Exploring The Costs And Benefits of Indoor Agriculture

Leafy GreRobert Colangelo and Matt Roy

Yesterday, the Indoor Agtech kicked off its virtual event, joined by many participants. One, of the many seminars, was about 'Exploring the costs and benefits of indoor agriculture'. Robert Colangelo, Founding Farmer at Green Sense Farms, kicked off the seminar by asking what CEA means to Matt Roy, VP Business Development CEA at Tanimura & Antle. Roy answered, “CEA to me, means anything grown inside. There’s a lot of innovation and disruption happening in the space and I think there’s going to be a lot of different technologies that are going to provide the right solutions here.”

Colangelo: “Is it true that, according to the myth, the leafy greens supply chain is broken and where can it be improved?”
Roy stated that one of the misconceptions out there is that there’s this big waste field on the West Coast on how products are grown, harvested, and shipped out. “It’s actually highly innovative and from innovation, technology, and sustainability standpoint, there’s a lot of exciting things happening out there. I continue to be amazed at how well we are able to get fresh fruits and vegetables across the country. A lot of things we’re trying to achieve indoors, in a lot of ways we have accomplished that outdoors. From growing it, getting it harvested efficiently, timely, and done food safely, we’re getting high quality, nutritious fresh produce across the country in a matter of days.”  

Colangelo: “Can you give us a quick thumbnail of the different touchpoints, from seed in the field to the supermarket, how does that level travel and where do you see waste along that line?”
Roy: Naturally, with any farming, indoor, or outdoor there is going to be some level of waste. Obviously, putting products on a truck for five days brings challenges and vulnerability along. A misperception is that all of the food is left in the field, but in a lot of ways, it’s organic material feeding the soil. Just because leaves are left in the field after harvesting, it might be viewed as waste, but it goes back in the dirt and provides nutrition to the soil.

Colangelo: "A challenge in vertical farming is packing on a large economy of scale. What are the challenges of packing as a smaller scaled farm with few centralized packing houses near? How do you get packing done economically?"
Roy: “Hyperlocal smaller farms bring value to the supply chain and continue to provide additional ways to provide nutritious products to consumers. I think it’s going to be one of the challenges, and it’s a huge component that is not talked about a lot. There’s a lot of discussion on the growing side, but I think that we need more conversation on what innovation looks like on the packing side. What is looks like for hydro-cooling, think of everything shipped out from the West Coast, is hydro-cooled. So, when growing indoors, pulling the heat out of the product to ensure you have the shelf life needed out of it. It’s a big piece that needs to be solved.

Colangelo: “Most of the packing equipment is geared to large-scale production and there's very little cost-effective low scale packing equipment out there. So I agree, that it’s an area that we all need to work out. Looking at product recall, there's been a number of recalls with field-grown lettuce, but I've not heard of any from a vertical farm. So, can you talk a little bit about health and safety, and food safety when it comes to field production versus indoor growing?”

Roy: “The challenge has been full case-level traceability. A lot of work was done around the first traceability initiative. But, until all channels of the supply chain jump all in together around traceability, it's going to continue to be a challenge rather outdoors or indoors. Controlling more elements inside allows to produce a safer product, but in a lot of ways, it creates more risk because it's easier to contaminate all of your crops. So it’s really an all-in from everybody jump in and says we're going to prioritize food safety. And yes, this product might be 50 cents or a dollar more of a product, but we're putting a premium on food safety. We know these ‘five golden rules’ they are compliant against and we're going to pay a premium for that. As a buyer, you’re not looking at food safety first, so it’s actually a broader conversation that impacts both indoor and outdoor. It's great to have you here with your unique perspective both as a buyer and now our producer.”

Colangelo: Vertical farming is the shiny new toy in agriculture. It's attracted tremendous media attention and VC investments. Mostly, VC seeks a high rate of return. How has VC investment impacted the business decision making in vertical farming operations?

Roy: “I think it creates a different pressure. Whereas, if you're a self-funded or institutionally funded organization, there's more of a long view on what you're doing and when you're crawled by VC money there's a higher expectation on the return. I think that in a lot of ways vertical is still early stage and technology has not gone to a point that had a mass scale to produce cost-effectively. The market has not matured enough to demand a premium to get those returns. The pressure impacts your day-to-day decisions as a business leader. Are you going to make the right decisions, long-term, for the help of a product in your business, or, are you going to make some short-term decisions that might not allow long-term success in your business?

Colangelo: “Banks don’t provide debt finances to new ventures. Private equity and VC being the only few sources, how do new ideas get funded in this market?”

Roy: “In the last four of five years, from an investment side people have really have given more attention to how much food is consumed, and the size of the industries, the supply chains around products. In general, the energy coming into the food space, investing, bringing innovation and new ideas to disruption is all very exciting, but I think you speak to that challenge. ‘How do you balance funding your business to get started, while still staying true to your principles and creating something long-term?’ So I think that these many people were battling with these challenges. From a macro view to me, it's exciting to see a lot more VC money coming into fresh produce than you’ve seen historically. With that will come continued innovation and disruption.” 

View fullsize

For more information:
Green Sense Farms
Robert Colangelo, Founding Farmer  
www.greensensefarms.com 

View fullsize

Tanimura & Antle
Matt Roy, VP Business Development CEA 
www.taproduce.com 

View fullsize

Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit
www.indooragtechnyc.com 

View fullsize

Publication date: Fri 24 Jul 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© HortiDaily.com

Farming Goes Vertical

06-08-2020   |    This is money

View fullsize

Top of the agenda for many big firms across Britain and the world in recent years is to find ways to help reduce their environmental footprint and become more sustainable. This has been driven by consumer demand for change and warnings over irreversible damage by large companies, who can make small improvements to help that add up. One such way is vertical farming and it has seen one middle-class supermarket favourite get involved in some stores.

·       Vertical farming works by growing fruits and veg in vertically stacked layers 

·       Claims it can significantly reduce environmental damage  

·       M&S Simply Food is one of the latest UK retailers to introduce vertical farming 

Marks and Spencer is the latest UK retailer to adopt vertical farming into its stores, with a selection of herbs now freshly grown and harvested in stores across London for shoppers to buy.

View fullsize

Vertical farming works by growing fruits and vegetables in vertically stacked layers inside

It has partnered with Infarm, a fast-growing vertical farming firm based in Berlin, that also now operates in other supermarket chains across Europe.

Ocado has also invested £17million in vertical farming while John Lewis plans to grow salads in store in the future in a partnership with LettUs Grow. 

Aside from Marks and Spencer, Infarm has recently partnered with the online sustainable supermarket Farmdrop, which stocks a selection of herbs and salad leaves. 

It added it will be announcing some new retailers it has teamed up with in the next few months. 

Inform also works with a number of chefs in Europe, some of whom have installed farms into their restaurants so they can access the herbs at the freshest point, whenever they want.

In the UK, it supplies produce to Zala Grill in Camden Lock, but it doesn't have a farm in the restaurant.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Infarm currently has eight restaurants with farms including the Michelin starred Sky Kitchen at Vienna House Andel's. 

How does it work? 

Vertical farming works by growing vegetables in stacked layers that takes place in a controlled environment, often without the use of soil and instead the use of light energy.  

Emmanuel Evita, global communications director at Infarm, said: 'Our approach allows us to be climate independent and grow under any conditions, despite changing climate, extreme weather, or disasters which normally interfere with food production and distribution.

'Our vertical farms can be installed directly in any urban space, which is where the majority of the global population will live in the next few decades.'

Compared to conventional farming methods, Infarm argues that vertical farming uses less space, less water, and less transportation. 

Its plants are also all locally-grown and free of chemical pesticides, making them better for both consumers and the planet.

When the food comes to harvest, it's just one person in store, moving the produce about a meter from the growing with no machinery, storage or long-distance haulage. 

Infarm's hubs are used to initiate the growth seeds. 

Once these seeds have developed to a certain maturity, they are delivered to the in-store farms at retailers, to complete their growth cycle and be offered to the consumer.

The hubs grow seeds across more than 65 combinations of herbs, microgreens and leafy greens and also deliver special varieties, like Peruvian Mint or Wasabi Rucola, directly to chefs for use that day.  

View fullsize

The fruit and vegetables growing in vertical farming takes place in a controlled environment

One reason vertical farming can help reduce the ecological waste associated with traditional industrial farming, according to Infarm, is that it uses 95 percent less water and 75 percent less fertiliser. 

It also uses no chemical pesticides, no genetically modified seeds and says it is able to save 14 litres of water per kilogram of produce.

Evita said: 'Growing fresh produce creates a huge environmental burden on our planet. 

'People want to eat the same foods at all times of the year, and this, combined with lengthy transportation routes, and overtaxed soil take a heavy toll not just on the environment but also on the taste and nutrition of what we eat.'

He believes that more retailers are now interested in vertical farming due to the current climate uncertainty.

However, vertical farming is not the cheapest resource out there and has been predicted by some agriculture experts to be three to five times more expensive than traditional farming.

But Infarm says that the product they provide is worth the extra money, especially with the benefits it brings to the environment. 

Retailers set the price for the produce Infarm provides in-store with M&S currently charging £1.20 for herbs. 

It said the price does not tend to be significantly higher than their other produce offerings. 

View fullsize

Vertical farming helps reduce the ecological waste associated with industrial farming

Evita added: 'We find that in recent years, investors from around the globe have been drawn to innovation that addresses the need for sustainable solutions to the challenges that affect our planet.

'Certainly, these are challenges that many countries and regions are dealing with now, and they are becoming increasingly urgent for all of us.' 

Coronavirus has also posed many problems to the vertical farming industry, including the need to implement social distancing measures at hubs, although Infarm said it has been able to keep growing during this period. 

It added that the global pandemic has seen increased interest from both investors and consumers in the industry with Infarm clients experiencing a 222 percent sales growth in the second quarter of this year.

This means the business has more than doubled its employees since June last year. 

The future of vertical farming definitely looks bright. Infarm started just under a decade ago and since then, it has grown to more than 900 farms in supermarkets and distribution centres all around the world, allowing it to harvest over 250,000 plants a month and growing.

It is now expanding from just Europe to the United States with Kroger and Canada with Sobeys as well as recently announcing plans to enter Japan and build the first vertical farming network in Asia through a new partnership with Konikuniya. 

Source: This is money

Photo Courtesy of Infarm

Agtech Sector Blooms As More Dollars And Startups Rush In

View fullsize

Christine Hall | August 20, 2020.

Twitter: ChristineMHall

Farming has been around for thousands of years, but investments and startup activity in agricultural technology, commonly known as “agtech” or “agritech,” have only exploded over the past five years.

In fact, in each of the last two years, venture capitalists invested $4 billion in startups in the agtech space, according to Crunchbase data. Based on the $2.6 billion already given out as of Aug. 14 of this year, 2020 is poised to repeat or even exceed the previous years.

Better Food Ventures Partner Seana Day began tracking agtech startups more than five years ago. She said that farming is an area that isn’t typically tech-enabled. In fact, COVID-19 reminded the world about the food supply chain, she added.

“There was a disconnect between demand signals and supply, which is why you saw empty grocery shelves,” she said. “At the same time, the dairy farmers were dumping milk because they didn’t have a process in place to massively produce small consumer packaging.”

Day estimates that global food and agriculture fund managers have about $130 billion in assets under management, which is driving a surge in investments as well as a shift in thinking.

Farmers have historically been resistant to change, Day said, but at the end of the day, they are rational business people. That means that if a startup can show a farmer a product or service that will boost the return on investment—increasing revenue or decreasing costs—the company will have a better chance of making the sale.

The challenge comes in for tech companies that offer apps meant to save time and increase job productivity, areas that aren’t necessarily needed for farmers, she added.

There is also a shift in legacy food companies thinking digitally. Day points to Tyson Foods as an example. The meat producer earlier this month promoted Dean Banks to CEO. He joined Tyson as president last December from Alphabet’s high-tech incubator X.

“That is a huge signal from a company making bold moves, saying ‘we want to be a leader in this space,’” Day added.

New investments

This year has been particularly busy for the agtech innovation sector, as startups secured both big and small investments.

One of the largest went to Farmers Business Network, which raised $250 million in Series F funding earlier this month. Day said the San Carlos, California-based company was one of the pioneers in e-commerce models, helping farmers optimize their financial performances by finding demand for supply.

Meanwhile, Berkeley-based Pivot Bio announced a $100 million funding round in April, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Temasek, to scale its microbial nitrogen technology. The company said the technology increases crop yields, and in turn, farmers’ revenues. Biodesign startup Geltor brought in $91.3 million in a Series B round in July, led by CPT Capital, to make proteins, such as collagen and elastin, but without animals. The startup’s products are used in beauty, and food and beverage products.

One of the newest is iFarm, a Finland-based startup providing indoor farming technology for growing fresh greens, berries and vegetables. On Thursday, it announced that Gagarin Capital led its $4 million investment with other investors including Matrix Capital, Impulse VC, IMI.VC and several angel investors.

iFarm, founded in 2017, has more than 50 ongoing projects with clients in Europe and the Middle East for 2020, Max Chizhov, co-founder and CEO, told Crunchbase News. The company will use the funding to develop its iFarm Growtune tech platform; expand into new regions in Eastern and Northern Europe and the Middle East; and will experiment with growing strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, radishes and other crops.

“We think this is an interesting time to be in agtech, and we think we are in the right time and right place, especially as there is more attention on food and agtech and a pipeline of investments,” Chizhov said. “We are focusing on how to change the supply chain, and we believe we are one of the solutions to solve this problem.”

Last week, we also reported on a new company, Unfold, which is focused on vertical farming. Bayer’s investment arm, Leaps by Bayer, and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek infused $30 million into the new company.

Unfold’s President and CEO John Purcell said he is bullish on the farming sector, seeing a need for genetics in vertical farming. The company has an agreement for certain rights to germplasm from Bayer’s vegetable portfolio that includes lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.

“Technology has to catch up with the promise,” he said. “There has been an overall trend in produce moving toward vertical farming and greenhouse, but the hard part is you have to have the tech to make it feasible.”

The “tech” in question is lighting, mechanics and a system in place. Then it has to be competitive with the other forms of production so potential customers will see its value, Purcell added.

View fullsize

New areas of agtech

Purcell sees three promising areas for the agtech industry:

• Major urban areas, where there is a desire for local, fresh food;

• Self-sufficiency, or helping places where there is limited arable land; and

• Produce supply chains, or getting food from the farm to fulfillment centers.

Ashley Tyrner, founder and CEO of Farmbox Direct, thinks there should be one more area: food as medicine. She is in the process of raising $10 million for her East Coast-based organic and natural produce delivery service.

Tyrner said she saw her business grow more than 2,000 percent during COVID-19. In that time, Farmbox also began working with Medicare to provide box services to patients identified as those who need to eat healthier to manage chronic disease.

“The climate has changed in Silicon Valley, and VCs are welcoming because we are doing food as medicine,” she added. “We were the first to find an insurance company to work with us to help patients change their eating patterns. We are creating a new space here.”

In the area of crop protection is Canada-based MustGrow Biologics, an agricultural biotechnology company taking natural compounds from mustard seeds and turning them into pesticides that fortify the soil.

The pesticide industry is valued at $65 billion, but most are synthetics, Corey Giasson, president and CEO of MustGrow, told Crunchbase News in an interview. The biologics side of the pesticide industry is growing, but is still worth only about one-sixth that amount, he said.

The slower growth is due to biologics in the past not being as effective as synthetic fertilizers, so MustGrow has been doing a lot of studies to show that its product works.

“Farmers want to use products that are healthy and safe, but need something effective to grow a crop that will suppress pests,” he said. “We also have a growing population globally, and we need to feed people, doing it in a safe, environmentally sustainable way.”

New opportunities

Crunchbase data shows that is the most active agtech venture investor, having made 20 venture investments in the agtech space since it was founded 10 years ago. It was most recently involved in India-based Intello Labs’ $5.9 million Series A round. The company uses image matching and machine learning to measure the quality of crops.

View fullsize

A new player is FTW Ventures, led by Brian Frank, who on Thursday announced he is raising his first “problem-focused fund” aimed at early-stage food and agricultural startups.

Frank already raised the $4 million fund, in which he will invest in 15 to 20 deals at about $200,000 to $250,000. He has already made five investments, the most recent in April as a part of Plantible Foods’ $4.6 million seed round. He was also an investor in Plantible’s pre-seed round. The San Marcos, California-based B2B food technology company is developing plant-based protein.

Frank predicts some of the hotter areas will include hardware and automation, software and SaaS, novel products–such as Plantible–and personalized nutrition. He also said that consumers are driving the way food makes its way from the farm to the fork.

“I came into this sector from mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with a deep-seated passion for food,” he said in an interview. “There is a major shift in consumer trends as they look for more resilient and sustainable food. Climate change is both an effect of food and it impacts food. Plants can’t just move to a new climate, so we need to help them.”

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily

Indoor Growing vs. Traditional Greenhouse Growing

Today, in theory, there is enough food on the planet to feed approximately 12 billion people, but the way it is distributed around the world is inefficient and unsustainable. As food is transported across the entire globe, its shelf life or freshness tends to deteriorate considerably and a lot of food often goes to waste. Indoor growing is a step closer to a new situation – one in which it is possible to grow locally produced, fresh food all year round, regardless of the weather and external conditions. It may even enable us to change the face of the food industry.

However, this requires a different way of thinking. “Indoor growing is different from growing in a greenhouse in several ways,” says Fred Ruijgt, Market Development Indoor Growing. “In an automated, glass greenhouse you have to deal with external influences such as wind, rain, and sun. These variables need to be managed as effectively as possible, with or without additional technology. The grower is constantly working to achieve a stable climate for the crop. Indoor growing allows you to create your own optimal climate. The grower determines the growing conditions, from light level to air circulation.”

Fred Ruijgt

Comparing apples with oranges 
According to Fred, many investors try to compare indoor growing with traditional horticulture. “In terms of investment and profitability, it is difficult to compare them,” he says. “It’s like comparing apples with oranges. It’s important to understand the differences between traditional horticultural practices and indoor growing. You can’t simply calculate what a greenhouse yields per square meter and compare it to an indoor farm. In a greenhouse you have to consider the crop cycle and in which months you can harvest and thus what you can supply to your customers. With indoor growing you can supply all year round, creating more opportunities to reach supply agreements with customers. But you also need to invest.

Indoor growing offers some sustainability benefits because considerable savings can be made on water, nutrients and use of pesticides. But, compared to a traditional greenhouse, much more artificial lighting is required. Also, the location and local sales potential should be included in the comparison. After all, a traditional greenhouse is not even an option in some countries, whereas in the Netherlands, for example, it probably costs two to three times more to grow fresh produce in an indoor farm than it does in a greenhouse.” Another difference is that traditional horticulture has traditional sales channels such as auctions, traders and cooperatives. That’s not the case with indoor growing – it’s more important to understand and collaborate with the entire chain.

Food security and food safety
The fact that indoor growing doesn’t have traditional sales channels is precisely what makes it special. “Indoor growing is clean and pesticide-free, resulting in high-quality and plannable production. An indoor farm can also be built in urban areas, which means that there’s always fresh, locally grown produce available for consumers. The product is often shipped directly from the indoor farm to, for example, the supermarket, so the route to the consumer is shorter. Therefore, in the case of indoor growing, it is important that the facility is an integrated part of the total chain: from suppliers to customers. That keeps the route nice and short,” continues Fred.

An indoor farm can be situated anywhere in the world and in any type of climate, whereas it is often not possible to build a greenhouse in certain areas. Fred: “In Singapore, for example, no more greenhouses can be built because there’s no agricultural or horticultural land available. An indoor farm offers a solution because it can be set up inside an existing building. This is an efficient alternative and it greatly reduces the dependence on food imports.”

Down to the consumer
The technology has already been proven in a number of large-scale indoor growing projects. So why isn’t this way of growing more common? “That’s because of several factors,” explains Fred. “Right now, indoor farms are mainly being integrated into existing retail chains. In addition, the demand largely comes from areas with a high average income. The existing retail chains have a vision and they always want to deliver good-quality products, so it makes sense for them to invest in this. But what are consumers prepared to pay for a fresh head of lettuce, for example,? If consumers start to value fresh and good-quality food more, entrepreneurs will be more willing to invest in a more sustainable way of producing food.”

View fullsize

For more information:
Priva
www.priva.com
contact.priva@priva.nl 

View fullsize

Publication date: Tue 18 Aug 2020

Coronavirus May Lead To More Indoor-Grown Produce Coming To Your Local Supermarkets

View fullsize

View fullsize

Aug 13, 2020

Andria Cheng Senior Contributor Retail

I cover retail, from fashion to grocery, and its dance with technology

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted traditional U.S. food and agriculture supply chain and proven to lend a potential growth opportunity for plant-based meat companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. It also may translate to your seeing more produce from indoor vertical farms in the so-called AgTech space. 

Supermarket chain Albertsons and San Francisco-based indoor vertical farm startup Plenty said this week that Plenty will supply its indoor-grown baby kale and other produce eventually to more than 430 stores across California beyond select Albertsons-owned Safeway and other stores in the Bay Area that currently, stock Plenty produce. 

The startup, which is backed by investors including Softbank, Amazon AMZN 0.0% CEO Jeff Bezos and Google GOOGL +0.6%’s former CEO Eric Schmidt, has raised more than $400 million as of Jan. 1, according to PitchBook. That puts it in the unicorn club of startups with valuation exceeding $1 billion. 

When fresh produce demand soared at the start of the pandemic, the companies said Plenty was able to boost production to supply more produce to relieve store shortages. 

“When COVID hit, that severely shocked the food chain and distribution centers were closed,” Matt Barnard, Plenty CEO, said on financial network CNBC Wednesday. “There were instances when Plenty was the only thing on the shelf. We were able to prove the extreme reliability of our farms and short food chain with our local farms.”

Like its rivals including AeroFarms and Bowery Farming, these indoor farms make part of the growing crop of AgTech companies that often have some sort of environmental sustainability pitch and tout the use of data science and other technology to increase crop yield and make different parts of agriculture more efficient and traceable. Plenty, for instance, said its vertical indoor farm uses less than 1% of land and 5% of water compared to traditional farming. 

In another sign of growing interest in the space, Oracle ORCL -0.3% Co-founder Larry Ellison and physician Dr. David Agus in July formed Sensei Holdings that also includes an indoor-farm AgTech unit. 

Investors also look to be taking a growing interest in the space, especially against the uncertain impact of the pandemic and how it may upend the global food supply chain. 

AgTech venture capital investment totaled $2.2 billion in the first two quarters of this year, after a record 2019 when $2.7 billion in total was raised, according to a study by Pitchbook and VC firm Finistere Ventures, which also invests in Plenty. This is in sharp contrast to Pitchbook data showing VC funding in the battered-retail sector having slumped by more than half this year.

In the so-called food-tech category, $4.8 billion already has been raised the first six months of this year, compared to $7 billion in total last year, the research shows. Most of the funding for both the food and agriculture tech spaces this year came in the second quarter when Covid-19 escalated to become a global crisis.

As consumers increased online orders, that translated to delivery companies Deliveroo, DoorDash and Instacart rounding out the top four startups, along with plant-based meat company Impossible Foods, in getting most VC funding in the first half of this year, according to the study. A case in point, for publicly-traded Uber UBER -1.2%, Uber Eats-led delivery business has beat its mainstay ride-sharing bookings.

After the pandemic idled or shut meat plants and caused spikes in prices, Beyond Meat, which went public last year, said in May it would introduce “heavier discounting against animal protein.” Company CEO Ethan Brown said then meat supply disruptions gave Beyond “an opportunity for consumers to be aware of a different model.”

The pandemic continues to sow its disruptive effect across different sectors of the economy.

Related on Forbes: As coronavirus batters retailers, mall owner Simon Property sees an opportunity in bankrupt chains

Related on Forbes: Uber’s biggest business is officially no longer ride sharing

Lead photo: With coronavirus having disrupted food supply chain, that may provide more growth opportunities for ... [+] LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES

Infarm, The New Generation of Farm

View fullsize

Labeled as the new generation of farmers, German startup Infarm farms everywhere—in supermarkets, restaurants, bars and warehouses (Credit: Infarm)

View fullsize

by Melanie Epp

August 11, 2020

Infarm was founded in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and brothers Erez and Guy Galonska. They built the world’s largest in-store farm in Metro’s flagship store in Paris. 

(This article was first published in our sister publication AgriExpo)

Labeled as the new generation of farm, German startup Infarm farms everywhere—in supermarkets, restaurants, bars, and warehouses—lowering the carbon print by cutting out millions of miles between the farm and the final consumer.

It all started when two people from Israel came to Berlin and couldn’t find their typical herbs—and couldn’t understand why, when they tried, the herbs wouldn’t grow in Berlin. They picked up the idea of vertical farming and a hydroponic method of farming to create their farming system which resembles a giant glass-door fridge. They understood, then, that people would no longer need to import herbs from distant countries because they could be grown on-site, explained Key Account Manager at Infarm Jakob Peter

“We can grow herbs throughout the year at the same price. We’re focusing on cities for our pilot projects, but we’ll go into rural areas and plan on producing 1000 farms in the next years.”

The startup always looks for places in need before deciding where they should implement their idea in order to fill in the gaps. They’ve already put their farm in restaurants, including Good Bank Restaurant in Berlin, with several other projects underway. They’re currently operating more than 50 farms across Berlin in supermarket aisles, restaurants kitchens, and distribution warehouses.

The company has deployed operational farms in Copenhagen, London, and Seattle. One thousand in-store farms are being rolled out in Germany alone. Infarm is expanding to other European markets every day, partnering with leading supermarket chains, and planning its North America expansion program. For co-founder Osnat Michaeli,

“Recognizing the requirements of our customers, we have recently launched a new product: the DC farm, a ‘Seed to Package’  production facility tailored to the needs of retail chains’ distribution centers.”

View fullsize

Courtesy of Infarm

How the Farm Functions

The farms are connected to the internet and information is exchanged via the cloud. So they can “communicate with all the farms” no matter where they are. This hyper-connected solution is all about urban precision farming.

It’s 2m² with several levels and can produce 1,200 herbs per month (per farm), or 800 heads of lettuce at 800 grams each. It’s a modular system and can have both herbs and lettuce. It can be placed in offices, dead space, storage facilities and idle buildings.

The farm allows exact monitoring of light, climate, pH value of water, etc. and can be tailored depending on the type of produce. The company ensures transportability and availability of herbs and lettuce via the information stored in the cloud, attributing the system the title “harvest on demand”. Infarm generates transparency for end-users and can initiate discussion between family members when they see the farm. But the product has to be good for this concept to work.

“A fancy vertical farm with the best LED lighting system would be useless if the end result equalled bad produce.”

Its hydroponic system uses 90% less water than conventional farming and only needs water replacement twice a month for hygiene purposes. No pesticides are needed and the product can be taken directly from the farm, so it’s convenient. Herbs are always delivered with the roots and must be placed in water to remain fresh and good for two days. The door of the farm is always locked and only trained InFarm employees can open the door for hygiene reasons.

“We offer a service. We don’t sell a farm. We own the farm and you pay a monthly rent. We harvest for you. Our technicians come when there are issues with the farm.”

As each member thinks like a farmer, having a background in farming, they define themselves as a farming business. They even produced all the technical products involved in the farming system themselves.

View fullsize

Courtesy of Infarm

Retailers willingly welcome the concept as it provides a larger variety for clients, and an added bonus is that retailers can set their own prices.

After introducing the concept of in-store farming to the world from Metro Cash & Carry in Berlin, Infarm and Metro partnered again. In 2018, they inaugurated the world’s largest in-store farm in Metro’s flagship store Paris. The 80 m2 vertical farm produces approximately 4 tonnes of premium quality herbs, leafy greens, and microgreens annually. Metro will become completely self-sufficient in its herb production with its own in-store farm.

This urban farming solution of in-store farming impacts the environment in a positive way: It reduces CO2 simply by cutting down the supply chain, avoiding major transportations from various countries. The startup is currently in contact with universities to do research on how much CO2 they’re reducing compared to the typical supply chain.

View fullsize

Basil at Metro

View fullsize

Fifth Generation Grower Follows In His Father's Footsteps

Matthew, son of Grahame Dunling

View fullsize

Worldwide LocalSalads is a new vertical farming company, currently raising funds to build their first fully commercial warehouse farm. The company was started by Matthew Dunling, who is the 5th generation grower of his family and son of Grahame Dunling. He has a passion to follow in his father’s footsteps and is powered by the knowledge that he has been taught by a pioneer in the industry.

Building his own view
Matthew has been working quietly behind the scenes as he builds what he calls a game-changing view on how vertical farming should be operating. "For the past few years I have been watching how vertical farms are being set up and operated and I still believe that so far from a truly commercial perspective they are a long way from being what experienced growers would call a commercial farm."  Matthew’s view stems from his family's long involvement in commercial horticulture and growing up surrounded by commercial glasshouses in Yorkshire in the 1990s.

"I think when we are talking about sustainability, we have to realize that there are three elements to sustainability – social, environmental, and economical. Each of these has to have a positive impact and be profitable to allow the business to survive on its own and not on needing a constant stream of investment to allow it to survive." 

Project and business model
What is looking like an exceptional project and business model with huge scale for growth and expansion is an exciting venture for someone who has so much family history in the industry. 

"This farm will consist of a minimum of 2000 square meters, containing a fully automated system where we can produce quality produce which will bring the flavour back to salads. We have the most advanced technology allowing us to track, trace, and control every element in our warehouses from any location in the world. We can do this by using our custom computer system which has all the control parameters integrated on-board to realize the required conditions from climate, CO2, irrigation to lights, and nutrition.

"This feedback will be presented in data and graphical overviews allowing us to make decisions according to the required circumstances, and then via dashboards, the required settings can be made. So, a unit in the UAE can be controlled from the UK and every measurement unit changed remotely. Our track and trace system will also allow me to see daily sowings, harvest, and sales from anywhere in the world, therefore allowing us to anticipate and measure every detail from seed to harvest. With all this data we can guarantee the perfect crop for every punnet.

"The exciting part of this technology is that it is constantly learning and adapting based on crop requirements and growing results in combination with our domain knowledge and AI. Our product line to start with will be a combination of baby leaf salads and triple head lettuce, we will then introduce other crops which we have run successful trials on. We can produce the same quality and quantity daily and this ensures a 365-day supply chain allowing the consumer to have confidence in our brand."

Partnering with other companies
Matthew has partnered LocalSalads with some of the largest horticultural leaders from commercial growing on large scale projects around the world. "We have joined together some of the best companies in the world of horticulture, each with decades of experience, to create a bespoke commercial grow system that is unique to the industry. The ability to fully understand the ins and outs of growing and supplying an exceptional standard of crop to supermarkets while reducing our impact on the environment is the most important factor to me."

Worldwide LocalSalads are currently seeking investment to establish a commercial warehouse and to begin their expansion phase.

View fullsize

For more information:
Worldwide LocalSalads
Matthew Dunling, CEO
matthew@localsalads.com 

View fullsize

Publication date: Fri 14 Aug 2020

2n​d​ Annual Global CEA Census Announced: CEA Amidst COVID-19

The 2020 Global Census will run from July 7 2020 until August 10 2020.

8/14/20 UPDATE:

The Global Census has been extended

& will run thru this Weekend

7 July 2020

AgTech leaders​ Autogrow​ and ​Agritecture Consulting​ have launched their​ 2n​d​ Annual Global CEA Census​, focusing on understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on controlled environment agriculture (CEA) operations around the world.

“We’re all operating in a unique situation right now and what’s required is a reality check. All of us, including growers, suppliers, distributors, government and financial institutions, need a clear view of what should be implemented, ensuring farm operators address a raft of challenges to continue to feed communities,” explains Autogrow CEO, Darryn Keiller.

“In every major market, media coverage of farms has made clear the high COVID-19 infection rate amongst farm workers, coupled with major challenges in getting their traditional immigration sourced labor across closed borders. Infection rates in food processing plants are another example.”

“It will take accelerated engagement between industry stakeholders to get us through the next 12 months and on into the future. Some farm operators have adapted well, whereas others will require additional financial intervention and modernize their approach to farming. We hope this Census will highlight the true impact of what’s happening and where the priorities lie.”

Last year, the 2019 Census reported on several areas including growth plans, agricultural experience, and profitability. This year, the Census will focus specifically on COVID-19 and whether decisions indicated last year have been affected.

“In 2019, we found 90% of respondents planned to increase their production area. We’re curious as to whether that is still the case, and if not, what other business changes are being implemented due to COVID-19,” says Agritecture Founder and CEO, Henry Gordon-Smith.

“The future is going to be about maintaining the health of workers, alongside the health of the business. Consumers will be looking for transparency around food sourcing, sustainable and local producers, and this is an opportunity for the CEA industry to take a lead in what will be our new normal.”

Recent figures released by the World Health Organization show the rapid spread of COVID-19 that has resulted in countries implementing various lockdown measures. This, in turn, has had a major impact on the entire food supply chain, including CEA farms that are key food producers around the world.

The 2020 Global Census will run from July 7 2020 until August 10 2020.

All completed submissions will go in the draw to win multiple prizes, including tickets to ​Agritecture Xchange​, a speaking spot in the conference, a feature on Agritecture’s blog, and a discount off an annual Folium subscription with every purchase of a ​Folium Sensor Starter Pack​.

TAKE THE SURVEY ​HERE​

READ TERMS & CONDITIONS ​HERE​

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Kylie Horomia, Autogrow Head of Communications

(e) Kylie.horomia@autogrow.com
(m) +6421 733 025
(w) ​https://autogrow.com/​ | ​www.farmroad.io
Briana Zagami, Agritecture Media Strategist
(e) ​briana@agritecture.com

View fullsize

About Autogrow

Autogrow leverages the power of technology, data science, and plant biology to provide indoor growers affordable, accessible, and easy-to-use innovation – 24/7, anywhere in the world.

Our solutions support growers and resellers in over 40 countries producing over 100 different crop types.

We are the experts in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and continue to stay ahead of a rapidly evolving landscape.

View fullsize

About Agritecture Consulting

Agritecture Consulting provides a comprehensive approach to CEA project development.

In operation since 2014, Agritecture has helped more than 100 organizations determine the feasibility of their ideas, validate their business strategies, recruit talent for their projects, and manage operational challenges.

Our job is to jumpstart your knowledge of CEA, help you navigate barriers to entry, make industry connections, and mitigate risk. Our consulting services are backed by several years of operations data and a team of experienced growers, engineers, and sustainability managers.

Temasek, Bayer Form Joint Vertical Farming Venture In California

View fullsize

Jovi Ho

 August 12, 2020

Temasek Holdings is partnering with German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer AG to create a new vertical farming venture headquartered in California, as part of Singapore’s plans to boost the city-state’s supply of sustainable, locally grown produce. 

The joint venture between Temasek and Leaps by Bayer, the impact investment arm of Bayer AG, will be a US entity with commercial and research and development operations in both California and Singapore. 

The new venture, Unfold, will focus on innovation in vegetable varieties with the goal of lifting the vertical farming space to the next level of quality, efficiency, and sustainability.

Instead of focusing on external infrastructure to support plant growth, Unfold will look within the plant itself. 

“By utilizing seed genetics (germplasm) from vegetable crops, Unfold will focus on developing new seed varieties coupled with agronomic advice tailored for the unique indoor environment of vertical farms,” says Bayer. 

Unfold has raised US $30 million (S$41.19 million) in its initial funding round and entered into an agreement for certain rights to germplasm from Bayer’s vegetable portfolio. 

Global food challenges are forcing countries to rethink traditional farming practices, says John Vaske, Head of Agribusiness at Temasek.

“We need to ensure secure farm-to-fork supply chains in urban settings while we also work to reduce the overall environmental impact of farming. Reducing food waste and improving the safety, traceability and nutritional value of food are all the more important as populations grow and demand for food expands. Investments in companies such as Unfold allow us and our partners to support innovative, sustainable solutions that will benefit all of us over the long term,” says Vaske. 

Back in 2018, Temasek acquired a 3.6% stake in Bayer for 3 billion euros (S$4.85 billion), bringing its total stake to about 4% with 31 million new shares. The share sale to Temasek was part of Bayer's efforts to fund its planned US$62.5 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.

However, according to the latest Bloomberg data, Temasek no longer appears to own a substantial stake in Bayer. 

Unfold’s President and CEO Dr. John Purcell will move from his role as Head of Vegetables R&D, Crop Science at Bayer. 

“As a company fully focused on the vertical farming industry, Unfold will combine leading seed genetics with the best agtech experts in order to dramatically advance productivity, flavor, and other consumer preferences,” says Purcell.

“We look forward to serving the market through partnerships with vertical farming operators, technology providers, and others across the produce supply chain.”

Prior to joining the food and agriculture industry, Purcell was a post-doctoral researcher at the United States Department of Agriculture from 1987 to 1989. He earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts. Purcell is also part owner of a family ranching operation in Montana.

Vertical farms, also known as indoor farms or plant facilities with artificial light (PFAL), help crops grow more quickly while using less space and fewer natural resources.

Investment in the vertical farming market has increased significantly in recent years mainly due to decreasing arable land, increasing market demand for local, sustainable produce, and migration towards mega-cities.

Singapore’s "30 by 30" agriculture goal aims for 30% of our nutritional needs to be produced locally by 2030, though this figure is smaller than 10% currently. 

According to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the 77 leafy vegetable farms here accounted for 14% of total consumption in 2019. 

Lead Photo: Credit: Bayer stock photo

CubicFarm Systems Corp. Announces The Appointment of Sandy Gerber As Head of Marketing

View fullsize

VANCOUVER, BC, AUGUST 4, 2020 – CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) (“CubicFarms” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sandy Gerber as Head of Marketing, effective immediately.
 
As Head of Marketing for CubicFarms, Ms. Gerber is responsible for creating and launching a global marketing strategy that successfully positions CubicFarms in the market and drives lead generations and sales.
 
Ms. Gerber, an award-winning marketer, and communications strategist, has revitalized marketing and communications programs for companies of all sizes for over 20 years, including some of Canada’s most beloved brands such as Molson Canada, Appleton Estate, BC Lottery Corp, the University of British Columbia, and St. John Ambulance. Her marketing and communications expertise includes differentiation strategy, brand development, customer experience, business development, and digital content marketing.
 
Ms. Gerber previously held executive and senior marketing leadership positions in a wide range of industries including advertising, consumer goods, heavy equipment, and non-profit.
 
Her innovative marketing strategies include Molson Canada’s online community, “iam.ca”; Canada’s first e-gaming platform, “PlayNow”; the revitalization of St. John Ambulance’s iconic 900-year-old brand; and Wesgroup Equipment’s successful “G.R.I.T.” customer service program.
 
She is the author of two books and the founder of three successful companies. As the CEO of NEXT Marketing Agency, Ms. Gerber set a new standard for B2C and B2B innovative marketing, growing the agency into one of British Columbia’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.
 
CubicFarms CEO Dave Dinesen commented: “I’m excited that Sandy has joined our team. Her ability to define and refine a company’s message to better connect with customers is exactly what we’re looking for. I’m looking forward to Sandy’s help in telling the CubicFarms story – that we’re leading an industry and we are passionate in helping our grower customers be successful in both the fresh produce and livestock feed sectors.”
 
Sandy Gerber, Head of Marketing, commented: “I am excited to create a global brand presence and differentiated marketing strategy for CubicFarms to grow exponentially. CubicFarms possesses a winning combination of industry-leading technology and growing expertise, fast-paced culture of innovation, and vision to improve food production efficiencies and food security – to ultimately help farmers feed the world sustainably and profitably.”

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it’s Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
 
About CubicFarm® Systems Corp.
 
CubicFarm Systems Corp. (“CubicFarms”) is a technology company that is developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary technologies enable growers around the world to produce high-quality, predictable crop yields. CubicFarms has two distinct technologies that address two distinct markets. The first technology is its patented CubicFarm™ System, which contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops. Using its unique, undulating-path growing system, the Company addresses the main challenges within the indoor farming industry by significantly reducing the need for physical labour and energy, and maximizing yield per cubic foot. CubicFarms leverages its patented technology by operating its own R&D facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, selling the System to growers, licensing its technology and providing vertical farming expertise to its customers.
 
The second technology is CubicFarms’ HydroGreen System for growing nutritious livestock feed. This system utilizes a unique process to sprout grains, such as barley and wheat, in a controlled environment with minimal use of land, labour, and water. The HydroGreen System is fully automated and performs all growing functions including seeding, watering, lighting, harvesting, and re-seeding – all with the push of a button – to deliver nutritious livestock feed without the typical investment in fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, field equipment, and transportation. The HydroGreen System not only provides superior nutritious feed to benefit the animal but also enables significant environmental benefits to the farm.
 
Information contact:
cubicfarms.com

Kimberly Lim
VP, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Mobile: 236.858.6491
Office: 1.888.280.9076
Email: kimberly@cubicfarms.com

Our mailing address is:
CubicFarm Systems Corp.353 – 19951 80A AveLangley, BC V2Y 0E2Canada

Precht's The Farmhouse Concept Combines Modular Homes With Vertical Farms

Architecture studio Precht has developed a concept for modular housing where residents produce their own food in vertical farms.

Architects Fei and Chris Precht, who is also the co-founder of architecture studio of Penda, developed The Farmhouse as a way to reconnect people in cities with agriculture and help them live in a more sustainable way.

Precht designed The Farmhouse as populations around the world are increasingly becoming city dwellers who have lost touch with how their food is produced, while food transportation has an increasingly damaging effect on the environment.

The conceptual modular system would allow people to grow food in residential tower blocks to eat or share with their local community.

"I think we miss this physical and mental connection with nature and this project could be a catalyst to reconnect ourselves with the life-cycle of our environment," said Chris Precht.

Prefabricated A-frame housing modules made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) would be stacked to provide flexible living spaces.

CLT is more sustainable than other low-cost building materials such as concrete because it locks in the carbon absorbed by the trees that were grown to make it.

Each of the module's wall would be made of three layers. An inner layer, facing the home interior, would hold the electricity and pipes with the surface finishes.

A layer of structure and insulation would form the middle layer, and on the outside layer would hold all the gardening elements and a water supply.

Different modules would have different types of external systems, such as hydroponic units for growing without soil, waste management systems, or solar panels to harness sustainable electricity.

Single-family users would be able to build their own homes using as many modules as they chose, or taller housing blocks could be formed by arranging the A-frames into stacked duplexes.

Each duplex would have an open plan living and kitchen space on the ground floor, with tent-shaped bedrooms on the upper floors. On the outer edges of the tower residences could have balconies.

Growing gardens would be arranged so they are either private or communal, with the inverted gaps left between modules providing V-shaped buffer zones between apartments and giving the plants natural light and ventilation.

The smallest living configuration available is just nine square metres with a 2.5-square-metre balcony. Hypothetically, Precht said, the tower could be built as tall as a city would allow.

"The system doesn't limit the height of the tower, because it is adaptable to a different thickness of structure," Chris Precht told Dezeen.

"But national regulations can limit the use of wood. In some countries like Japan, Canada, Scandinavia, Austria, UK, you can construct 18 to 30 stories and building codes around the globe are adapting fast to the use of CLT."

An indoor food market would be located on the ground floor of the tower, along with a root cellar for storing food in winter and composting units for turning food waste back into growing material.

The Prechts were motivated to design The Farmhouse system by their own experience. Two years ago they relocated from central Beijing to the mountains of Austria, where they grow their own food.

"Our motivation for The Farmhouse is personal," said Fei Precht.

"We live and work now off the grid and try to be as self-sufficient as somehow possible. We grow most of the food ourselves and get the rest from neighbouring farmers," she continued.

"We have now a very different relation to food. We are aware that this lifestyle is not an option for everyone, so we try to develop projects, that brings food back to cities."

Working as Penda, Chris Precht worked on the design of a hypothetical CLT tower for Toronto with tree-covered balconies, and a concept for a house in Germany with an interlocking green roof.

Renderings courtesy of Precht.

India Block | Dezeen | February 22, 2019

Farming Goes Vertical - The New Supermarket Trend For Growing Herbs In-Store

The new supermarket trend for growing herbs in-store could help the environment - how does it work?

• Vertical farming works by growing fruits and veg in vertically stacked layers 

• Claims it can significantly reduce environmental damage  

• M&S Simply Food is one of the latest UK retailers to introduce vertical farming 

By GRACE GAUSDEN FOR THIS IS MONEY 

4 August 2020 

Top of the agenda for many big firms across Britain and the world in recent years is to find ways to help reduce their environmental footprint and become more sustainable.

This has been driven by consumer demand for change and warnings over irreversible damage by large companies, who can make small improvements to help that add up.

One such way is vertical farming and it has seen one middle-class supermarket favorite get involved at some stores.

Marks and Spencer is the latest UK retailer to adopt vertical farming into its stores, with a selection of herbs now freshly grown and harvested in stores across London for shoppers to buy.

View fullsize

Vertical farming works by growing fruits and vegetables in vertically stacked layers inside

It has partnered with Infarm, a fast-growing vertical farming firm based in Berlin, that also now operates in other supermarket chains across Europe.

Ocado has also invested £17million in vertical farming while John Lewis plans to grow salads in store in the future in a partnership with LettUs Grow. 

Aside from Marks and Spencer, Infarm has recently partnered with the online sustainable supermarket Farmdrop, which stocks a selection of herbs and salad leaves. 

View fullsize

Farming In The Desert: Are Vertical Farms The Solution To Saving Water?

View fullsize

View fullsize

Deutsche Welle

Jul. 23, 2020

By Isabelle Gerretsen"

When I told people I was going to grow tomatoes in the desert, they thought I was crazy," Sky Kurtz, founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, told DW.

With just an average 12 days of rain a year, less than 1% arable land, a desert location, and an 80% import rate for food, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems an unfavorable place to set up a farm.

Kurtz is one of several entrepreneurs using high-tech farming techniques to boost crop production in the Emirates. Pure Harvest built the first climate-controlled greenhouse in Abu Dhabi in 2017.

Prompted by arid conditions and a desire for greater food security, the country is investing millions in technologies — such as vertical farming — that could make it an unlikely agricultural pioneer.

Vertical farms can grow a rich variety of different crops by stacking them in layers under LED lighting in climate-controlled greenhouses and watering them with mist or drip systems. The process is tailored to each crop's specific needs, resulting in high-yield, year-round harvests."

It takes 30 to 40 days to grow leafy greens out in the field. We can grow that same crop in 10 to 12 days," says Marc Oshima, co-founder of Aerofarms. The company received funding from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to build the capital's largest indoor vertical farm, with 800 different crops, by 2021.

Water Scarcity and Fossil-Fuel Reliance

The technology uses minimal land and up to 95% less water than conventional agriculture.

The hydroponics system places the plants' roots directly into a water-based and nutrient-rich solution instead of soil. This "closed-loop" system captures and recirculates all the water, rather than allowing it to drain away — useful for a country like the UAE suffering from extremely high water stress.

Globally, agriculture accounts for 70% of freshwater withdrawals, and UAE is extracting groundwater faster than it can be replenished, according to the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)."

Water is very expensive over in the UAE, but energy is cheap as it is subsidized," says Jan Westra, a strategic business developer at Priva, a company providing technology to vertical farms.

The artificially controlled environment is energy-intensive because the air conditioning and LED lights need a constant source of electricity.

This bringing forth of life in the desert could come at a high environmental cost. Most of that energy comes from carbon-emitting fossil fuels, even as the Middle Eastern country feel the effects of climate change.

By 2050 Abu Dhabi's average temperature is predicted to increase by around 2.5°C (36.5 F) in a business-as-usual scenario. Over the next 70 years, patterns of rainfall are also expected to change.

Integrating Renewable Energy 

Although Pure Harvest is building a solar-powered farm in neighboring Saudi Arabia, its UAE operations get electricity from the carbon-intensive national grid.

Investing more in renewables "is a goal of ours," Kurtz told DW. He said the company has not set a clean energy target but is working on various green power projects, including a plan to integrate solar power generated in UAE into its operations.

However, Willem van der Schans, a researcher specializing in short supply chains at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, says sustainability and clean energy should be "inherent in the technology and included in plans when starting a vertical farm."

He argues that many vertical farming companies are not sustainable in terms of energy as they still view clean power as an optional "add-on."

Ismahane Elouafi, director-general of the government-funded ICBA in Abu Dhabi, acknowledges that vertical farming has some way to go before achieving "real sustainability," but she believes the innovations are "promising."

Improved battery storage, increasingly efficient LED lights, and cheaper solar panels will help, she adds.

Local Solutions

 By 2050, the UAE government wants to generate almost half its energy from renewable sources.

Fred Ruijgt, a vertical farming specialist at Priva, argues that it's important to factor transport and refrigeration into the energy equation. Vertical farming uses more energy to grow crops than traditional agriculture, but because crops are grown locally, they do not have to be transported by air, sea, or truck over long distances."

The energy-saving is difficult to calculate exactly, but the advantages of locally grown crops are huge," he says, adding that those grown in vertical farms not only use less water and pesticides but that they also have a longer shelf life due to minimal transportation time.

Food Security and Coronavirus

 In 2018, the UAE set out its vision to become a hub for high-tech local food production.

Companies and investors have flocked to the region, attracted by the 0% corporate tax rate, low labor costs, and cheap energy. With their help, the UAE aims to reduce its reliance on imports and make its food system more resilient to shocks like climate change and pandemics.

Oshima from Aerofarms says the coronavirus pandemic has brought "greater appreciation of how fragile the supply chain is and raised questions about food safety and security."

When the UAE went into lockdown in April, imported supplies of perishable goods like vegetables fell and business boomed for local suppliers.

ICBA's Elouafi said they have helped keep the UAE well-stocked during the pandemic."With the help of local food production and adequate imports, there has been absolutely no shortage of food in the UAE," Elouafi told DW.

Climate change, however, poses an altogether more complex threat to the country in the long-term. Given climate change's likely impact on food production, she says vertical farming has shown it is "an economically viable proposition even with harsh climatic conditions."

Reposted with permission from Deutsche Welle.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM ECOWATCH

Vertical Farms: The Future of Agriculture? -

EcoWatch ›Inside the Nation's Largest Organic Vertical Farm - EcoWatch ›

5 Ways Vertical Farms Are Changing the Way We Grow Food ...

RELATED CONTENT AROUND THE WEB

Investing In Vertical Farming: Five Take-Aways ›

This company wants to build a giant indoor farm next to every major ... ›

TAGS: farming farmers water food food security agriculture renewable energy

Martha Stewart, J.D. Vance And Impossible Foods’ David Lee Join Board of AgTech Leader AppHarvest

The company adds executives from The Carlyle Group, Impossible Foods and raises new round from sustainability-focused investors such as Jeffrey Ubben and James Murdoch as COVID-19 heightens need for more resilient domestic supply chains

View fullsize

AUGUST 6, 2020 – MOREHEAD, KENTUCKY – AppHarvest announced today that food entrepreneur and icon Martha Stewart, Impossible Foods Chief Financial Officer David Lee, and best-selling author and investor J.D. Vance, have joined the company’s Board of Directors as it prepares to open one of the world’s largest indoor farms this fall in Morehead, KY. Starting with non-GMO tomatoes, AppHarvest’s farms will provide freshly grown American fruits and vegetables for national grocers, meeting the enormous and growing demand for locally grown produce amidst the supply chain challenges created by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“The future of food will be, has to be, growing nutrient-rich and delicious produce closer to where we eat,” Stewart said. “That means food that tastes better and food that we feel better about consuming. AppHarvest is driving us towards that future and working from within Appalachia to elevate the region.”

Added Vance, “The last few months have taught us that our food system is a little more precarious than we realized. AppHarvest will change that, and it will do so by building a sustainable, durable business in Appalachia, and investing in the people who call it home.”

Added Lee, “AppHarvest’s innovative approach to agriculture has the potential to dramatically change the way we get our produce and the impact our food has on the natural environment. I’m excited to join their mission as they enter this next phase of growth.”

Anna Mason, Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the fund led by AOL Co-founder Steve Case to back companies outside of Silicon Valley, will also join the Board. “AppHarvest’s rapid expansion and job creation is exactly what Rise of the Rest envisioned with its focus on helping companies in Middle America grow,” Mason said.

Inspired by the belief that the technology already exists today to grow dramatically more food, with far fewer resources, AppHarvest’s indoor farms reduce the need for acreage, use no harmful pesticides, lessen fuel used in shipping, and are the first of their size that will rely entirely on recycled rainwater for all water needs. AppHarvest’s closed-loop water system eliminates agricultural runoff common in open-field agriculture. This is critical as the U.S. ramps up efforts to secure food systems that can withstand health and climate disruptions.

“It’s time for agriculture in America to change,” said AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb. “The pandemic has demonstrated the need to establish more resilient food systems, and our work is on the forefront of that effort. Eastern Kentucky, with its central U.S. location, provides the perfect place to build AppHarvest’s indoor farms while also providing much-needed jobs to a ready workforce.”

AppHarvest’s 2.76-million-square-foot controlled environment agriculture facility has already created 100 construction jobs and will create more than 300 full-time permanent jobs for residents of Eastern Kentucky, where 44 percent more residents are unemployed than the national average.

With its vision to create America’s AgTech capital in Appalachia, AppHarvest has been recognized for its focus on social good. The company has been certified by the independent non-profit B Lab as a
B Corporation, passing a rigorous audit of its sustainability practices.

AppHarvest is also announcing the hires of Marcella Butler as the company’s first Chief People Officer, Jackie Roberts as its first Chief Sustainability Officer, and Geof Rochester as its first Chief Marketing Officer. Butler joins AppHarvest after serving as Impossible Foods' first Chief People Officer, where she led the tripling of employees to more than 650 individuals. Prior to joining Impossible Foods, she worked at Google, first in People Operations, followed by Corporate Development, where she led global acquisition due diligence and integration activities. Roberts joins AppHarvest from The Carlyle Group, where her roles included Chief Sustainability Officer. Prior to The Carlyle Group, she served in several senior roles at the Environmental Defense Fund. Rochester, who has decades of experience in marketing and corporate social responsibility, previously served as Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer of The Nature Conservancy with prior work at WWE, Showtime, Comcast, and Procter & Gamble.

AppHarvest’s Board and staff additions come as the company closes its $28 million Series C funding round. Combined with the company’s prior funding rounds, including project financing, AppHarvest has attracted more than $150 million in investment in just over two years.

Narya, the new venture capital firm co-founded by Vance and Colin Greenspon as well as backed by leading entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, led the investment round with participation from existing investors ValueAct Capital’s Spring Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Equilibrium, which has provided nearly $100 million in project financing to date.

New investors include Lupa Systems, the private investment firm founded last year by James Murdoch (who along with the ValueAct Spring Fund and Equilibrium, are leading the way for venture’s expansion into sustainability-focused investments); Breyer Capital, founded by early Facebook investor Jim Breyer; food and agriculture fund S2G Ventures (Seed 2 Growth); Black Capital, led by NBA legend Kevin Johnson; and Endeavor Catalyst, the co-investment vehicle through which Endeavor invests into companies founded by its entrepreneurs. Endeavor selected Webb as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2019.

“AppHarvest is poised to be a leader of the modern agricultural transformation, and we’re enthused to be a part of its upcoming launch and growth phases both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Frederic Michel, Partner at Lupa Systems. “The team is developing a compelling model that can respond rapidly to the needs for efficiency, sustainability, quality, and resiliency in the food sector today.”

The Series C funding round will allow the company to continue to recruit top-tier talent from around the globe as it prepares to build additional farms throughout Central Appalachia.

About AppHarvest

AppHarvest is building some of the world’s largest indoor farms, combining conventional agricultural techniques with today’s technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free fruits and vegetables to be sold to the top 25 U.S. grocers. The company has developed a unique system to reduce water usage by 90% compared to typical farms, as a 10-acre, on-site rainwater retention pond pairs with sophisticated circular irrigation systems. The system also eliminates agricultural runoff entirely. By locating within Appalachia, AppHarvest benefits from being less than a day’s drive to 70% of the U.S. population. That lowers diesel use in transportation costs by 80%, allowing the company's fresher produce to compete against low-cost foreign imports.

Plantlab Uses €20 Million Investment To Open New Vertical Farms In The Netherlands, The U.S. And The Bahamas

"On a surface area the size of only two football fields, it is now possible to produce enough crops to feed a city of 100,000 residents with 200 g of vegetables each on a daily basis"

25 July 2020

Dutch scale-up PlantLab has raised a first external investment of € 20 million from De Hoge Dennen Capital. The company has developed a globally patented technology for ‘vertical farming’, an efficient method for growing vegetables and fruits. It will use the injection of capital to open indoor production sites in various countries, including the Netherlands, the US, and the Bahamas.

Over the last 10 years, PlantLab has succeeded in developing innovative and revolutionary technology for efficient urban farming, which is already being applied in a commercial production site in Amsterdam. The new technology enables growing vegetables on a large scale very close to the consumer, without using any chemical crop protection agents. On a surface area the size of only two football fields, it is now possible to produce enough crops to feed a city of 100,000 residents with 200 g of vegetables each on a daily basis, the company claims.

“This injection of capital will enable us to open up additional production sites and further perfect our technology”, explains Plantlab CEO Michiel Peters. “The increasing population of the planet and the climate crisis are posing new and enormous challenges to the production of food for the world’s population. We have no choice but to grow our food more sustainably and efficiently, and that demands innovative and revolutionary solutions.”

PlantLab’s production sites can be set up anywhere in the world, even on barren land or urban areas. Due to optimized temperature, moisture, and light control, the crops grow to their full potential, while water use is reduced by as much as 95%, Peters says. Light is provided by specially developed LEDs that provide the specific wavelength needed by the plant for photosynthesis. 

New CEO, new CFO

De Hoge Dennen is part of the investment company founded by the De Rijcke family, the former owners of Kruidvat. The company has made previous investments in the online supermarket Picnic, the salad producer De Menken Keuken, and the electric bicycle brand QWIC. CFO Jelle Roodbeen says he wants to help PlantLab make a real difference on a global level. “It will make healthy and delicious vegetables affordable and accessible to everyone, in an environmentally friendly and sustainable fashion.”

In addition to the injection of capital by De Hoge Dennen, Frank Roerink and Michiel Peters are joining the scale-up company as its new CFO and CEO, to strengthen the management team. PlantLab has its vertical farming R&D center in Den Bosch and a commercial production site in Amsterdam. PlantLab employs over 60 people. 

PlantLab

PlantLab specializes in technology for innovative urban farming and aims to supply the planet with a sustainable source of food for the future. The company was founded in 2010 in Den Bosch with the goal of revolutionizing the production of food for our planet. Over the last 10 years, the company has already invested € 50 million in the development of technology. The goal is to grow healthy, day fresh vegetables close to the consumer anywhere in the world without the use of chemical crop agents, while at the same time reducing water consumption to an absolute minimum.

More on Plantlab at Brabant Brandbox

Lead Photo: © Plantlab

This Week On Green Sense Show: Controlled Environment Agriculture

Its Time Has Come!

Listen To This Week’s Show At 

Green Sense Eco Innovations

View fullsize

As the Coronavirus touches nearly every aspect of life in nearly every part of the world, how we raise food continues to innovate.

Hear the interview with our longtime correspondent Chris Higgins of Urban Ag news as he talks about the latest developments in indoor farming- greenhouses and vertical farms and how they are presenting a solution to the food supply chain during this pandemic. #verticalfarming #greenhouses #sustainability

'Wall Farm" Allows Shoppers To Pick Their Own Produce in Store

View fullsize

'Wall farm' allows shoppers to pick their own produce in store

A new vertical field urban farm system at New York-based Evergreen Market makes tasty, healthy, sustainable, and pesticide-free produce available to consumers 365 days a year.

Jul 27, 2020

The world of freshly harvested greens and herbs is looking up—literally—in Monsey, New York. Evergreen Kosher Market is debuting a revolutionary 20-foot-high geoponic (soil-based) wall farm that lets customers choose clean, fresh-picked produce and see exactly where it comes from. 

The pesticide-free lettuce, kale, arugula, basil, and cilantro from Evergreen's on-site farm are sold at in individual pots, making the "buying local" experience more convenient than ever. Pesticide-free and grown in soil that is never exposed to bugs, all products are Star-K Kosher Certified for purity. 

"We are gratified to be the first kosher supermarket in the country to introduce the Vertical farm," said Malki Levine of Evergreen. "Our customers are very much looking forward to buying fresh produce that is grown in our own backyard rather than being transported on long hauls from farms across the country. They will also appreciate the significantly reduced level of infestation, a major concern of kosher consumers." 

Shoppers can visit the vertical farm when they visit the store. The system features a controlled, sterile environment with soil beds containing a proprietary mix of minerals and nutrients. Advanced sensors constantly monitor, irrigate, and fertilize the crops throughout every growth stage. 

Evergreen's wall farm is the latest installation from Vertical Field, an Israeli ag-tech company that produces innovative vertical agricultural solutions that help the environment, improve human health conditions, and make fresh produce available all year round. 

Geoponic (soil-based) vertical farming yields a new crop every few days, ensuring that fresh greens and herbs will always be in season in Monsey. The sustainable and eco-friendly method produces cleaner, healthier, tastier veggies than those shipped from miles away. And reduced soil-to-plate time means a longer shelf life and fewer hands involved—a welcome benefit in the age of COVID-19. "We are extremely excited about the partnership with Evergreen," said Guy Elitzur, CEO of Vertical Field.

They are precisely the type of supermarket that has the right customer base and will successfully integrate the latest technological advances in geoponic farming." 

Source: Evergreen Kosher Market

MarketTAGS: RETAILER AND DISTRIBUTOR

10 Projects From KADK Graduates Offer "Solutions to The Major Challenges of Our Time"

Dezeen staff | July 9, 2020

Students from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design, and Conservation (KADK) are sharing projects that aim to create a healthier, more sustainable, and democratic society as part of their VDF school show.

They were created as part of the school's graduate programmes in Architecture and Design, which are focused on addressing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals as a means of considering "how we should design and build in the future".

The 10 projects showcased below were selected from a pool of 280 students and include a modular timber school, bacteria-dyed textiles, and a "hydroponic cultural landscape".

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design, and Conservation

University: The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation
Course: MA Architecture and MA Design

KADK Graduation 2020 – Solutions to the major challenges of our time:

"Climate. Health. Democracy. Sustainability. 280 MA Architecture and MA Design graduates have addressed a number of the challenges we face as a global community today. How do we ensure a sustainable cooling of our cities and how can we use carbon-neutral building materials? Or how can design solutions help accelerate a better recovery for the benefit of each individual and society in general?

"The curriculum at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture Design and Conservation (KADK) is rooted in research, practice, and artistic development. For the past four years, KADK has added a strategic focus on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We believe that the SDGs can inspire our students to consider how we should design and build in the future, using a holistic perspective to provide new, original, and necessary global solutions to these pressing concerns.

"Their projects demonstrate how architecture, design, and conservation can create visions, new knowledge, and solutions to complex problems in compelling and attractive designs. Future generations of architects and designers – like those we educate at KADK – must be capable of releasing this vast potential."

View fullsize

The Green Structure of Copenhagen by Agnes Josefin Hekla, MA Architecture

"What would Copenhagen look like if the city had to be self-sufficient in terms of its food supply? This project creates solutions for a scenario in which the city is forced to feed itself, due to changed global conditions caused by changing climate and food shortages.

"A hydroponic cultural landscape is established across the city's rooftops, between blocks of flats, across car parks and railway beds for raising vegetables in water without soil. Besides supplying the city with vegetables and collecting large volumes of precipitation, the urban landscape is ideal for movement, recreation, and working together to grow vegetables."

Studio: CITAstudio – Computation in Architecture, Institute of Architecture and Technology
Tutor: Paul Nicholas
Press contact: Inge.Henningsen@kadk.dk or hbay@kadk.dk

READ MORE AT DEZEEN

Farming V2 - The New Age of Farming

Rags to riches stories fascinate us. We cheer incessantly for entrepreneurs who have beaten the odds, often giving them the stature of a renewed and risen phoenix. Rightly so, the transition from an aspiring entrepreneur to an established one is a challenging peregrination towards a hazy destination.

Amongst the plethora of value-generating activities a business undertakes to stay alive; maintaining cash flow, building a commendable product, keeping costs low, remaining wary of major societal and technological paradigms, the most fundamental challenge for early-stage companies is knowing that the customer exists and convincing the customer you exist. Neglecting the balance between these two essential conditions of success leads many companies towards an early demise.

The fear of failure silently triggers a deep contemplation amongst aspiring entrepreneurs, yet the hope that proclivity will eventually yield success keeps many committed towards their cause.

Farming V2 - The New Age of Farming by Herb on Scribd

Kalera Opens Texas’ Largest Vertical Farming Facility in Houston

Houston farm will be the company's newest and largest yet, joins farms in Orlando and Atlanta

July 13, 2020 | Source: Kalera

View fullsize

The new Houston facility, which will be the largest vertical farming facility in Texas, is the next step in Kalera’s rapid domestic and international expansion plan to bring consumers fresh leafy greens right where they are.

ORLANDO, Fla., July 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, technology-driven vertical farming company Kalera announced that it will open a new state-of-the-art growing facility in Houston, Texas in the spring of 2021. The new Houston facility — which will be the largest vertical farming facility in Texas — is the next step in Kalera’s rapid domestic and international expansion plan to bring consumers fresh leafy greens right where they are. By placing its farms directly in the communities that they serve, Kalera is able to supply national retailers and foodservice distributors without a long haul across the country, guaranteeing that its leafy greens are fresher longer, and much safer than field-grown lettuce.

The new facility is being announced a mere two months after Kalera announced it will be opening a new facility in Atlanta in early 2021—an announcement that took place less than two months after it opened its second Orlando, Florida farm. While Kalera’s Atlanta farm is slated to be the highest production volume vertical farm in the Southeast, the new Houston facility will be even larger and will generate dozens of new jobs for the local Houston community. Kalera’s Houston farm’s lettuce will be available at retailers and foodservice distributors, as well as through the hospitality and travel industry.

Retailers, distributors, and food services facilities interested in carrying Kalera’s lettuce can connect with the sales team at orders@kalera.com.

Kalera is able to quickly open its newest growing facility in Houston as a result of a streamlined design and construction process, further illustrating its ability to rapidly scale and expand its vertical farms. As Kalera accelerates its growth over the next few years, it will continue to open additional facilities, expanding production capacity throughout the US and internationally.

“In light of the global pandemic and seemingly endless food safety recalls, today, more than ever, consumers are demanding food that is local and that they can trust. Kalera is leading the way in the indoor-farming AgTech revolution and we are proud, especially in today’s environment, to bring the safest, purest, freshest, most nutritious, sustainable, non-GMO, pesticide-free lettuce to cities across the country as we continue our rapid expansion plan across America and prepare to open our largest facility to date,” said Daniel Malechuk, CEO of Kalera.

“Houston presents Kalera with a wonderful market for our produce, as it allows us to not only supply one of the largest cities in America, but also service cities throughout the region including Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and New Orleans. Since we can easily supply produce within hours of harvest from this location to surrounding cities, Kalera can ensure the highest quality and freshness by delivering product to customers within hours of harvest, rather than days or weeks.”

The company utilizes cleanroom technology and processes to eliminate the use of chemicals and remove exposure to pathogens. With indoor facilities situated right where the demand is, Kalera is able to supply an abundance of produce locally, eliminating the need to travel long distances when shipping perishable products. Kalera's plants grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming.

In addition to its R&D center, Kalera opened its first commercial vertical farm, the HyCube growing center, on the premises of the Orlando World Center Marriott to bring fresh, local produce to the hotel’s visitors and customers. In March this year, it announced the opening of its second facility in Orlando, and in April, announced that it will open an Atlanta facility in early 2021. The Houston facility is the fourth farm in Kalera’s portfolio, and will soon be joined by more in the United States and around the world. Kalera also made headlines after pivoting their business strategy amidst the COVID-19 crisis, shifting from a foodservice-focus to land their produce in the aisles of Publix. During this time, Kalera also organized giveaways for the Orlando community, giving away tens of thousands of heads of lettuce to provide access to fresh, local, produce to residents.

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 consistently 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.