Our first 10 years (from 2008) were all about the Taiwanese market. As a grower of leafy greens and retailer of fresh produce, we have scaled to profit and there’s still much more room for us to grow.
In the past 5 years, our horizons have expanded. We have begun supplying our technology to international partners, helping them to leapfrog the competition and succeed in their local markets.
We’ve built farms in China, Denmark, Italy and Lithuania. Now, we’re building farms in Saudi Arabia, and we’re developing another project in the US Midwest.
We don’t just pick locations at random. Our international business development team has created a financial model to gauge where it’s possible to scale profitable indoor vertical farming businesses.
Our regional feasibility model has two components. Standardly, the first component estimates input costs such as building lease or construction, labor and utilities etc. Our second component approximates the demand for premium fresh produce in the local market.
High income economies in extreme weather regions tend to be the most feasible. These include parts of the Middle East where extreme heat and aridity hinders outdoor agriculture, and North Europe where the winter brings sub-zero temperatures and few daylight hours.
Our complete indoor vertical farming solution offers a way for these regions to grow more fresh produce locally. Many of them are actively looking for this kind of solution; an alternative to imported fresh produce as climate change raises question marks throughout the fresh produce supply chain.
Traditionally, food companies have stayed out of agriculture. It was easier for them to source fresh produce from suppliers, as opposed to growing it themselves. But now, the situation has changed.
Not only is it harder at times for them to source high quality fresh produce; it has also become easier for them grow it themselves. Indoor vertical farms can be built in their distribution centers. They can control the whole supply chain, from agriculture to retail, and that’s a gamechanger.
Product recalls could become a thing of the past thanks to the new standard of food safety in fresh produce brought on by controlled environment agriculture. And fresh produce supply chains would be resilient to disruption caused by climate change, future pandemics and wars.
Today, indoor vertical farming cannot compete with outdoor agriculture in the commodity fresh produce market. The price that we pay for electricity is too high. But in the future, when supplies of electricity become abundant, we will be capable of producing all kinds of fresh produce much more efficiently than outdoor growers.
That’s why we support the energy transition wherever possible. We always look for zero carbon energy sources and we seek long-term tenders from renewable energy suppliers. Our farms in Europe already benefit from an abundant wind power supply.
Eat Clean, Farm Clean
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