institution is a “2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School Postsecondary Sustainability Awardee.  There is no "National," “Award,” or "Program" in the title.  There is no apostrophe or hyphen after Education.

https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr21/yr21rel33a.asp

Square Roots Expands Premium Herbs Range With Fresh And Aromatic Cilantro, Dill, And Parsley Grown In Climate Controlled Local Farms Across The Country

Indoor farming company takes the next step in bringing local, real food to cities using modular farm technology that empowers both farmers and consumers

May 17, 2021 (New York, NY) — Square Roots, the technology leader in urban indoor farming, is expanding its herb range by introducing three premium fresh offerings - Cilantro, Dill, and Parsley - to complement its widely successful signature Basil. Co-founded by Kimbal Musk, Square Roots’ herbs are grown across the company’s network of cloud-connected and climate-controlled indoor farms in New York and Michigan and are now available in more than 200 retail stores - including Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme Market, SpartanNash, and FreshDirect. 

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“COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of locally grown indoor produce”, said Raji Margolin, EVP of Sales and Marketing at Square Roots. “The habits of at-home cooking and using fresh, local produce are here to stay. Now more than ever, people care about the food they eat, and where it's grown - and our goal is to make sure that fresh and local food is available to consumers year-round. These herbs are just the beginning of our product offerings and we can’t wait to expand into additional categories.”

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Square Roots has a strategic partnership with Gordon Food Service (GFS), one of the country’s leading food service providers, to deploy farms across the country together and provide fresh, high-quality, local food to consumers across cities, year-round.  Square Roots broke ground on its latest indoor farm in Grand Rapids, Michigan in December 2020 and began planting seeds just three months later, in March 2021. This rapid deployment capability is enabled by the company’s modular farm-tech platform. 

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“We’re using technology a little differently at Square Roots farms”, said Tobias https://www.igrow.news/igrownews/indoor-ag-science-cafe-may-18th, Co-Founder, and CEO at Square Roots. “Food, farmers, and consumers are all connected at the center of our system. We surround our farmers with data, tools, and insights to help them grow more, better-tasting food with fewer resources. At the same time, with features like our unique Transparency Timeline, we help our consumers understand exactly where their food comes from and who grew it.”

The expanded herb range is available in both the New York City area and the Great Lakes Region.

About Square Roots

Square Roots is the technology leader in urban indoor farming. Its mission is to bring local, fresh, real food to people in cities around the world - setting new standards for transparency and responsibility while empowering the next generation of leaders in agriculture. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs, its range of fresh produce is available in more than 200 retail locations around the country including Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme Market, SpartanNash, and FreshDirect. Square Roots’ strategic partnership with Gordon Food Service reinforces a larger shared ambition to build commercial scale, climate-controlled indoor farms together across the continent - enabling local food at a global scale, year-round.

For more information, please visit www.squarerootsgrow.com.

Pure Harvest Is Not Just A Vertical Farm, But A ‘Veridical’ One, Says CEO

May 7, 2021

Jack Ellis

With desert making up the vast majority of its land – and most of the rest taken up by urban development – it’s easy to see why the UAE imports as much as 90% of its food from abroad. Just 5% of the country is considered cultivable.

The story is the same across much of the arid Middle East. But with the emergence and continued improvement of technologies in areas like indoor farming, irrigation, and water desalination, the region is beginning to contemplate a future in which it no longer relies as desperately on imports from more temperate, fecund climes.

While they’re short on arable land, something that the UAE and several of its neighbors do have in abundance is the money needed to invest in these technologies – or bring them in from overseas.

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Pure Harvest “grows 26 commercial varieties of tomatoes, including six that have never before been seen,” according to CEO Sky Kurtz. Image credit: Pure Harvest Smart Farms

In 2019, the government of UAE constituent Abu Dhabi committed $272 million in financing and tax incentives to the development of a local agtech ecosystem. In April last year, the emirate’s Abu Dhabi Investment Office pumped $100 million of grant funding into startups including local controlled environment agriculture (CEA) grower Pure Harvest Smart Farms, with the startups sharing in a further $41 million injection last December. Also in April 2020, nearby Kuwait invested $10 million in Pure Harvest to bring the company’s desert-customized smart farming solutions to its own shores.

In March this year, Pure Harvest announced that it had closed a $60 million growth funding round, including a $50 million sharia-compliant, structured sukuk financing led by SHUAA Capital and anchored by Franklin Templeton. Sancta Capital made a “sizable” investment in the round, the startup said at the time.

AFN recently interviewed Pure Harvest founder and CEO Sky Kurtz about the company’s funding frenzy, its plans for expansion in the Middle East and beyond, and how it has managed to grow ‘green gold’ in the desert. Read on to hear more from Kurtz.

AFN: Pure Harvest recently raised $60 million in growth funding. How will Pure Harvest use this capital?

SK: This complements our earlier $29.3 million Series A capital to fund capital expenditures that will complete three new high-tech hybrid greenhouse projects, including two in the UAE and a beachhead in Saudi Arabia. The two farms in the UAE are nearly complete and will harvest late-Q2, while the Saudi Arabian farm is to be completed by Q3 and harvesting in Q4.

[We’re also making] additions to headcount, including key functions that further our capabilities, such as data science, machine learning, agronomists with specializations in new crops such as leafy greens and berries, and other high-skilled personnel.

The funding complements sizable R&D incentives received from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to fund and further develop pilots of new technologies, enhancements to our climate control systems, and product development of new tools, equipment, and sub-systems that will improve the efficiency of our production systems.

AFN: What makes Pure Harvest different from competing indoor farming players in the market

SK: Pure Harvest Smart Farms designs, constructs, and operates high-tech growing systems equipped with proprietary climate management technology to enable year-round production of local, affordable, premium-quality fresh fruits and vegetables in the world’s harshest climates. We are also committed to supporting public initiatives focused on improved food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability. Through constant engagement with governments, schools, and research institutions, we believe that together, we can lead the Middle East into the next generation of sustainable agriculture.

Our representative differentiators are our proprietary climate management system design and system integration. We buy what we can build what we must. This is heavily informed by data from nearly three years of continuous production and operation in the UAE’s extreme heat and humidity. This is an extreme laboratory and we have unmatched insight into how to design systems to operate here and how to actually grow in this environment.

We have an exclusive design and IP [intellectual property] partnership with Larssen Greenhouse Consulting. [Its CEO Thomas Larssen] is a world-leading design consultant to the high-tech horticulture industry with over 30 years of experience and 1,000 successful projects worldwide. We co-develop designs and solutions; however, Pure Harvest maintains the IP. Thomas Larssen also serves as a director on our board and is a significant investor in the company.

We have regionally exclusive technology licenses with certain sub-suppliers that supply equipment or solutions that we deem to be head-and-shoulders above comparable solutions providers. With these partners we enter mutually exclusive relationships for [our] markets [and collaborate on R&D] efforts to modify their solutions for extreme climates.

We leverage our incumbency [in terms of] data, knowledge, and learning curves to both inform our future designs and procurements, but also to train agronomists. We can deploy them into existing assets within the extreme environment to train them before inserting them into new farms, benefiting from our institutional know-how and de-risking new projects and new market entry.

AFN: What differentiates Pure Harvest from a tech perspective?

SK: The technologies being utilized in Pure Harvest’s growing systems differ from existing systems used by growers in the Gulf region and abroad. Pure Harvest’s solution features an overpressure climate control system that not only serves to maintain the most optimal growing conditions but also helps to keep insects and diseases from breaching the growing area.

As pressurized air escapes from the rooftop vents [it] resists entry from particles and insects. This is a first-of-its-kind in the Gulf region but indeed exists in other parts of the world.

We also recapture condensation water created by our system to ‘create’ water, reducing our reliance upon groundwater and municipal water.

To maximize yields, carbon dioxide dosing is injected into the greenhouse which stimulates the photosynthesis process. Advanced hydroponic irrigation systems recirculate 100% of excess water, while sensors and advanced data analytics provide climate management. Many of these solutions are used in the Netherlands or the US, but are truly novel for the markets that we serve.

AFN: Are Pure Harvest products already available on general sale to the consumer? At what price point?

SK: Pure Harvest products are found in some of the most respected and far-reaching retailers in the Middle East — such as Spinneys, Waitrose, and Carrefour — as well as numerous reputable hotels and restaurants in the UAE. The company currently grows 26 commercial varieties of tomatoes — including six that have never before been seen — and six varieties of strawberries. Leafy greens, baby spinach, and much larger production of strawberries are coming by mid-year.

By early next year, upon completion of the company’s Kuwaiti facility, the product portfolio will broaden even further, including raspberries, blackberries, additional vine crops, and additional lettuces.

Pure Harvest’s products are typically at 20% to 40% lower cost versus comparable quality European imports, but a modest premium to lower cost, lower quality, seasonal regional production. We’ve created a new ‘premium local’ category that did not exist in our markets previously.

AFN: Can you explain what a structured sukuk financing is and why it was necessary in this instance?

Sukuks are a novel financial product whose terms and structures comply with Islamic [sharia] law, with the intention of creating risks and returns similar to those of conventional fixed-income instruments like loans or bonds.

Unlike a conventional bond, which represents the ‘debt’ obligation of the issuer, a sukuk technically represents an interest in an underlying funding arrangement structured according to sharia law, entitling the holder to a proportionate share of the returns generated by such arrangement and, at a defined future date, the return of the capital. It’s more like a sale-leaseback transaction, resulting in ‘profits’ being generated from leasing the property, plant, and equipment as opposed to ‘interest’ on capital, which is not permitted in Islam.

For a corporation tapping the sukuk market, there is a potential marketing benefit for issuers active in Islamic markets, if they are seeking investments in those markets. The investor base represented by sharia-compliant investors is still largely untapped and there has traditionally been significant unmet demand for products.

AFN: What is the biggest challenge that Pure Harvest has faced so far – and how has the team overcome that challenge?

The early challenge was securing capital – to convince investors to believe this was possible in unprecedented markets due to the extreme climate + deploying ‘unproven’ assets in an emerging market.

We have now raised approximately $45 million from the US, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East over the past four years. To do so has taken significant time, energy, and conviction in our vision. The GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] region is a relatively new venture market with a limited number of venture investors, with smaller ticket sizes. We are pioneering agtech in an asset-intensive sector within an emerging market – it’s very, very hard being first. Now that we have proven our solution and our product-market fit, we are able to tap more established institutional investors and capital markets. Early on, however, there were no successful reference cases or analogs to point to. We entered truly uncharted territory.

Now, we are that analog, which new competitors are pointing to when pitching to investors [as to why they] should trust them to enter the GCC markets.

I cannot underscore just how hard it has been to be first. Even with consumers, convincing them that a premium local offering could be better than European imports – it was previously thought impossible, and ‘local’ was looked down on rather than celebrated.

[Operationally] the most difficult issues to overcome in the region are related to heat and humidity during the long summer months, to be able to deliver European product standards to customers. Developing and integrating world-leading horticulture technology has helped us to overcome the challenges presented by the extreme climate.

AFN: Pure Harvest appears to have raised quite a substantial amount of funding to date. What is the total funding figure and how is it all being deployed? Is building indoor farms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia more capital intensive than, say, Europe or the US?

Total funding commitments secured exceeds $216 million, including a performance-contingent $100 million commitment from our Series A lead investor, Wafra International Investment Company. This also includes the sizeable, non-dilutive incentive package received from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, the exact value of which we can’t disclose.

Our core use of proceeds is indeed capex. Building these high-tech, ultra-high productivity farms is expensive – but it works [because] we have tremendous amounts of sunlight. We are able to harness that light to deliver world-leading yields, which helps absorb that capital and results in a favorable — often much more favorable — unit cost of production versus similar high-tech growing systems in the US, Europe, and Australia, for instance.

We call our solution ‘veridical’ farming rather than ‘vertical’ farming – ‘veridical’ meaning ‘truthful,’ or ‘realistic.’ We actually meet our claims to investors and to our customers, achieving about 10x to 15x the yield per square meter versus incumbent lower-tech CEA solutions while using a seventh to a tenth of the water.

AFN: What’s next for Pure Harvest?

We aim to be a regional leader in agribusiness in five years and to have expanded into at least two to three foreign markets, including within Southeast Asia. We will have advanced our solution to be 20% to 40% cheaper to build, build it in half the time, and deliver 20% to 40% greater output per unit of ‘light — that is, solar energy — that we can harvest. We will standardize our integrations with renewable infrastructure for our power and CO2 requirements, while utilizing treated wastewater in our cooling systems to reduce our environmental impact, and thus that of our customers when they buy our products.

The future of sustainable farming is here. We wish to serve the underserved billions who live within an eight-hour flight of Abu Dhabi and within 2,000 miles of the Equator, who have historically relied upon imports from other markets. Delivering to these nations is a true and tangible food security solution, and contributes to water conservation, economic diversification, and more sustainable, high-quality, safer, and tastier food.

Lead Photo: Pure Harvest founder and CEO Sky Kurtz. Image credit: Pure Harvest Smart Farms

Comment? News tip? Story idea? Email me at jack@agfunder.com or find me on LinkedIn and Twitter

Polygreens Podcast Episode 25 Julie Gilbert-Vijverberg

G&V Greenhouse Solutions has been meeting customer needs all over the world for 16 years. We are focused on providing greenhouse structures, greenhouse construction greenhouse project supervision, and all greenhouse installation services. We are proud of our knowledge and experience thru our Dutch heritage and American business style. We employ highly qualified supervisors who have experience building/installing every style of greenhouse to ensure we can bring you the quality and solutions your company deserves. We work with reputable companies in the United States & Holland to bring you the supplies you need when you need them. We listen to your needs as every greenhouse is different and know your solutions are needed quickly.

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CANADA: ‘Made In Quebec’ Strawberries Offer Hope For Food Autonomy

10-05-2021 | Msn News

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

CANADA- The pandemic, with its broken supply lines and closed borders, has been a worrying reminder of Quebec’s dependence on imported food. Roughly 75% of its fresh fruits and vegetables, in fact, come from elsewhere.

Inside a windowless metal cube in a building on the outskirts of the province’s largest city, Montreal, Yves Daoust is trying to make a dent in those numbers.

The cube houses some 3,800 strawberry plants arranged in vertical gardens, pollinated by bumble bees, and brushed by morning dew. The carefully controlled environment is tracked by sensors and attempts to mimic ideal summer conditions year-round in a city where the average outdoor temperature in January is 13.6 degrees Fahrenheit (-10.2 degrees Celsius) and the winter cold doesn’t let up until May.

When Daoust’s company, Ferme d’hiver -- the name is French for “winter farm” -- started selling batches at C$5.99 ($4.80) a pack at nearby supermarkets in December, the pesticide-free berries were snatched by customers accustomed to Mexican or U.S. produce that often costs a bit less. Now it’s signing up farmers to install the technology and make Quebec winter strawberries viable, helped by C$1.5 million in financing from the government.

Quebec’s history -- it harbors a strong nationalist movement -- has long reinforced a preference for homegrown businesses, but after the pandemic disrupted labor migration and prompted some countries to restrict exports, local sourcing became an urgent matter for the government.

“The pandemic made Quebeckers a lot more sensitive to the importance of supporting local companies,” Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne said in an interview. “Every time we increase consumption of Quebec food products by a notch, it has considerable effects on the Quebec economy.”

The government earmarked C$157 million in November to boost food autonomy. In addition, its investment arm, Investissement Quebec, supports individual projects like Ferme d’hiver’s. Two recent projects it financed were greenhouse expansions that together received C$60 million.

The initiative aligns with themes dear to Premier Francois Legault, who was elected in 2018 on a nationalist platform. Quebec, a majority French-speaking province, is protective of its culture and businesses and considers any goods that come from outside Quebec, even from other Canadian provinces, to be “imported.”

Fruits and vegetables aren’t the only problem. Only about half of the all wholesale food purchased by grocers and hospitality companies is grown or transformed locally. To improve that ratio, Quebec is banking on greenhouse production, which it wants to double over five years with C$112 million in aid programs.

Another weapon is state-owned Hydro-Quebec’s cheap and abundant electricity, a key incentive for an industry that requires large amounts of artificial lighting during dark winter days.

© Bloomberg A Strawberry Harvest At Ferme D'Hiver Vertical Farm. The grow room at the Ferme d’hiver.
Photographer: Christinne Muschi/Bloomberg it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

In Compton, a town two hours east of Montreal, organic vegetable farmer Frederic Jobin-Lawler is modernizing his 36,000 square feet of greenhouse space with a geothermal heating system, a dehumidifying unit and artificial lighting. After subsidies and other aid, he’ll pay only about 40% of the upgrade costs.

Success or failure of the food autonomy effort will depend on whether small farms like Jobin-Lawler’s can overcome grocers’ general preference for large suppliers or whether they can get institutions like hospitals to buy their produce, he said.

“If we produce more in winter, will our local markets be able to take it in?” he said. “We don’t want to do this to export, we want to do this to sell locally.”

In theory, the province produces enough to supply two-thirds of its fresh and transformed greens, but consumption and production don’t match up perfectly. Quebec grows enough cabbage to cover twice over what it eats, so it exports some. But it meets only 17% of its population’s demand for spinach and 44% for strawberries.

Climate and seasonality have a lot to do with it. As a country, Canada imports the most vegetables and fruits between March and June, followed by the December to February months.

Daoust, the founder of Ferme d’hiver, said he offers a tastier substitute. “It’s not that imported products aren’t good originally, but they are treated to be transported for days,” said Daoust, an engineer by training who grew up on a farm but spent most of his career in the tech industry.

Imported Workers

Not everyone in Quebec is persuaded by the government’s push. Patrick Mundler, a professor at Laval University in Quebec City, says a rush to produce more fruits and vegetables risks increasing demand for other imports, chiefly farm labor.

“The massive production model is totally dependent on labor,” said Mundler, who published a paper on food autonomy last year. “Workers come from Mexico, Guatemala -- I have a hard time accepting we use our electricity to produce cucumbers in heated tunnels rather than buy them from Mexico or Guatemala directly, where they grew in the sun.”

If small farmers manage to get their goods onto grocery shelves where a few giant producers dominate, a big question remains whether consumers will get into the habit of buying local.

“The consumer has the last word,” said Catherine Brodeur, a vice president of economic studies at Groupe Ageco, a consultancy in Quebec City. “The share of consumers who want to buy locally and are ready to pay more grows over time. But a lot of consumers buy the product that’s 5 cents cheaper.”

Photo © Bloomberg A Strawberry Harvest At Ferme D'Hiver Vertical Farm
Strawberries are harvested at the Ferme d’hiver.
Photographer: Christinne Muschi/Bloomberg

Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, FreshDirect Step Up Distribution From AeroFarms

Indoor Vertical Farmer Pilots Leafy

Green Offerings With Walmart in Mid-Atlantic

Russell Redman   

May 13, 2021

AeroFarms grows all of its leafy greens in New Jersey at one of its commercial indoor vertical farms.

Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and FreshDirect will be receiving a bigger distribution of leafy greens from indoor vertical farmer AeroFarms, which also has introduced its products at Walmart.

Newark, N.J.-based AeroFarms said Thursday that it plans to double its product offering at Whole Foods and, for Amazon Fresh, has expanded from one to five distribution centers, increasing availability throughout the New York metropolitan area. Both Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh are part of Amazon.com Inc.

Related: Albertsons adds Bowery vertically farmed produce

AeroFarms said its leafy green products are ready-to-eat and don’t require washing.

Related: Kroger brings 80 Acres Farms vertically farmed produce to more stores

Meanwhile, AeroFarms greens have become available for same-day delivery through online grocer FreshDirect’s Express service, following an expansion from one to three distribution centers. And in the Mid-Atlantic region, AeroFarms said it’s piloting its products at selected Walmart stores in Virginia. The Walmart distribution comes after  AeroFarm’s ground-breaking last month for a 136,000-square-foot vertical farm in Danville, Va., which the company said will be the world’s largest indoor aeroponic indoor vertical farm when it goes into operation in mid-2022.

In addition, AeroFarms said it has teamed up with Bronx, N.Y.-based fresh produce specialty foods wholesaler Baldor Specialty Foods on retail and foodservice distribution in the Northeast. The vertical farmer also partners with ShopRite in the region.

“Our company is committed to our long-term retail partners, and we are excited to expand our distribution and penetration with them,” David Rosenberg, co-founder and CEO of AeroFarms, said in a statement. “Our leafy greens are consistently praised for their quality, texture and flavor, and our customers connect with our brand because of our authentic and transparent approach to sustainable farming. We’re looking forward to giving our customers more choice and flavor options as we continue to scale the business and broaden our reach.”

A a Certified B Corporation, AeroFarms grows its leafy greens using proprietary aeroponics and indoor vertical-farming technology. The company said its model yields annual productivity up to 390 times greater than traditional field farming and uses up to 95% less water and zero pesticides, in turn providing optimal quality, color, nutrition, texture and taste for its produce.

AeroFarms noted that all of its leafy greens are grown indoors in New Jersey at one of its commercial indoor vertical farms, which are certified for USDA Good Agricultural Practices, SQF Level 2 Good Manufacturing Practices, Non-GMO Project Verification and OU Kosher. The company said its 10 leafy green products — including micro arugula, broccoli, kale, rainbow mix, spicy mix, and super mix plus baby arugula, bok choy, kale and watercress — are ready-to-eat and don’t require washing, providing more safety and convenience to customers. Earlier this month, the vertical farmer announced a rebranding of its Dream Greens retail brand to the AeroFarms label.

Several large U.S. grocery retailers have announced expanded vertically farmed produce offerings at stores this year, including Albertsons Cos. with Bowery Farming in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic; The Kroger Co. with 80 Acres Farms in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky; and Giant Eagle with Fifth Season in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

TAGS: SUSTAINABILITY

PRODUCT CATEGORIES>PRODUCE & FLORAL

California Grower Groups Respond To California’s Emergency Drought Proclamation

By TOM KARST

May 11, 2021

California grower groups applauded the state’s May 10 expansion of emergency drought measures but urged caution in their implementation.

“Governor Newsom took a measured step in the right direction, but caution is needed in implementation of this proclamation,”  Dave Puglia, Western Growers President, and CEO, said in a statement. 

State action

On May 10, California Governor Gavin Newsom significantly expanded his April 21 drought emergency proclamation to include Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties. In total, 41 counties are now under a drought state of emergency, representing 30% of the state’s population.

Newsom also proposed a $5.1 billion package of immediate drought response and long-term water resilience investments to address immediate, emergency needs, build regional capacity to endure drought and safeguard water supplies for communities, the economy, and the environment, according to the governor’s office.

 Reaction

Puglia said the declaration provides regulatory flexibility for water transfers to mitigate water shortages, and parallel executive action allocates $200 million to repair some damaged sections of key water delivery systems.

“However, the emergency authority granted to the State Water Board to curtail water deliveries should give all water users pause,” Puglia said in the statement. “Water curtailments disproportionately impact rural and disadvantaged communities. During the last drought from 2014-2016, regulatory restrictions on water deliveries resulted in the fallowing of half a million acres of productive San Joaquin Valley farmland and cost farms nearly $4 billion in economic activity. With many South-of-Delta farmers slated to receive between zero and five percent of their water allocations, 2021 is shaping up to be another catastrophic year for rural farming communities in the Valley.”

Puglia urged state water officials to lead with voluntary transfers and curtailments, which he said would give public and private water agencies the space they need to maximize limited water supplies and achieve a balance between the environmental and economic needs of the state. 

“Beyond the immediate crisis, state agencies must help mitigate the impacts of changing hydrology by removing the red tape that has long prevented meaningful investments in water storage infrastructure,” he said in the statement.

California’s agricultural and rural communities can’t continue to survive without a reliable water resource, Ian LeMay, president of the California Fresh Fruit Association, said in a statement.  “While drought is not an unfamiliar foe to Californians, it should be
acknowledged that this will be the first drought in the era of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), with the circumstances intensified and the solutions more complex,” LeMay said in the statement. “It is the hope of the Association that today’s announcement is a step to address California’s short and long-term water resiliency.”

The governor’s approach is a “positive step,” Federico Barajas, executive director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, said in a statement.

“The historic drought conditions have negatively impacted nearly 1.2 million acres of farmland, over 2 million people, many of whom live in economically disadvantaged communities, and 200,000 acres of critical habitat and managed wetlands are reliant on the water provided by members of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.”  

“Years like this only reinforce the need for improved water conveyance and increased water storage – so that water can be moved in the years when it’s available and stored for those years when nature fails to provide adequate water for all of California’s needs,” Barajas said in the statement. 

The realities of a changing climate mean California must prepare for longer, hotter droughts that can only be effectively mitigated through collaborative approaches that “focuses equally on our state’s economic and environmental sustainability,” Tom Birmingham, Westlands Water District general manager said in a statement. 

“We applaud Governor Newsom’s action to mitigate the impacts of a second year of drought in the Central Valley, which has already manifested itself in fallowed fields and lost jobs due to lack of water,” Birmingham said in the statement. “In particular, his move to streamline water transfers and provide $200 million in funding for critical water infrastructure repairs as outlined in Senator Hurtado’s Senate Bill 559 will both help local communities manage drought impacts in the short term and improve drought resiliency by maximizing the beneficial use of every drop of water in the long term. “

Lead photo: (File image)

USA: INDIANA - CASS Housing Is Growing, In More Ways Than One

NEWS

by: Breann Boswell

May 13, 2021

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A local organization keeps growing, in more ways than one. CASS Housing is adding CASS Gardens, an opportunity for residents to grow produce and create jobs.

The mission of CASS Housing is to create and maintain customizable, affordable, sustainable, and safe living arrangements for individuals with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities that promote independent living skills.

These residents will now have the opportunity to work in shipping containers transformed into a garden. Each container will grow 2.5 acres of leafy greens and herbs. The idea was grown from a parent of a future resident and the partnership with Freight Farms was developed. The containers can grow produce year-round and only use 5 gallons of water a day, saving 95% over traditional farming. The LED technology grows the plants on panels inside the containers.

Currently, CASS Housing has two containers and has plans to add 15 in the future. Each container will supply two part-time jobs that residents with CASS Housing are able to walk to.

Planting begins Thursday. The produce will be harvested, processed and sold or distributed to customers individually or through wholesale.

“We believe that this employment program could change the national discussion for people with disabilities, starting here in Fort Wayne,” Executive Director David Buuck says.

This is the second Freight Farm in the state of Indiana.

To find out more or to donate, visit casshousing.org.

Agrify Announces First Total Turn-Key Solution Customer Partnership

Up to 1,200 of Agrify’s Vertical Farming Units to be installed at 50,000 square foot facility with up to $280 million expected in the next 10 years

May 12, 2021

Source: Agrify

BURLINGTON, Mass., May 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agrify Corporation (NasdaqCM:AGFY) (“Agrify” or the “Company”), a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement with its first Agrify Total Turn-Key Solution (“Agrify TTK Solution”) customer, Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc. (“B&M”). B&M is currently a tier-four licensed cultivator in Bellingham, MA and through its parent company, Bud & Mary’s, LLC, the company is a fully integrated operator in the cannabis space with one dispensary license and a home delivery license in the state of Massachusetts.

Agrify will be working with B&M on a phased approach for the build-out of B&M’s 50,000 square foot facility. The initial construction phase is expected to include installation of 774 Vertical Farming Units (“VFUs”) in a double-stacked configuration to help B&M maximize canopy space. This initial phase is expected to be completed by Q1, 2022, with up to an additional 426 VFUs installed in subsequent phases, which would bring the total up to 1,200 VFUs. Agrify will provide senior financing of up to $13.5 million for construction, which will be repaid within 24 months following the commencement of the first commercial production at the facility.

Under the terms of the agreement, Agrify will also receive fixed SaaS revenue derived from B&M’s use of the Agrify Insights cultivation software as well as additional production-based fees for up to 10 years. Assuming the completion of the maximum 1,200 VFUs being installed at full capacity, Agrify anticipates that it could generate over $28 million per annum in revenue through this partnership.

“I am thrilled to announce that we have secured our first Agrify TTK Solution partnership,” said Raymond Chang, CEO of Agrify. “This solution was developed to enable customers to access the initial capital required to quickly establish modern cultivation facilities that are outfitted with our VFUs and controlled by our Agrify Insights software, which should lead to substantial gains in yield, quality, and consistency at a significantly lower cost of production for them. In turn, we have the potential to develop deeper long-term customer relationships earlier in a company’s lifecycle, create significant IRR for our investment, and increase our total addressable market to drive long-term value creation for both our customers and our shareholders. We look forward to beginning our partnership with B&M and working together over the next 10 years to ensure they have the ability to capitalize on all the benefits our technology has to offer. We expect to announce several more of these long-term customer engagements in 2021 as we have already identified 2-3 additional TTK opportunities.”

“The team at Agrify has developed an unparalleled end-to-end solution that should allow us to get to market faster with industry-leading technology while producing the consistently high-quality products consumers are looking for,” said David Morgan, CEO of B&M. “The ongoing support, extensive training, and knowledge base available throughout the life of our relationship combined with the data and insights available through the software platform made this the clear choice for our company. We sincerely look forward to working with the entire team at Agrify to help us establish ourselves in the growing Massachusetts market.”

About Agrify (NasdaqCM:AGFY)

We are a developer of premium grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace. We use data, science, and technology to empower our customers to be more efficient, more productive, and more intelligent about how they run their businesses. Our highly advanced and proprietary hardware and software solutions have been designed to help our customers achieve the highest quality, consistency, and yield, all at the lowest possible cost. For more information, please visit our website at www.agrify.com.

About Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc.

Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc., through its parent company Bud & Mary’s, LLC, is a vertically integrated cannabis company in Massachusetts focused on the adult-use market. The company is at the forefront of the new era of cannabis, having assembled industry experts in cultivation, processing, packaging, and sales. Bud & Mary’s is poised to bring a unique vision to life: A locally crafted, fully vertical operation utilizing a library of proprietary strains to deliver a superior experience to discerning cannabis consumers.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, concerning Agrify and other matters. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our customer relationship with B&M, project timelines, and ability to deliver solutions and services. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events as well as the terms and conditions that were mutually agreed upon in the underlying definitive agreement between Agrify and Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, including those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC, which can be obtained on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and filings with the SEC.

Company Contacts:

Agrify
Niv Krikov
Chief Financial Officer
niv.krikov@agrify.com
(617) 896-5240

Rob Kelly
Investor Relations
ir@agrify.com
(416) 992-4539

This Indoor Garden Will Feed You Greens Year-Round

View fullsize

John Biggs

May 11, 2021

Click & Grow 25 is the latest project by former orchestra conductor Mattias Lepp who felt that the idea of indoor gardens—essentially, a farmer’s market in a box—would be just the tool for staving off future food shortages. His company, founded in 2009, raised $11 million in 2018 to develop new materials and hardware technologies for indoor gardens. Now, he and the Click & Grow team are taking the tools they used to build large-scale gardens and bringing them into the home.

Lepp calls his tech “hyper-local farming,” and he claims that what he and his team created is entirely unique.

“We’re the only ones in both vertical farming and smaller indoor growing device segment who have figured out how to provide the future of sustainable food while being profitable and having a global reach,” he said. “Compared to big vertical farms we’ve looked at what’s the real problem of vitamin-rich foods like leafy greens—it’s the overly long supply chains that produce waste, nutritional degradation, and transport emissions. The greens from vertical farms still go through the traditional food supply chain, albeit they’re fresher, cleaner, and come from a more local urban farm, they sit in stores, get moved around and half go to waste in a dark corner of a fridge. Unlike vertical farms, we’ve taken a step out of the traditional supply chain and figured out the only sustainable solution, both in terms of nature and business, and that is growing food at the place of consumption.”

View fullsize

Photo: Click & Grow

The Click & Grow 25, which is currently available through Kickstarter, costs $399 for early birds and consists of a frame, containers, and lights. The plants grow out of coffee-pod-like earth nuggets and the whole system is designed for minimal interaction. The Smart Soil pods contain calibrated dirt and nutrients and the system waters the plants automatically.

Lepp’s goal was to make the system as small and simple as possible.

“In 2018 we looked at the numbers and figured out that a family of 4 could feasibly grow a fifth of their food plate in expendable living space, on just 80 square feet of wall at home, for example,” he said. “The idea went through different experiments and prototypes through the years, mainly focusing on how to integrate a garden of this size into even a small New York City apartment and into anyone’s busy lifestyle with its ease of use.”

The team plans to ship in February 2022, and there are a number of permutations of the garden product, which you can stack them against a wall for maximum usage of space. An app will tell you when you add water and when your greens are ready to nosh.

The product is already fully funded to the tune of more than $227,000 and counting, and it looks like just the thing for folks who might need to feed a hungry family or just a hungry rabbit.

John Biggs

John Biggs is a writer from Ohio who lives in Brooklyn. He likes books, watches, and his dog. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo. Signal: +16468270591 Telegram: @johnbiggs

Lead photo: Photo: Click & Grow

USA - ILLINOIS - Tasty, Fresh And Sustainable

Glenview Man's Hydroponic Farm

Uses Technology To Grow Garden Variety Produce

View fullsize

5/12/2021

By Dave Oberhelman
doberhelman@dailyherald.com

This is not your grandfather's farm.

It's not Aviad Sheinfeld's grandfather's farm, either -- but Wiseacre Farm is a bridge between childhood days spent on grandparents Yechezkel and Hadassah Gluzman's farm in an Israeli moshav and Sheinfeld's modern training.

That combination has resulted in some of the best greens his customers have ever tasted, grown indoors by futuristic, sustainable methods.

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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

"I don't know if it was a goal. I never thought about becoming a farmer. I was always good with computers, so working with computers was kind of the assumed path," said Sheinfeld, 49, of Glenview.

"I think my childhood experiences on the farm really gave me more of an ingrained appreciation for what it takes to grow food. The thing I remember most is the apple orchards and the peaches my grandparents grew, but they also grew roses and sheep, so also animals."

There are no animals, roses, or peaches at Wiseacre Farm, a rectangular, 320-square-foot container farm inside a warehouse Sheinfeld rents in an industrial area at 1975 N. Lake Terrace, Glenview.

Wiseacre's specialty, available by 10-week subscriptions through www.wiseacre.farm, is leafy greens. A recent delivery included six heads of lettuce of differing varieties. Another package will offer the lettuce plus herbs and other greens -- things like parsley, chives, Thai basil, red-veined sorrel, curly kale with chard.

Sheinfeld sometimes delivers his produce the day it's harvested. Reviews are strong.

"Most of our customers have remarked that they had no idea that lettuce, basil -- fill in the blank, whatever produce -- tastes that way," said Sheinfeld's daughter, Yael, who is finishing her last semester at Northeastern University in Boston, but also handling Wiseacre marketing and communications.

"I think it's hard to understand just how much the taste disappears with travel, with chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides, with just time, honestly, and sitting on a grocery store shelf," she said.

Growing crops indoors in Wiseacre Farm's controlled hydroponic environment eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides. Serving customers within about a 10-mile radius also lends a neighborly appeal.

"It's not just buying your food from anonymous company X," Aviad said.

His father, Sam, also works on the farm. Yael -- and occasionally Aviad and Kari Sheinfeld's two teenage boys, Rahm and Lev -- are fourth-generation farmhands.

Finalizing financing and incorporation in 2018, in November 2019 Sheinfeld received his container farm from Freight Farms of Boston. He said there's a couple hundred of these repurposed shipping container farms worldwide. When he needs advice he reaches farmers in Alaska, Minnesota, Tennessee, even Tasmania.

The interior includes vertical panels about 10 feet tall in which the plants soak up rays of LED lights embedded into opposing panels. The plant panels can be removed and placed horizontally when the plants are ready for harvesting.

The media is not soil but water, to which nutrients are added automatically, manually controlled by computer. Hydroponic methods are 98% more water-efficient than traditional farming, Yael said. Through recycling irrigation water and capturing the water transpired by the plants, on average the farm uses less than 5 gallons of water a day. On very humid days, the farm will capture more water than it uses.

Nutrients, drip irrigation, temperature, humidity, lighting -- all are computer-controlled.

"As farming goes, it's kind of posh," Aviad Sheinfeld said.

"The thing about this farm is it's very technically advanced, so it kind of marries my initial interest in agriculture and my insatiable appetite for technological gadgets all into one big toy," he said.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and added DePaul University master's degrees in network communications and information security and in computational finance.

First working as a software engineer with Motorola, he veered into stay-at-home dad mode after he and Kari, an attorney, started having children. The couple sent their kids to the Science & Arts Academy in Des Plaines, where Aviad served three years as board chairman. During that time, the academy explored hydroponics as part of the curriculum.

"That's kind of where I caught the bug, so to speak," he said.

No bugs at Wiseacre Farm. There is lots of energy consumption.

"We have lights that are powered by electricity and we use a lot of technology, so that is one resource that we use a lot of," Yael Sheinfeld said.

And still ...

"What's wonderful is, due to our partnership with Arcadia (Power, a renewable energy company out of Washington, D.C.) all of the electricity that we consume now is 100 percent offset with wind-generated, renewable energy. So it sort of allows us to keep that focus, knowing that's the main resource we still need to use, but doing that in a more sustainable way," she said.

For lettuce, from seed to harvest it takes only 8 weeks for the container farm to grow the equivalent of 2 acres of traditional farmland, Aviad said. He plans on about six annual growing cycles.

His first crop came through last March, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially targeting restaurants for his produce, he shifted to a farm-to-table model. Customers also can now pick up goods at the farm itself on Saturdays, though preordering is a must. All packages and purchasing options are available at www.wiseacre.farm.

In its short time, Wiseacre Farm has gained acclaim beyond consumer taste buds. It won Silver for innovation in the Glenview Natural Resources Department's 2020 Environmental Sustainability Awards, and on March 28 the farm was featured in a segment of the History channel's "Modern Marvels" series highlighting "The Future of Food."

After a year, Aviad Sheinfeld said the process has become "a little less magical," but he still gets a kick out of it. Imagine what Hadassah and Yechezkel Gluzman might think.

"You put seed in a plug, and even a few days later when it pops out, I'm amazed," Aviad said.

"I do understand it, but I still don't believe how amazing it is that a plant grows out of this little, tiny seed and a few weeks later you have a head of lettuce or arugula."

Lead Photo: Wiseacre Farm owner Aviad Sheinfeld looks over some of the plants grown at his hydroponic farm in Glenview. Brian Hill | Staff Photographer

Global Investment In Agri-Food-Tech Surged To $ 22.3 Billion

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5 May 2021

Finistere Ventures report reveals $ 5 billion invested in Agtech and $ 17.3 billion invested in Foodtech in 2020. Finistere Ventures expects 2021 to dwarf 2020 numbers as capital continues to flood into agtech.

According to Finistere Ventures’ 2020 AgriFood Tech Investment Review, a report developed in collaboration with PitchBook Data, total global investment in agrifood tech companies in 2020 surged to $ 22.3 billion – $ 5B in ag-tech and $ 17.3B in food-tech – continuing to grow at 50% CAGR (2010-2020); Finistere expects 2021 to exceed this record year based on early investment data.

Fear of missing out

“While 2020 presented some interesting and, at times, surprising outcomes for the agrifood sector, we saw fear turn into fear of missing out (FOMO) with favorable results for startups, particularly those in later stage situations with meaningful revenue and strong growth stories,” said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures.

According to Kukutai, low interest rates and a soaring equity market have provided a backdrop unseen in the relatively short history of the sector. “Investors attracted to the potential disruption of massive total addressable markets fueled increases in investment across all stages and segments,” he said.

Race for innovation access is heating up

Based on the report, the race for innovation access is heating up and creating a new level for agrifood investing. A renewed focus on climate change and carbon offsets is gaining momentum, and rising ESG interest is spilling over into venture-backed companies across agrifood.

Involvement from new or non-traditional players – family offices, large pension and sovereign wealth groups, late-stage PE – swelled and the role of CVCs across the space continued to grow. 2020 saw 8054 unique investors participate across over 9000 transactions in the agri-food space.

Key ag-tech findings include:

• Due to the industry’s successful adaptation in the midst of the pandemic, investment into ag-tech continued to expand at a staggering pace through the end of 2020, with the $ 5B total capital invested comprising almost one-third of the $ 15.9B raised across ag-tech sectors since 2010

• Late-stage deals and mega-rounds proliferated as investors rallied to support existing portfolio companies and the composition of investors continued to diversify, fueling sustained growth with the median for late-stage deals reaching record heights at $ 67.6M

• CVCs considerably increased activity in the ag-tech arena in 2020, participating in 107 funding rounds

• Biotech kept its stronghold as the top ag-tech investment area, attracting $ 1.3B in 2020, and starting off 2021 strong with $ 268.2M secured in the first quarter.

• Interest in indoor ag spiked, driven by supply chain and sustainability factors, as well as growing consumer preference for local, fresh produce with superior taste and quality –reaching $ 1.3B in funding for 2020, more than doubling YoY from $ 601M raised in 2019

• Due in large part to pandemic pressures, animal tech investment exploded in 2020 reaching $ 847.8M after lackluster interest over recent years

• Subsectors including digital technologies, precision agriculture, plant sciences, ag marketplace, and fintech also broke investment records in 2020 as stakeholders made their commitment to help growers manage climate change and overcome mounting sustainability pressures clear.

Investments and profits booming

According to Finister Ventures investments and profits are booming. “We expect 2021 to dwarf 2020 numbers as capital continues to flood into the technology categories with absolutely massive disruption potential like indoor ag, supply chain technologies, animal health, novel ingredients and alternative proteins,” said Kukutai.

Substantial consolidation and rise of distinct market leaders

“Valuations, deal totals and market sizes will continue to climb thanks to low interest rates, free-flowing capital, and trillions of dollars of pent-up consumer spending power. However, as the market inevitably right sizes and new categories of innovation emerge to meet these monumental shifts, we also expect substantial consolidation and the rise of distinct market leaders.”

• Finistere-Ventures-2020-AgriFood-Tech-Investment-Review

Hugo Claver

Web editor for Future Farming

Red Lobster CEO Kim Lopdrup Named Chairman of The Board For Kalera

Kim Lopdrup Provides Industry Expertise As Kalera Prepares For International Expansion And US listing of Its Shares

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May 12, 2021

Source: Kalera

ORLANDO, Fla., May 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalera (Euronext Growth Oslo ticker KAL, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the fastest-growing and largest vertical farming companies in the world and a leader in plant science for producing high-quality produce in controlled environments, today announced that Kim Lopdrup is appointed as new Chairman of Kalera as the company moves towards a US listing. Kim joined Kalera’s Board last year and remains CEO of Red Lobster.

This announcement comes on the heels of the news of Kalera’s appointment of Sonny Perdue, former US Secretary of Agriculture, and Maria Sastre to the Board of Directors. Current Chairman, Bjorge Gretland, will continue as a board member in the company. Bjorge became Chairman of the company in 2013 when the company only had a handful of employees. Now, the company has become one of the fastest-growing and largest vertical farming companies in the world with truly pan-US coverage.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Kim, a proven titan in the food and restaurant industry, become Chairman of our Board,” said Bjorge Gretland, current Kalera Chairman. “His knowledge and expertise span from securing the highest quality, traceable and sustainable seafood for his vast network of restaurants to leading companies through global expansion. These are skills that are invaluable to Kalera at this time. As Kalera moves towards a US listing of its stock, Kim is extremely well suited to take on the Chairman role.”  

Kim Lopdrup has been the Chief Executive Officer of Red Lobster, the world’s largest seafood restaurant company, since 2014. Under his leadership, Red Lobster has greatly improved its food, service, and technology. All of Red Lobster’s seafood is now traceable, sustainable, and responsibly sourced. It has dramatically grown its off-premise sales by adding delivery and Rapid Red Curbside Pick-Up. Red Lobster was recently recognized by Forbes on its 2021 list of America’s Best Large Employers and by Newsweek on its 2021 list of America’s Best Loyalty Programs. Kim was previously President of Specialty Restaurant Group and New Business for Darden Restaurants, where he was responsible for The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s, Seasons 52, Yard House, and Bahama Breeze as well as Darden’s international division, consumer packaged goods, and M&A. He has also previously served as Chief Operating Officer, North America, for Burger King Corporation and as CEO of the International Division for Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.    

“Kalera has a world-class management team and a disruptive technology that allows them to produce the highest-quality produce I have ever tasted in a way that is remarkably clean, sustainable and efficient. It is easy to see why customers get so excited once they try Kalera’s products or tour one of Kalera’s farms,” said Kim Lopdrup. “I am passionate about great food, food safety, nutrition, sustainability, innovation and international growth. Kalera is positioned to excel in all of these areas. I look forward to working with Daniel Malechuk, Kalera’s outstanding CEO, to make the most of these exciting opportunities.”

Kim serves on the boards of Wawa, Inc. (since 2006); Red Lobster (since 2014); Bob Evans Restaurants (since 2017), and Kalera (since 2020). He previously served on the boards of Rubio’s Restaurants (including during its IPO), 31 Ice Cream (a Japanese public company), and Hiram Walker & Sons, Ltd. (a Canadian company). He also served on the board of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida for 12 years, being named Board Member of the Year in 2011 and receiving National Service to Youth awards in 2010 and 2015. He is currently co-chair of Project Opioid. Orlando Business Journal named Kim a “CEO of the Year” in 2016. He holds a BBA from The College of William & Mary and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he won the Uhlmann Prize for best agribusiness research in 1984.

The appointment of Kim Lopdrup as Chairman of Kalera’s Board of Directors will be presented for approval by Kalera’s shareholders at a general meeting.

For further information:

Bjørge Gretland, Chairman
Email: bgretland@kalera.com

About Kalera

Kalera is a technology-driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and cleanroom standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistent high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact.

To learn more visit www.Kalera.com.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

New Solar Greenhouse With A Window To The Future Opens

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Vernon Graham@@vjgraham100

10-05-2021 | Farm Online

AUSTRALIA, Perth- The world's first clear solar glass greenhouse has been opened at Murdoch University's new grains research precinct in Perth. The glasshouse was built by Perth high-tech building materials company ClearVue Technologies using three different versions of its transparent solar photovoltaic glazing panels.

SOLAR GREENHOUSE: The world's first clear solar glass greenhouse at Perth's Murdoch University uses three different versions of ClearVue Technologies' transparent solar photovoltaic glazing panels.

The ClearVue technology turns windows into a generator of renewable energy.

The facility will be used by Murdoch University geneticist Professor Chengdao Li and his team to develop new plant breeding technologies and use them to develop commercial crop varieties.

Murdoch University Vice-Chancellor Professor Eeva Leinonen said the ClearVue greenhouse project was a number of years in the making but represented what universities and industry could achieve when they worked together.

"Murdoch's research strategy is focused on food, health, and the environment and the interconnections between each," Professor Leinonen said.

"I am delighted ClearVue has become an important new collaborator as we seek answers to wicked global problems - increased food demand, environmental sustainability and food safety."

Constructed using a $1.6 million grant from the federal government's AusIndustry Co-operative Research Centre Projects program, the greenhouse uses clear solar glass that not only lets natural sunlight through but also generates power using the unwanted UV and IR light wavelengths and converts these to power from photovoltaics at the perimeter of the window.

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SOLAR VISIONARY: ClearVue executive chairman Victor Rosenberg.

The ClearVue greenhouse has a range of sensors that record and present data in real-time providing scientists with accurate information relating to conditions like temperature, humidity, and the amount of light that plants are receiving.

This information is used to make automatic adjustments to air conditioning, lighting, fans, louvres, blinds, and reticulation systems which in turn allows scientists to maintain a constant micro-climate (23 to 26 degrees C) that provides optimum growing conditions - all while being powered by the energy generated by the ClearVue glass.

ClearVue Technologies executive chairman and founder Victor Rosenberg said ClearVue was also looking to expands into Japan, the US, and Europe.

He hoped to develop a carbon sink that would capture all the carbon produced by the various equipment in the greenhouse and turn it into food-grade carbon dioxide which could be fed to the plants to boost growth.

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ROOM WITH A VIEW: Murdoch University's new clear solar glass greenhouse.

"Estimates indicate the world's arable land has reduced by one third in the past 40 years," Mr Rosenberg said.

"By 2050, two-thirds of the world's population is predicted to be urbanized, which will further impact the availability of land for agricultural production."

He said the ability to control the microclimate within the ClearVue greenhouse created an optimum growing environment to achieve higher yields.

Leafy plants required protection from harmful UV rays in the same way humans need to protect their skin, he said.

Plants did this naturally by producing a waxy substance that shielded them from harmful UV rays.

Mr Rosenberg said ClearVue glass blocked these UV rays so the energy required by plants to create the protective layer on leafy vegetables can be redirected to growing more produce.

Source and Photo courtesy of Farmonline