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Rising Trends In Senior Living Dining: Cloud Kitchens And On-Site Micro-Farms
Senior housing providers are embracing an ever-growing list of unique dining services and amenities in order to attract tomorrow’s residents and save on operating costs — including indoor hydroponic micro-farms and offsite “cloud kitchens.”
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By Tim Regan | December 4, 2019
Senior housing providers are embracing an ever-growing list of unique dining services and amenities in order to attract tomorrow’s residents and save on operating costs — including indoor hydroponic micro-farms and offsite “cloud kitchens.”
Two companies leading the way in this regard are Charlottesville, Virginia-based Commonwealth Senior Living, and Priya Living, a senior housing company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both companies are shaking up their dining services to include more trends that have gained traction in the consumer-facing restaurant industry.
The practice of adapting consumer dining trends for the senior living world is not new, as evidenced by the growing number of new senior living communities opening with full-service bars, fast-casual eateries, and bistros. Fleet Landing, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Atlantic Beach, Florida, even has its own food truck.
All of this comes as senior living providers search for the right mix of services and amenities to woo millions of baby boomers due to reach retirement age in the next decade while tightening up their operations in a competitive and costly environment.
Hydroponic hopes
At Commonwealth Senior Living, residents are chowing down on fresh leafy greens grown in-house — literally.
The provider recently partnered with Charlottesville, Virginia-based Babylon Micro-Farms to build indoor micro-farms with the capacity to grow up to 5,800 plants a year and 45 different leafy lettuces, edible flowers and herbs. Timed LED lights and formulated nutrients nourish the plants, while 45-gallon reservoirs supply the water they need. The setup requires no soil, pesticides or other additives.
Through an app, Babylon guides Commonwealth’s dining service directors and associates through seeding, planting, harvesting, cleaning and everything between. A growing cycle can last anywhere between 15 and 45 days, depending on the plant, and workers spend just 1 hour and 20 minutes maintaining the setup in that time.
The first such micro-farm opened at Commonwealth Senior Living at Charlottesville in the third quarter of this year, and the company has plans to expand the service to all of its 34 communities early in 2020 at a rate of about three communities per week.
Commonwealth at Charlottesville’s residents and their loved ones first sampled fresh garden salads harvested from the indoor farm in mid-November. In addition to salads, Commonwealth’s chefs also use the produce in wraps and sandwiches, as garnishes and to flavor dishes.
The popularity of the fresh greens has only grown since Commonwealth’s first harvest, according to Bob Raymond, the provider’s vice president of procurement and dining services.
“We can’t keep up on the production,” Raymond told Senior Housing News. “The residents are eating everything we’re cutting and harvesting.”
And residents aren’t just eating their vegetables, they’re helping grow them, too. Already, some have pitched in to aid with the growing process — including a former “master gardener,” Raymond said. Looking ahead, Commonwealth hopes to include the hydroponic gardens in its programming, such as by letting residents pick out what they want to grow.
“We will be engaging the resident for the selection of product,” Raymond said. “So, if a resident wants to grow a specific type of butter lettuce … that will be that resident’s row of lettuce.”
Because the vegetables are grown in-house, they don’t need to be shipped from elsewhere. And Commonwealth has been able to trim the money it spends on fresh lettuce and produce, which can lie anywhere between $750 to $1500 a month for a typical community.
“Based on the overall cost of what we’re purchasing from farms or from mainline vendors, this has reduced our cost probably by about 10% to 15%,” Raymond said. “And, we’ve eliminated a 50- to 60-mile round trip [for deliveries] 52 times a year.”
In the end, adopting the hydroponic setup is aimed at attracting tomorrow’s senior living residents, who will bring with them a slew of new preferences and desires.
“Our resident population will be changing, and it is changing today,” Raymond said. “And what works today may not work tomorrow, so you have to continually look at different opportunities.”
A kitchen in the cloud
For many senior living providers, dining is a cost center, meaning more money goes into culinary budgets than comes out. For larger providers with more comprehensive programs and services, this is often mitigated elsewhere. But smaller providers — especially those that lie on the active adult or “independent living light” side of things — finding the right balance of providing some dining services while also keeping costs low is tricky.
That’s partly why senior housing provider Priya Living uses Shef, an offsite “cloud kitchen” service that makes and delivers food to residents on demand. The provider uses Shef in place of a more traditional commercial kitchen or onsite senior living dining program. Priya’s portfolio includes three open communities, and its focus on Indian culture and customs have made it a provider of choice for this affinity group — although the communities are open to anyone and have even welcomed residents of all ages.
“The cost of running a foodservice operation is substantial,” Priya Living Founder Arun Paul told SHN. “It’s a cost center. Everyone across the board, I would guess, is losing money on food.”
Shef delivers refrigerated, prepackaged meals such as shahi paneer, butter chicken, oxtail stew and pork dumplings to residents three times a week. While residents pay for the service, each meal costs just $8 to $10 thanks in part to a discount Priya Living has with Shef, Paul said.
Cloud kitchens — also referred to as “ghost kitchens” or “dark kitchens” — are restaurants that lack a dining room and don’t have a physical storefront. The food is cooked in the kitchen and then delivered to or catered at other sites. While the cloud kitchen trend is still budding, it is on the rise with help from the likes of major fast-food restaurants and former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
Using Shef and other unbundled services has helped Priya Living keep its rates relatively low. The provider’s communities in Fremont and Santa Clara, California, have monthly rates for residents between $2,500 and 3,000 before you add in any other services.
“When you take out food, your base cost for the resident is substantially lower,” Paul said. “In the mind of our residents, we’re viewed as a very affordable option.”
In addition to cost savings, Shef also offers variety and flexibility, he added. And while there are some residents who order most of their meals through Shef, it’s more commonly used by residents who also cook and dine out during the week.
“No matter how good your kitchen is, folks are going to get bored,” he said. “So, what’s great about working with the cloud kitchen is that it gives residents more flexibility over what they’re eating.”
Looking ahead, Paul expects more senior living providers — particularly those in urban markets — to explore using cloud kitchens to supplement or even replace their in-house dining programs.
“I think there’s still going to be a place for in-house food preparation, but I think it will be in much more limited circumstances than it is today,” Paul said. “Unbundling services is critical to addressing affordability and the middle market, and now we have the tools to do it that we didn’t have even a few years ago.”
Companies featured in this article:
Babylon Micro-Farms, Commonwealth Senior Living, Priya Living, Shef
Farmshelf Gets Angel Investment From Singapore’s she1K, Liberty Produce Launches UK Vertical Farming Project
Angel network she1K has syndicated an early-stage investment in Farmshelf, according to an article published today on AgFunder News
Angel network she1K has syndicated an early-stage investment in Farmshelf, according to an article published today on AgFunder News. Singapore-based she1K, which is known for its global female executive leadership, did not disclose financial terms of the deal. Farmshelf is the third company to join its portfolio
Whereas many companies in the vertical farming space right now have massive indoor facilities aiming to produce millions of heads of leafy greens, Farmshelf differentiates itself by staying focused on smaller spaces like supermarkets, offices, hotels, and restaurants. Its bookcase-sized farm grows leafy greens and herbs using a combination of custom LEDs, sensors, and software that deliver water, nutrients, and the optimal amount of light needed for each crop. The system, which can simply be plugged into a wall and connected to WiFi, is already at a number of restaurants, hotels, and other spaces, including NYC chain Tender Greens, Marriott Marquis Times Square, and the Condé Nast offices.
The Farmshelf system is currently available to businesses in parts of Texas and California and will be available to customers “in most major markets” in 2020.
Farmshelf isn’t the only indoor farming initiative kicking off December with big news. Across the Atlantic, agtech company Liberty Produce has finally launched its vertical farming project that looks to improve both crop yield and operational costs for vertical farming through improved, more automated tech.
According to a press release sent to The Spoon, Liberty Produce has partnered with several entities for the project. While most were not disclosed, a major one is Crop Health and Protection (CHAP), a network of scientists, farmers, researchers, academics, and businesses developing new ways to use technology to improve the farming system in the UK. Work on the Liberty Produce project is being done at CHAP’s Fine Phenotyping Lab at Rothamsted Research in the UK, with experts experimenting with plants’ responses to different light intensities and studying the best LED “recipes” for crops.
“There’s lots we don’t know about growing plants in this artificial environment and we’re not giving them optimal conditions,” Liberty Produce founder Zeina Chapman told The Spoon earlier this year. “With lighting, there isn’t an option to control it in a way that maximizes plant growth. So we might be putting plants under stress.”
Liberty also wants to use more automation to make the concept of vertical farming easier for anyone, something Farmshelf also appears to be striving for with its plug-in-and-go system.
It’s an admirable goal to strive for, especially if it can get more locally grown produce into the hands of more cafeterias, universities, local businesses, and, eventually, individual homes.
The test — and something we’ll hear more about in 2020 — will be whether the vertical farming industry can find a way to do this cost-effectively. There’s plenty of hype right now around the promises of vertical farming. As to whether it can actually become an everyday reality for the everyman, the jury is still out.
FILED UNDER: AG TECH BUSINESS OF FOOD FEATURED FOODTECH FUNDING MODERN FARMER
2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement
The Aquaponics Association presents the 2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement, signed by over 130 organizations, including 98 from the U.S. This statement explains the food safety credentials of produce grown in aquaponic systems
The Aquaponics Association presents the 2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement, signed by over 130 organizations, including 98 from the U.S. This statement explains the food safety credentials of produce grown in aquaponic systems.
PDF version: 2019 Aquaponics Food Safety Statement
December 9, 2019
Aquaponics Food Safety Statement
Established Science Confirms Aquaponic Fish and Produce are Food Safe
Aquaponics is a food production method integrating fish and plants in a closed, soil-less system. This symbiotic relationship mimics the biological cycles found in nature. Aquaponics has been used as a farming technique for thousands of years and is now seeing large-scale viability to feed a growing global population.
Benefits of aquaponics include dramatically less water use; no toxic chemical fertilizers or pesticides; no agriculture discharge to air, water or soil; and less food miles when systems are located near consumers where there is no arable soil.
Aquaponics has consistently proven to be a safe method to grow fresh, healthy fish, fruits, and vegetables in any environment. Governments and food safety certifiers must utilize the most current, accurate information to make food safety decisions about aquaponics at this time when our food systems adapt to a growing population and environmental concerns.
Food Safety Certification for Aquaponics
For years, commercial aquaponic farms have obtained food safety certification from certifying bodies such as Global GAP, USDA Harmonized GAP, Primus GFS, and the SQF Food Safety Program. Many aquaponic farms are also certified USDA Organic. These certifying bodies have found aquaponics to be a food safe method for fish, fruits, and vegetables. As far back as 2003, researchers found aquaponic fish and produce to be consistently food safe (Rakocy, 2003; Chalmers, 2004). Aquaponic fish and produce continue to be sold commercially across North America following all appropriate food safety guidelines.
Recent Certification Changes Based on Unfounded Concerns
Recently, Canada GAP, a food safety certifier, announced that it will phase out certification of aquaponic operations in 2020, citing concerns about the potential for leafy greens to uptake contaminants found in aquaponic water.
Correspondence with Canada GAP leadership revealed that the decision to revoke aquaponics certification eligibility was based on research and literature surveys related to the uptake of pharmaceutical and pathogenic contaminants in hydroponic systems. However, these concerns are unfounded based on the established evidence.
First, the Canada GAP decision assumes that aquaponic growers use pharmaceuticals to treat fish, and that these pharmaceuticals would be taken up by plants causing a food safety risk.
In fact, pharmaceuticals are not compatible with aquaponics. Aquaponics represents an ecosystem heavily dependent on a healthy microorganism community (Rinehart, 2019; Aquaponics Association, 2018). The pharmaceuticals and antibiotics referenced by Canada GAP would damage the beneficial microorganisms required for aquaponics to function properly.
Second, the CanadaGAP decision misrepresents the risk of pathogenic contamination. Aquaponic produce – like all produce – is not immune to pathogenic contamination. However, aquaponics is in fact one of the safest agriculture methods against pathogenic risk. Most pathogenic contamination in our modern agriculture system stems from bird droppings, animal infestation, and agriculture ditch or contaminated water sources. In contrast, commercial aquaponic systems are “closed-loop” and usually operated in controlled environments like greenhouses. Almost all operations use filtered municipal or well water and monitor everything that enters and leaves the system.
Aquaponics and Food Safety
If practiced appropriately, aquaponics can be one of the safest methods of food production. The healthy microbes required for aquaponics serve as biological control agents against pathogenic bacteria. (Fox, 2012) The healthy biological activity of an aquaponic system competitively inhibits human pathogens, making their chances for survival minimal. This is, in effect, nature’s immune system working to keep our food safe, rather than synthetic chemicals.
The Government of Alberta, Canada ran extensive food safety tests in aquaponics from 2002 to 2010 at the Crop Diversification Centre South (CDC South) and observed no human pathogenic contamination during this entire eight-year period (Savidov, 2019, Results available upon request). As a result of this study, the pilot-scale aquaponic operation at CDC South was certified as a food-safe operation in compliance with Canada GAP standards in May 2011 (GFTC OFFS Certification, May 26, 2011). Similar studies conducted by the University of Hawaii in 2012 in a commercial aquaponic farm revealed the same results. (Tamaru, 2012)
Current aquaponic farms must be able to continuously prove their food safety. The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act requires farms to be able to demonstrate appropriate mitigation of potential sources of pathogenic contamination as well as water testing that validates waters shared with plants are free from contamination by zoonotic organisms. So, if there is a food safety concern in aquaponics, food safety certifiers will find and document it.
Conclusion
The recent certification decision from Canada GAP has already set back commercial aquaponic operations in Canada and has the potential to influence other food safety certifiers or create unfounded consumer concerns. At a time when we need more sustainable methods to grow our food, it is essential to work on greater commercial-government collaboration and scientific validation to ensure fact-based food safety standards.
In order to expand the benefits of aquaponics, we need a vibrant commercial sector. And for commercial aquaponics to succeed, we need reliable food safety certification standards based on established science.
Consumers can feel secure knowing that when they purchase aquaponic fish and produce, they are getting fresh food grown in one of the safest, most sustainable methods possible.
Sincerely,
The Aquaponics Association, along with the undersigned entities
UNITED STATES
Alabama
Gardens on Air – A Local Farm, Inc.
Southern Organics
California
AONE Aquaponics
Fresh Farm Aquaponics
Go Fish Farm
SchoolGrown Aquaponics
Seouchae Natural Farming
Shwava, Inc.
University of California, Davis
Colorado
The Aquaponic Source
Bountyhaus School Farms
Colorado Aquaponics
Dahlia Campus for Health and Wellness Aquaponic Farm
Ecoponex Systems International LLC
Emerge Aquaponics
Flourish Farms @ The GrowHaus
Grand Valley Greens, LLC
GroFresh Farms 365
Northsider Farms LLC
Connecticut
Marine Bait Wholesale
Delaware
Aquaponics AI
Florida
The Aquaponics Doctors, Inc.
Aquaponic Lynx LLC
The Family Farm
GreenView Aquaponics, LLC
Sahib Aquaponics
Traders Hill Farm
Georgia
FM Aquaponic Farm
Georgia Aquaponic Produce LLC
TRC Aquaponics
Teachaman.fish
Ula Farms
Hawaii
Friendly Aquaponics, LLC
Idaho
FoodOlogy
Illinois
Central Illinois Aquaponics
Kentucky
Janelle Hager, Kentucky State University
K&L Organics
Purple Thumb Farms
West KY Aquaponics
Louisiana
Small Scale Aquaponics
Massachusetts
Aquaponics Academy
Lesley University
O’Maley Innovation Middle School
Maryland
Anne Arundel Community College
Greenway Farms, LLC
Missouri
Www.PlentyCare.Org
Minnesota
Menagerie Greens Inc.
North Carolina
Grace Goodness Aquaponics Farm, LLC
100 Gardens
New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
New York
iGrow News
Oko Farms
New Mexico
Desert Verde Farm
Growing the Greens
High Desert Aquaponics
Howling Coyote Farms
Lettuce, Etc. LLC
Openponics
Project Urban Greenhouse
Sanctuary at ABQ
Santa Fe Community College
Ohio
Berean Aquaponic Farms and Organics LLC
CHCA Eagle Farms
Wildest Farms
Williams Dairy Farms
Oklahoma
Freedom FFA
Greener Grounds LLC
Oregon
Alternative Youth Activity
Ingenuity Innovation Center
Live Local Organic
Triskelee Farm
Pennsylvania
Aquaponics at State High
Yehudah Enterprises LLC
Puerto Rico
Fusion Farms
Granja Ecologica Pescavida
Rhode Island
The Cascadia Bay Company
Tennessee
Great Head LLC
Texas
BioDiverse Technologies LLC
BnE Enterprises
East Texas Aquaponics, LLC
Gentlesoll Farm
HannaLeigh Farm
K&E Texan Landscaping
King’s Farm
Tarleton State University, Aquaponics Hydrotron
West Texas Organic Gardening
Utah
Aquaponics Olio
Wasatch High School
Virginia
Grace Aquaponics
INMED Partnerships for Children
Return to Roots Farm
Vermont
The Mill ART Garden, LLP
Washington
The Farm Plan
Impact Horizon, Co.
Life Tastes Good LLC
Northwest Aquaponics LLC
Wind River Produce
Washington, DC
Anacostia Aquaponics DC LLC
P.R. Harris Food Hub
AUSTRALIA
New South Wales
Wirralee Pastoral
Solum Farm
BHUTAN
Thimphu
Chhuyang – Aquaponics in Bhutan
BRAZIL
Rio Grande do Norte
Habitat Marte
Santa Catarina
Pedra Viva Aquicultura
BULGARIA
Burgas
Via Pontica Foundation
CANADA
Alberta
Agro Resiliency Kit (ARK) Ltd.
Fresh Flavor Ltd
Lethbridge College
W.G. Guzman Technical Services
British Colombia
Garden City Aquaponics Inc.
Green Oasis Foods Ltd.
Pontus Water Lentils Ltd.
Ontario
Aquatic Growers
University of Guelph
Power From Within Clean Energy Society
GREEN RELIEF
Quebec
ML Aquaponics Inc
Yukon Territory
North Star Agriculture
EGYPT
Cairo
Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research
FRANCE
Paca
Vegetal Grow Development
INDIA
Delhi
Prof Brahma Singh Horticulture Foundation, New Delhi
Karnataka
Blue’s and Green’s
Spacos Innovations Private Limited
ITALY
Turin
Grow Up
MALAYSIA
Negeri Sembilan
BNS Aquafresh Farming
NIGERIA
Abuja
University of Abuja
PHILIPPINES
Nueva Ecija
Central Luzon State University
Metro Manila, NCR
IanTim Aquaponics Farm
PORTUGAL
Madeira
True Spirit Lda
ROMANIA
Sectors 2 & 4
Bucharest Association of Romanian Aquaponics Society
SAUDI ARABIA
Riyadh
Aquaponica
SENEGAL
Senegal
Ucad Dakar
SINGAPORE
Singapore
Aquaponics Singapore
Contributors:
Brian Filipowich, Aquaponics Association
Juli Ogden, The Farm Plan
Dr. Nick Savidov, Lethbridge College
Tawnya Sawyer, The Aquaponic Source
Dr. R. Charlie Shultz, Santa Fe Community College
Meg Stout, Independent
Contact:
Brian Filipowich
info@aquaponicsassociation.org
References
Chalmers, 2004. Aquaponics and Food Safety. Retrieved from http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/Travis/Aquaponics-andFood-Safety.pdf
Filipowich, Schramm, Pyle, Savage, Delanoy, Hager, Beuerlein. 2018. Aquaponic Systems Utilize the Soil Food Web to Grow Healthy Crops. Aquaponics Association. https://aaasociation.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/soil-food-web-aug-2018.pdf
Fox, Tamaru, Hollyer, Castro, Fonseca, Jay-Russell, Low. A Preliminary Study of Microbial Water Quality-Related to Food Safety in Recirculating Aquaponic Fish and Vegetable Production Systems. Publication of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii, February 1, 2012.
Rakocy, J.E., Shultz, R.C., Bailey, D.S. and Thoman, E.S. (2003). Aquaponic production of tilapia and basil: comparing a batch and staggered cropping system. South Pacific Soilless Culture Conference. Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Rinehart, Lee. Aquaponics – Multitrophic Systems, 2019. ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture. National Center for Appropriate Technology.
Tamaru, Fox, Hollyer, Castro, Low, 2012. Testing for Water Borne Pathogens at an Aquaponic Farm. Publication of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii, February 1, 2012.
Autogrow Appoints Two Product Specialists For Growing Market
Autogrow has appointed Steve Gardner - Head of Product and Sophie Stanley - Head of Product Marketing, to support the company’s continued global growth. Both are members of the Senior Leadership Team
4 December 2019: Autogrow has appointed Steve Gardner - Head of Product and Sophie Stanley - Head of Product Marketing, to support the company’s continued global growth. Both are members of the Senior Leadership Team.
“It’s great to have someone with Steve’s experience joining us. He will lead customer conversations and engagement to shape the value our products provide to growers and the industry,” says Darryn Keiller, CEO.
“Sophie’s experience within agriculture is fantastic. Combined with her passion for the industry, we are lucky to have her on board.”
Steve previously lead product development involving machine learning, IOT and augmented reality products covering web, mobile, APIs and embedded systems in South Africa and New Zealand.
Sophie, a Nuffield Scholar and previous Vice President of Figured – USA, will lead Autogrow’s go-to-market strategy. Having previously built a successful partnership with one of the largest farm lending institutions in the American Midwest, Sophie will drive market adoption and commercial growth.
Autogrow has increased their team over the past 12 months with new employees in Malaysia, the United States, and New Zealand. This growth will continue through 2020 as new innovations are launched into the market.
PHOTO: Sophie Stanley and Steve Gardner
MEDIA QUERIES
Kylie Horomia, Head of Communications
(e) Kylie.horomia@autogrow.com
(m) +6421 733 025
(w) www.autogrow.com www.farmroad.io www.cropsonmars.com
Sales queries – Sales@autogrow.com
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 hardware, software and data 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.
Denmark: Grown And Harvested In Stores Now In Copenhagen
This is the beginning of a new partnership between Infarm and the Danish retailer Irma. Infarm is planning to bring their fresh produce to more Irma locations across Sjælland in the next few months
Starting Nov. 21st fresh Infarm produce will be available to Danish consumers for the first time at Copenhagen’s Irma Østerport (Oslo Pl. 2, 2100 København, Denmark). Local shoppers (and perhaps even local chefs) will be able to choose from a selection of living Italian Basil, Greek Basil, Parsley, and Coriander Confetti, grown and harvested right in the store.
This is the beginning of a new partnership between Infarm and the Danish retailer Irma. Infarm is planning to bring their fresh produce to more Irma locations across Sjælland in the next few months.
Infarm
Glogauerstr. 6 10999 Berlin
+49 30 58846540
infarm.de
Publication date: Fri 22 Nov 2019
GP Solutions' New Technologies Provide Cleaner Farming
The company developed what they call a 'GrowPod.' Essentially, a food-grade shipping container refurbished and outfitted with the latest technology to grow clean food in a controlled environment," the publication stated
COLTON, Calif., Dec. 4, 2019,/PRNewswire/ -- GP Solutions (OTC:GWPD), the developer of modular automated micro-farms, may help in solving the E.coli crisis that is sickening dozens across America according to Business Management News.
The article said dozens of people were infected across 19 states in the most recent E. coli outbreak stemming from lettuce harvested in California. The infected range from 3 to 89 years old. 39 were hospitalized. Six developed kidney failure.
While the publication says, "America's food chain is broken," there is "hope on the horizon."
"New indoor Controlled Environment Micro-Farms (CEMFs) have been developed by some forward-thinking companies," the article stated.
"One such company is GP Solutions. The company developed what they call a 'GrowPod.' Essentially, a food-grade shipping container refurbished and outfitted with the latest technology to grow clean food in a controlled environment," the publication stated. "Inside a GrowPod, the air and water are filtered, and since it is a sealed environment, there is little chance for contamination."
Moreover, the magazine noted, these pods are not just for existing farmers.
"They are easy to operate so almost any business, organization, hotel, farmer's market, or restaurant can have their own Pod and supply their customers with truly farm-fresh, clean, healthy food."
GrowPods empower anyone to grow food for their community or for profit. Being portable and modular, they can be placed almost anywhere, and stacked to expand operations or keep crops separated. Farmers can utilize GrowPods to cultivate a broader product line, and sustain revenues and employees over the winter.
The article also stated that growing greens inside a CEMF is efficient and produces a large crop yield equivalent to about two acres of outdoor farmland.
For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call: (855) 247-8054.
To view the article, visit: https://businessmanagement.news/2019/12/01/e-coli-sickens-dozens-across-the-nation/
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes predictions or information that might be considered "forward-looking" within securities laws. These statements represent the Company's current judgments but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date of this release. The Company is not obligated to revise any statements in light of new information or events.
Connect:
Email: info@growpodsolutions.com
Website: www.growpodsolutions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/GrowPodTechnology
Twitter: @GrowPodSolution
U.K Aeroponic Start-Up LettUs Grow: 'Not Everyone Is Sold on Vertical Farming Initially'
Thankfully, the image of vertical farming is changing rapidly. Nowadays, aeroponic technology "is recognized more as a business plan rather than a pipe dream," said Langley. Indoor farming has also been getting loads more attention
December 05, 2019
Farmers across the globe are searching for sustainable, tech-savvy alternatives as climate change increasingly impacts agriculture's profitability.
LettUs Grow, a Bristol-based aeroponics tech company that provides technology to farms in the U.K., thinks it may have a solution.
The vertical farming tech provider gave us a glimpse into the future of aeroponics and an overview of its innovation.
Overcoming challenges in vertical farming
"There's a perception about vertical farms - not everyone is sold on it initially," LettUs Grow's India Langley told FreshFruitPortal.com.
The company's greatest challenge has been public perception. Oftentimes people imagine that their produce comes from local, small scale farms. However, the reality is that most farms are industrial entities - at least in the U.K. - explained Langley.
Thankfully, the image of vertical farming is changing rapidly. Nowadays, aeroponic technology "is recognized more as a business plan rather than a pipe dream," said Langley. Indoor farming has also been getting loads more attention.
So, the task aeroponics tech companies face is "educating people that the food is just as nutritious".
As vertical farming becomes more mainstream, companies like LettUs Grow have seen more demand for their products.
What, then, does the technology do and what will the future of vertical farming look like?
LettUs Grow walked us through its technology's evolution and the benefits it provides to today's agriculture industry.
The idea for LettUs Grow arose when three Masters students at the University of Bristol - Ben Crowther, Jack Farmer and Charlie Guy - developed a table-top aeroponics system. This in-home model worked so well that the group decided to scale it up.
"We started out solely making hardware, so the physical grow beds," Langley said. The company then began crafting software it calls Ostara - which reduces energy costs up to 15%.
Founders saw that traditional aeroponics - which use high pressure - were inefficient. Old methods, which involved firing liquid through a nozzle to create aerosols, lead to clogging and system failures. In order to reduce waste, LettUs Grow sought alternatives.
To do this, it got rid of nozzles entirely. It also developed a new way of making aerosols. These innovations allowed the platform to be scaled up.
"What the three founders thought was that if they were seeing this increase in growth rate in these home-kits and their main goal was to reduce waste, they would do much better taking this technology and applying it to farm-scale applications."
The result was an aeroponics system that reduces food miles, increases food freshness and "helps farmers keep farming".
According to Langley, there is big problem in the U.K. with farmers needing to diversify. Climate change has posed a risk to farmers' income and vertical farming provides a solution, she said.
She specified that "one of the things that indoor growing does is that it protects the crop" and ensures that farmers profit regardless of weather conditions.
Benefits of aeroponics and LettUs Grow's advice
When asked about the benefits of aeroponics versus other indoor farming methods, Langley said "aeroponics has been an improvement" on hydroponics. This is because it gives the plants better access to "free gas exchange".
In short, it provides the "ideal environment" to grow, claimed Langley. Aeroponics "holds plant roots out of water" and sprays plants with an aerosol. Plants in aeroponics grow 70% faster than in hydroponics, she stated.
She went on to explain the strategic benefits and challenges faced by farmers.
"The main thing that holds you back is whether or not there's a business case for it," said Langley.
"We always advise people who are working with us to think really carefully about what they grow."
LettUs Grow suggests farmers plant crops like microgreens, quick growing crops, and tender crops that struggle to be transported. While the company has tested "dozens" of different plants at its two farms, it encourages farmers to plant profitable crops like basil.
Looking forward, the future of the company
LettUs Grow continues growing as demand for its technology increases. While farms all around the world have requested the company's products, it says plans for expansion into Europe - and eventually, worldwide - are in the works for upcoming years.
Currently, it only provides technology to farms in the U.K.
It seems a lot of demand from countries that face resource issues. Places that contact LettUs Grow tend to be dry regions like the Middle East or regions with less sunlight. Additionally, it is gaining popularity in "places where there's not as much land" in more developed countries like the U.S.
Other urban farming schemes like startup Bowery, Gotham Green and Fifth Season have been gaining steam in U.S. cities.
To meet the needs of diverse farms that request its technology, Lettusgrow plans to continue expanding its product line.
In the past, its implementation of Ostara farm management software allowed it to offer a platform that collects data on plants, oversees irrigation and traces crop history.
Most recently, it has partnered with Octopus Energy to create "vertical power software". The new technology platform reduces energy costs for farmers, making operations more efficient.
It does this by changing the price of energy throughout the day and minimizing costs during peak hours. This both saves customers money and incentives farmers to have more sustainable operations, detailed Langley.
Headline photo: LettUs Grow, Jack Wiseall
THE NETHERLANDS: "Container Offers Flexible Research Solutions"
On the outside it's 'just' a container. But when the doors open, a good deal of high-tech reveals itself. A climate container to be precise
on their way to USA
On the outside it's 'just' a container. But when the doors open, a good deal of high-tech reveals itself. A climate container to be precise. In Aalsmeer in the Bosman Van Zaal production hall, two are ready to be transported to a large American herb grower who wants to use the container to work out the optimum cultivation recipe for basil.
Carlo Castelijn inside of the container in which three 'Danish carts' fit next to each other. If desired, both sides can also be provided with a Grow&Roll-system with Danish carts.
Container over climate chamber
But why a container and not a climate chamber? "Simple", says Carlo Castelijn of Bosman Van Zaal. "These containers can then be clicked onto the back of a trailer. This makes it possible, after a research project, to sell the container or transport it to another location of the company. A lot cheaper than demolishing an entire climate chamber and rebuilding it elsewhere."
Recently, numbers three and four were built, after the first container had already been built two years ago at the request of another customer.
Three Danish cars
A total of three extra wide 'Danish' cars fit in one half of the container. These can be used to create a small-scale multilayer cultivation system with LED and all the bells and whistles that come with it. On the other hand, a growing table has been mounted for research into 'normal', non-multi-layer cultivation.
The only thing needed to get the climate container up and running is electricity, water and CO2. Electricity to keep the LED lights on and the climate computer running. The latter then takes care of the rest, including the water and CO2 dosing.
The side containing the grow table, a request from the customer who wanted the table as low as possible. In addition, gutters are hung in the container so that the customer can experiment with strawberry cultivation.
Over the past few weeks, the finishing touches have been put to the containers, which will be transported in December.
Finishing off with the numbers:
-Container outer dimensions: 6058x2500x2896 mm LxWxH
-Grow&Roll cultivation area: 9x0.9 square meters
-Cultivation surface table: 2 square meters
For more information:
Bosman Van Zaal
info@bosmanvanzaal.com
www.bosmanvanzaal.com
Publication date: Tue 26 Nov 2019
© HortiDaily.com
OUTLOOK 2019: Global Entrepreneurs Eye Pitt Meadows Vertical Farm
Traditional farming practices have many variables that come into play when growing consistent crops, and with climate change being a rife issue around the globe, what does the future of farming look like? It looks like a Greenhouse 2.0, according to Dave Dinesen, CEO of Cubic Farm Systems
Commercial-Style Crops Growing At Cubic Farm Systems
November 28, 2019
Traditional farming practices have many variables that come into play when growing consistent crops, and with climate change being a rife issue around the globe, what does the future of farming look like?
It looks like a Greenhouse 2.0, according to Dave Dinesen, CEO of Cubic Farm Systems.
“It’s an automated commercial-scale vertical farming system that allows you to grow commercial-scale quantities of leafy green vegetables, herbs, animal feed, lots of different sorts of leafy green products, 12 months a year anywhere on earth,” Dinesen explained about the pesticide-free operation.
Pitt Meadows is home to the sole corporate-owned and operated cubic farm facility that produces commercial-scale crops locally that can be found at some IGA and Fresh Street Market locations. Dinesen says the facility is their test kitchen and production site. The company is in business to sell, install and train their farmer customers on how to operate the system.
“Our smallest system is about a 17 machine set up which would grow almost two million heads of lettuce per year or thousands of pounds of microgreens or other crops like that,” he said.
But the company is hearing from retailers that the crop is not what they have come to expect from traditional farms.
“Believe it or not when it comes to our lettuce, the two consistent feedbacks are, best we’ve ever tasted and this stuff lasts forever, which are two comments that you rarely hear… and the difference is, its how we grow, harvest, and package,” Dinesen explained. “And because we’re able to harvest produce and leave the root on and leave it living, it lasts a long time, stays health, stays crispy, retains its nutritional value.”
So what are the benefits of this technology-enabled farming?
“Traditional farming uses an enormous amount of freshwater and we have to preserve that commodity,” explained Dinesen. “We have to be able to grow locally, we can’t keep shipping so much food for so many miles. Technology-enabled farming or indoor automated vertical farming enables all that. It facilitates automation in a way that is challenging otherwise.”
The company has also found the system produces consistent crop yields when environmental factors are eliminated, something that remains a major factor is traditional farming practices.
“Probably the biggest difference between our system and anyone else is that we have a machine that significantly increases the amount of crop you can grow per cubic foot because we can go high as opposed to just one layer which would be a traditional Greenhouse or a traditional field crop.”
The local corporate facility received its GAP (good agricultural practices) certification almost a year ago and has been in operation since.
“I think Pitt Meadows can be proud it’s had one of the largest vertical farms in Canada operating now for a year. People from all over the world fly in, almost every week to see it, so it is generating a significant amount of economic benefit for the city,” said Dinesen.
The company has sold several units in Canada and some in the U.S. Dinesen said there are a few deals in the works for the new year as well.
“We have a very large farm that will be going into another municipality nearby, early in 2020. The system will be a 26 machine system, they will be growing a wide variety of leafy green vegetables, Asian vegetables, Asian herbs… it’s going to be grown for the local market,” he said. “And we have two other deals pending in B.C. that we expect to close early in 2020 for a similar size facility.”
The company is also looking to expand the Pitt Meadows site on the same site or nearby.
Cubic Farm System is created by founders of Langley-based Bevo Farms’ Jack and Leo Benne when the pair were invited to solve growing challenges in Puerto Rico.
Bevo Farms operates 39 acres of Greenhouses in Langley and five acres in Pitt Meadows, according to their website. Last year, the company entered the cannabis industry when they signed a deal with medical marijuana producer Sun Pharm Investments Ltd.
Does Farming’s Greener Future Mean A Return To Tradition, or New Technology That Heralds ‘The End of Sustainable Agriculture As We Know It’?
With the UK committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, agri-tech — technology applied to farming — is increasingly playing a crucial role in reconciling food production with sustainability
Carla Passino November 24, 2019
Indoor farming could pave the way for the UK to move towards net-zero, say experts Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
With the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis becoming increasingly pressing, we could see a shift away from conventional agriculture towards indoor food production, say some experts.
With the UK committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, agri-tech — technology applied to farming — is increasingly playing a crucial role in reconciling food production with sustainability. But rapidly advancing innovation, together with the growing interest in the natural capital of land to combat climate change and halt the decline in biodiversity, could change agriculture as we know it, with vertical farming replacing, at least in part, field-grown crops.
Emily Norton, head of rural research at Savills, told a meeting of rural professionals this week that the future may not look anything like they’ve envisioned.
‘Pursuing carbon efficiency in agriculture is going to be transformational,’ she said at a meeting in Norwich.
‘Farmers have naturally been adopting a wait-and-see approach to accessing ELMS, but the climate debate could fast-track disruptive agricultural innovation and signal the end of sustainable agriculture as we recognize it here in Norfolk.’
That’s a stark warning: we think of sustainable farming as a return to traditional methods, and while this will be part of the solution there will be a role for technology such as indoor growing.
‘If agriculture as an industry accepts the net-zero challenge we need to be prepared to adapt accordingly… Indoor production is inevitable for a variety of crops’
‘The Committee on Climate Change Land Use Change report recommended the release of around half of all UK arable land to environmental adaptation,’ she explained.
‘If we’re to produce the same amount of food, this signals a major shift to innovations like controlled environment agriculture — removing food production from the soil. However controversial it might feel, if agriculture as an industry accepts the net-zero challenge we need to be prepared to adapt accordingly. Net-zero, climate change, and technological innovation all suggest that more indoor production is inevitable for a variety of crops.’
There is no doubt that, with the climate emergency at the forefront of people’s minds, there’s a growing demand for land to deliver environmental benefits, whether through planting trees, generating green energy or restoring habitats for fast-disappearing wildlife.
Likewise, the technology to deliver sustainable, indoor-farmed produce has quickly advanced. ‘For many years, we have grown produce in glasshouses and vertical farming is another step forward,’ says Charlie Yorke, technology specialist at rural insurers NFU Mutual, which earlier this month published a report on agri-tech.
‘Crops can essentially be grown anywhere as long as there is water and electricity’
The term, he continues, broadly covers ‘a variety of farming methods that stack multiple layers of crops on top of one another — fully utilizing 3D space.’ Farm designs can be entirely tailored to suit each crop type and space constraints, whether this means having racks of micro-green pallets in a shipping container, or tall spires of lettuces in a bespoke glasshouse. Because of this flexibility, ‘crops can essentially be grown anywhere as long as there is water and electricity.’
But the system’s key advantage, according to Mr. Yorke, is that farmers ‘can control the environment completely,’ targeting it to the specific requirements of the crops they are growing to optimize growth and yields. ‘They can control the humidity, the temperature, the light and they can really start to tailor these crops just by using light and different nutrients.’
Essentially, this means people can ‘consistently produce perfect crops all year round’. And because everything is closely controlled, ‘there is minimal use of pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers’. Vertical farms also ‘hardly use any water and a lot of what they use is recycled — it might be from rain, it might be filtered.’ Mr. Yorke mentions Intelligent Growth Solutions, a vertical farm system in Edinburgh, as an example of a company that recycles rainwater.
All this, together with the ability to make the best possible use of available space, results in ‘higher yields per area of land with much lower waste’.
‘Leafy greens work well but cereals and fruits are a challenge’
Nonetheless, the National Farmers’ Union, which earlier this year stated that agriculture should strive and become carbon neutral by 2040, ten years earlier than the government’s own deadline, believe that it’s yet early days for soil-less farming to supplant more traditional practices.‘Vertical farming is very much in the early stages of being researched to test how feasible it is for the future,’ said a spokesperson. ‘Currently, the high costs of implementation will limit its uptake and therefore its impact on the wider food supply chain.’
Instead, with British growers at the forefront of technological developments that improve quality, yield, environmental protection and energy use, according to the NFU, ‘it is crucial that retailers ensure they also invest and support the farmers that supply them with large, field-scale crops such as root vegetables, where vertical farming is not realistic.’
The NFU Mutual’s Mr. Yorke agrees it’s early days and that, ‘at present, the technology is not suited to all crops; leafy greens work well but cereals and fruits are a challenge.’
Overall, however, he believes the future of sustainable food production lies very much in integrating vertical farming into a wider mix that also includes other ground-breaking tools, such as digital soil mapping systems, robotic micro-sprayers or livestock sensors, that support land-based agriculture and help make it more productive and eco-friendly at the same time.
‘We don’t see vertical farming replacing traditional farming methods — rather we see it complementing farming and maximizing spaces which may have previously been seen as non-agricultural,’ he says, quoting, as an example, Growing Underground, a micro-green and salad producer operating 108 feet below the streets of Clapham, in London. ‘It is one of a number of innovations which are already demonstrating alternatives to conventional field-based production.’
US: OHIO - 8,600 sq ft Indoor Aquaponics Facility Opened In Toledo
There's a new farm in Toledo, and it's located inside a building downtown. Balance Farms is an aquaponics farm in Downtown Toledo vertically integrated with parent restaurant Balance Grille
There's a new farm in Toledo, and it's located inside a building downtown. Balance Farms is an aquaponics farm in Downtown Toledo vertically integrated with parent restaurant Balance Grille.
Their restaurant has been active for nearly a decade, serving vegetable-focused Build-a-Bowls, Asian-inspired Tacos, and seasonal snacks to the Toledo and Cleveland communities
Balance Grille held a grand opening showcase Friday night for its state-of-the-art aquaponics farm, germinating right in the heart of downtown Toledo.
The new 8,600 square-foot facility uses waste from fish as a natural fertilizer for plants to grow in water, pesticide-free. The facility cultivates crops grown outside the soil, specializing in leafy greens, microgreens, living herbs, and fruiting vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes. Additionally, the farm utilizes LED lighting and energy-efficient climate control systems that reduce utility usage. The farm runs on the organic fish matter produced by its collection of tilapia and koi fish.
"In any Balance location, you will notice the open-kitchen concept that informs customers on how their food is being prepared. Opening the Balance Farms helps us take the concept of transparency to another level by showing customers where their food is coming from", they explain.
Scheduled tours are available for groups and individuals.
To View The Video, Please Click Here
Publication date: Mon 25 Nov 2019
How To Run A Successful CSA | WEBINAR
So you want to start a CSA...but you have so many questions. Where do I find customers? What's the best way to set up operations? What should I grow? We went directly to the expert to help you answer all these questions and more
Hear How Sarah Sells Out Her CSA Every Season
Thursday, December 12th, 2019
12 - 12:30 PM EST
So you want to start a CSA...but you have so many questions. Where do I find customers? What's the best way to set up operations? What should I grow? We went directly to the expert to help you answer all these questions and more.
REGISTER HERE
Sarah Ward from Oasis Springs Farm in Nashua, New Hampshire has been operating a successful CSA since 2016. She's sharing how she overcame challenges while growing her customer base and finding creative ways to find free marketing.
GET TO KNOW OUR GUEST
Check out our farmer Q&A with Sarah to get a sneak peek of all the great stuff we’ll cover live.
INDIA: This MeitY-Backed Startup Has Built An Automated Farming Device To Grow Plants And Veggies Indoors
This MeitY-backed startup has built an automated farming device to grow plants and veggies indoors Delhi-based startup Agro2o is marrying hydroponics (soilless farming) and automation to bring a cool new gadget and a whole lot of good vibes to millennial households
This MeitY-backed startup has built an automated farming device to grow plants and veggies indoors Delhi-based startup Agro2o is marrying hydroponics (soilless farming) and automation to bring a cool new gadget and a whole lot of good vibes to millennial households.
Yash Vyas was working in a retail store in Dubai when he stumbled upon the concept of hydroponics in a newspaper.
Hydroponics (also known as ‘soilless farming’) is a practice where plants are grown indoors using mineral nutrient solutions in water solvents. It fascinated Yash instantly and also made him realize that Dubai’s harsh desert climate had made it difficult to grow farms.
“There was inefficiency of land and water, and almost no greenery either at home or outside. That formed my belief that hydroponics could be a fix. It is a clean and sustainable solution, unlike current farming techniques,” Yash tells YourStory. He then returned to India at the end of 2017 and started Agro2o in early 2018.
Yash Vyas, Founder & CEO, Agro2o (centre) with Ashish Goel, CTO, Agro2o (right)
Growing an indoor smart garden
The Delhi-based startup operates at the intersection of agritech and IoT. Agro2o has developed a proprietary smart garden using a fully automated indoor hydroponics system.
The plug-and-play solution allows anyone to grow fresh herbs, veggies, medicinal plants, and even flowers inside their homes. Because it is an IoT-enabled product, it requires little human attention on a daily basis. The Founder-CEO explains, “We call it automated hydroponics. Depending on the plant type, the system can intelligently judge and provide the level of light, water, and nutrients required, and create an ideal growing condition for the plant.
There are microcontrollers fitted into it. All you have to do is insert a nutrient cartridge depending on the plant you want to grow.” The smart garden is also enabled with a touchscreen and WiFi connectivity. It sends out alerts to users whenever the water has to be topped up. In the future, the system could even come with Alexa integrations, Yash shares.
Intersection of hydroponics and automation
He explains that this unique marriage between hydroponics and automation is a result of the startup’s two years of extensive R&D in plant science, for which it collaborated with the Delhi University’s Department of Plant Molecular Biology.
“We also acquired expertise in automation and AI to be able to perfect the technology and apply for design patents,” Yash reveals. While the product is yet to see a commercial launch (planned for early 2020), Agro2o showcased its technology at the Startup Expo held in September.
“It attracted a lot of interest from investors and general buyers,” claims the Founder. Agro2o has even opened pre-orders on its website.
It has also been incubated by Electropreneur Park, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The currently bootstrapped startup might even look to raise a seed round of Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore in 2020. Agro2o’s current device allows you to grow 10-12 crops at a time. These are categorized into Herbs, Greens, Veggies, and Ornamentals.
“Categories of crops cannot be mixed because the nutrients and conditions required for each are different,” Yash says. He adds that a 24-crop device is in the pipeline. The plan is to have three products for varying crop capacities in the price range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 18,000. “It is like any other consumer durable device that can last you for 4-5 years,” Yash adds. Also Read How DST-backed agritech incubator Indigram Labs is ushering in a new green revolution ‘
Key markets and growth plans
As could be expected, the demand for indoor hydroponics systems is much higher in the Gulf countries than in India.
The founder attributes this to severe climatic conditions and higher disposable incomes in these regions. Hence, to tap into this growing demand, Agro2o will launch in the Middle East along with its rollout in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. By 2025, the startup plans to sell two lakh units in India, and clock revenue of Rs 300 crore - Rs 350 crore. In the GCC countries, meanwhile, it hopes to sell about five lakh units in five years.
Yash observes, “I see two user profiles for our products. One is the value-conscious customer who wants something positive in their space.
The second is urban millennials who like cool gadgets and also love cooking with fresh veggies and herbs.” While smart homes is Agro2o’s immediate focus, the startup also has ambitions to venture into the smart farm segment. “Technology-enabled commercial soilless agriculture will soon become a reality,” says Yash. Also Read Stanford Seed startup Future Farms is out to solve India’s food crisis with clean, soil-less farming
Tech a facilitator for soilless agriculture
Hydroponics is a nascent sector in India. But globally, the market is expected to be worth $12.1 billion by 2025, with the Asia Pacific being the growth driver, according to Transparency Market Research.
Agro2o claims to be the first in Asia to launch a smart hydroponics product. “So, building awareness is both an opportunity and a challenge,” says the founder.
“Our nearest [undisclosed] competitor in the West is valued at only $120 million. This is a relatively new sector, but there is a large potential to be realized,” he explains. Does Agro2o want to be seen as an agritech or an IoT company? A bit of both perhaps. Or, as Yash puts it: an innovation company in the smart hydroponics sector. “Tech is just a facilitator to make soilless farming more accessible,” he signs off. (Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2019/12/meity-agritech-startup-hydroponics-smart-garden-automation-iot
Netled’s Niko Kurumaa On The Potential of Indoor Agriculture In North America
He told Contain, “most leafy greens are grown with pesticides in California and Mexico and then are shipped thousands of miles all over North America. People are starting to see that this isn’t an ethical way to produce food.”
Nov 29, 2019
When we dialed Niko Kurumaa, sales manager at Netled, he took Contain’s call from the rooftop of a hotel in Los Angeles. When asked how his day was going, the tone of his voice was as bright and cheery as the California sun, “Well, it’s nice here so you could say that I’m doing pretty well,” he said.
But Kurumaa was pretty far away from his home-base in Finland. So, what brought him all the way from the cold of Finland to the American west coast?
He was there for one reason: the promise of indoor agriculture in North America.
Kurumaa is the sales manager at Netled, a Finnish company that sells indoor agricultural tech like LED lights for indoor growing and fully integrated vertical farms. And now he’s in the United States to lead sales at the company as it enters the North American indoor agricultural market.
“We at Netled think that there is a huge potential for our products in North America.” He continued, “We have always been a global company, but now we see that North America has the need and the market for indoor growing technology.”
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
Netled is new to the indoor agriculture market — Kurumaa has been working in the United States for around five months now and has one LED lighting project in the United States so far. Although their experience working in the United States may be limited, this is just the beginning, and they see the potential for future business.
Growing North American indoor agriculture
When Kurumaa talks about Netled’s reasoning behind entering the United States, it all comes down to the economics of indoor farming and the quality of greens grown by their indoor farms.
“Our [vertical farming] system doesn’t just grow better quality greens; it’s economically feasible when you compare it to the traditional ways of growing greens and herbs” Kurumaa explained.
But the Company has seen some challenges to entering the U.S. market, like communicating its feasibility to possible customers.
“There are times when we need to explain the process of indoor agriculture when we meet potential growers. Some people don’t even believe that this technology exists, because people know less about it.”
This makes selling their technologies a challenge, but they find ways to overcome misunderstandings.
“We have two reference farms. One in the UK to go with our customers and a larger one in Finland that has around 47,000 square feet of growing space,” he told Contain.
The company can take growers there so that they can see first hand how vertical farming works. In addition to the farms, Netled has even set up their office as an indoor farm just so that visitors can see their technology in action when they come in for meetings.
Proving the value of indoor agriculture may be a challenge, but to Kurumaa, the promises dwarf any barriers they face to entering the market.
“South California has a long drought season and forest fires are raging. We need to think about how we use land and water. Systems like ours use about 99 percent less than conventional farms,” he said.
He told Contain, “most leafy greens are grown with pesticides in California and Mexico and then are shipped thousands of miles all over North America. People are starting to see that this isn’t an ethical way to produce food.”
He paused and then said, “Now we can produce much better lettuce in urban areas right next to the consumer. There is no reason to ship lettuce the long distances.”
It just goes to show that for this company, the call for indoor agriculture isn’t just about economic feasibility. It is about providing a brighter future for the regions of the United States like the American west. As Netled expands the business to the United States, they bring an economic rational, and an ethical imperative to live more sustainably.
WRITTEN BY
Nicola Kerslake
We’re Contain Inc. We use data to improve access to capital for indoor growers, those farming in warehouses, containers & greenhouses. https://www.contain.ag/
Walmart To Add 500 Stores In China
US retailer set to double its presence in China over the next five to seven years
BY LIAM O’CALLAGHAN
26th November 2019, Hong Kong
US retailer set to double its presence in China over the next five to seven years
Walmart has announced plans to open 500 new stores in China in the next five to seven years, doubling its store count.
According to a CNN report, groceries and online shopping are the key drivers of this expansion. The company also revealed it will remodel over 200 of its Chinese stores, with features such as self-service cash registers, and facial recognition payment set to be added.
The new stores are expected to include a mix of regular stores, supercentres, and depots for online shoppers.
James Ku, a senior vice president with Walmart China, told CNN the company plans to service its customers through multiple outlets.
“Walmart is leveraging multi-format strategies to bring customers freshness, value, and convenience," said Ku.
"We will continue to collaborate with partners and policymakers in China to accelerate our expansion.”
In addition to the 433 stores it currently has in China, Walmart’s ‘multi-format’ approach includes a stake in Chinese e-retailer JD.com.
In 2016 Walmart sold its Chinese online grocery division, Yihaodian, to JD.com in exchange for shares. JD.com now hosts Walmart’s products on its online platform.
China's First Intelligent LED Plant Factory in Beijing
the experts of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the factories responsible for researching this technology are very confident. They believe that in the future smart agriculture will become the norm, and the LED smart factory is a business card for Chinese agriculture to go international
This farm at the third ring road in Beijing is the first intelligent LED plant factory in China. The factory is highly modernized and managed by the protected agricultural IoT control system.
In more detail, there are dozens of sensors in the factory to jointly manage various parameters of the plant during its growth. Sensors and artificial intelligence cameras are also monitored throughout the process to adjust various parameters in real-time. Through the sensor and the visual analysis system equipped with artificial intelligence cameras, the parameters such as temperature, light, water and gas fertilizer are continuously optimized, and the changes of plant growth phenotypic parameters are collected and learned and calculated.
The data model of crop growth optimization is obtained, and the “plant dialogue” is implemented. The goal is to achieve maximum yield and quality with the least amount of resources.
In this “farm” built of steel the “farmland” is a row of five-layer double-row seedling racks in the house.
The person in charge of the farm said that the seedling efficiency per unit area of this seedling rack is more than 40 times that of conventional seedlings, and the seedling cycle can be shortened by 40%. Take an example of the cultivation of lettuce. From planting to harvesting, the plant factory only takes 20 days by using the so-called "Deep Flow Technique (DFT)". Besides, the output per unit area is more than 25 times that of open field cultivation, while the produce is still of high quality.
Going against tradition
In fact, this highly efficient method of cultivating vegetables is not a rare thing. As early as 1903, countries began to plant vegetables in a vertical way. But when the LED light source solved the sunshine problem in plant growth, and new technologies allowed for better control, vertical farming really started to take off.
In 2005, Yang Qichang, chief of the "Facilities Plant Environmental Engineering Team" of the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, found that the red and blue light combination of LED can provide an ideal spectrum for plant photosynthesis; he immediately imagined that using LEDs in plant factories instead of fluorescent lamps at that time would be a new development direction.
Since the spectral components of civil-used and plant-used LEDs were very different at that time, the team had contacted many domestic research institutes such as the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and spent several times the price of civil-used LEDs to jointly develop 4 sets of LED plant light source panel systems. Since then, they have carried out many experimental pieces of researches on plant seedling, leaf vegetable cultivation, medicinal plant cultivation, and plant tissue culture, and obtained a large number of plant light formula parameters.
Afterwards, under the support of the national “863” project “Intelligent Plant Factory Production Technology Research”, the Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and 15 research units jointly tackled the problem and finally obtained a series of innovative breakthroughs: first proposed multiple light formulas for plants, and created LED energy-saving light source based on light formulas and its light environment control technology equipment; first proposed light-temperature coupled energy-saving environment control method, and created the energy-saving environmental regulation technology equipment of the plant factory; first proposed a light-nutrition regulation method for vegetable quality, and created a short-term continuous illumination to improve quality technology and technical equipment before mining; first proposed an intelligent management and control method for plant factory efficacy, energy efficiency and nutritional quality improvement, and created an intelligent management and control system based on the IoT.
Indeed, LED plant factory technology is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but this technology can help the growth of vegetables which means they can be moved indoors, completely freeing the restrictions of land, sunlight, and water. It also has the advantage of “efficient production”. Yang Qichang explained that the unit area yield can reach dozens or even hundreds of times of natural cultivation in the open field, and the water consumption is less than 5%.
However, only 10 years ago, only a few developed countries such as Japan, the United States, and the Netherlands mastered this technology. Today, as environmental and health issues are increasingly mentioned, this technology is used in all areas of agricultural production in various countries.
A long way to go
For China, although the development of this technology has good achievements, it still has obstacles on the way forward. There is a lack of professionals in this technology, and a lot of research and development funds are needed.
However, the experts of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the factories responsible for researching this technology are very confident. They believe that in the future smart agriculture will become the norm, and the LED smart factory is a business card for Chinese agriculture to go international.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn; sheshiyuanyi.com
Publication date: Mon 25 Nov 2019
Stacked Farm, Australia's First Fully Robotic End-to-End Vertical Farm
Australia may have one of the world's lowest population densities and plentiful farmland, but as farmers know all too well, water is and will continue to be a great challenge for the country's food supply
Written on the 3 December 2019 by Matt Ogg
Whether it be Bowery Farming backed by Google's parent company Alphabet, Square Roots which was founded by Elon Musk's brother Kimbal, or the innovative startup InFarm with leafy green-growing modules installed in supermarkets, vertical farming is a fertile space for development right now.
Australia may have one of the world's lowest population densities and plentiful farmland, but as farmers know all too well, water is and will continue to be a great challenge for the country's food supply.
Innovations abound in the sector, most notably Sundrop Farms in South Australia which has become a global leader in sustainable agriculture by powering its greenhouse with solar power and sourcing irrigation from desalinated seawater.
Now another Australian company Stacked Farm is set to join the ranks of innovators pioneering food solutions for the future.
After four years of research and development, the Gold Coast-based group's fully automated end-to-end vertical farm will soon be supplying leafy greens to national wholesalers including Sumo Salad, QSR, Dnata, Crown Resorts and Morco Fresh.
This means Stacked Farm's urban-grown produce from Burleigh Heads will be supplied to casinos, in-flight airline catering and retail outlets around the country, with plans for expansion with new facilities in 2020.
A spokesperson for the company says the facility is likely the first of its kind in the world to be fully automated.
"Other vertical farms might have a component of automation but one or two components are done by hand whether that's seeding, cutting or packing," she says.
Stacked Farm CEO Conrad Smith (pictured) says the farm is commercially viable, scalable and competitive, from seedling through to packaging with leading-edge technology.
"A good crop is not weather dependent and can be grown using up to 95 percent less water than conventional farming. It eliminates the use of pesticides and other climate-related hazardous processes as the growing is fully contained and controlled," says Smith.
"We also take sustainability very seriously and renewable power is already contributing up to 30 percent of what it takes to power the farm."
"Drought has wiped out so many primary producers in the country. Water is always going to be an issue in Australia it's our most valuable commodity. Vertical farming can help support our farmers in times of drought or crisis."
Efficient water usage is just one of the sustainable aspects that makes this operation appealing to food wholesalers in Australia. Produce growth is fast and shelf-life longer, with the entire process from seed to bag taking only 16-21 days.
"Produce life is increased due to the controlled growing environment, the technology and the fact it's packed within seconds of harvest and there's no need to wash it - which can be a big degrader of product quality," he says.
"It's great for growing in the city, as we can deliver within kilometres of the produce being grown, not like most farms who rely heavily on lengthy transport distances."
While the current facility can produce a couple of tons of produce a week equating to a 20-acre farm in output. Smith doesn't see this as working against traditional agriculture but rather as a means to complement it.
It's a game-changer for the cattle industry. We have identified that we can grow livestock feed en masse very quickly, and again using up to 95 percent less water. A 1000sqm vertical farm will have enough output to feed hundreds of cattle daily."
"The impact that this could have on farming communities that are suffering through the drought is enormous."
While the production is currently focused on leafy greens, herbs and livestock feed, Stacked Farm is also working with the CSIRO to develop additional products suited for indoor vertical farm growth.
Discussions are also underway with property owners in Victoria and Queensland to build farms suitable for produce growing, as well as a major farming operator in NSW to grow livestock feed.
Roto-Gro on track for Freshero JV and first facility
In other recent horticultural news, ASX-listed Roto-Gro International announced Friday that it had made significant progress in negotiations for a joint venture with Freshero, an aspiring organic produce grower with longstanding relationships across the wholesale, retail and foodservice space in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The company expects to execute the terms of an agreement by the end of 2019, in a move that will see the construction of a fully automated state-of-the-art facility Roto-Gro's patented and proprietary cultivation technology with standard agricultural seeding and harvesting equipment.
This technology includes rotational garden systems, fertigation units, the company's iGrow Software as well as material management systems.
Roto-Gro said Freshero CEO Tony Mahoney had strategically positioned Freshero to lead the development of organic urban vertical farming and distribution centres for fresh organic produce grown in proximity to large urban centres.
Despite the positive news, the RGI share price is currently less than half of what it was a year ago, most likely due to the collapse of cannabis stocks to which its growing technology is also closely aligned.
Babylon Is Excited To Share That We Have Made It Onto The FoodTech 500's Shortlist!
The final list will be released in February, so keep an eye out for our final ranking
The list recognizes companies in all sectors of the AgriFoodTech industry, that are entrepreneurial success stories and have disrupted norms within the industry. The final list will be released in February, so keep an eye out for our final ranking.
hashtag#FoodTech hashtag#Agtech hashtag#futureoffood hashtag#babylonmicrofarms hashtag#successstories
West Village Farms’ Indoor, Vertical Style A Growing Success
Inside the old Hewlett-Packard printer factory in east Vancouver, Ken Kaneko walks among towering rows of scaffolding that hold sprouted plants growing under LED lights
East Vancouver Company Sells Lettuce, Microgreens
To Chuck's, New Seasons, High-End Grocers
By Will Campbell, Columbian Assistant Metro Editor
November 10, 2019
Inside the old Hewlett-Packard printer factory in east Vancouver, Ken Kaneko walks among towering rows of scaffolding that hold sprouted plants growing under LED lights.
Kaneko is the co-owner and CEO of West Village Farms, a company harnessing a new type of agriculture called “vertical farming,” and it’s among the first in Clark County that’s growing food indoors using marijuana-industry methods.
Every factor of the farm can be controlled because the operation is indoors: the temperature, the amount of light and what touches the plants — never bugs or pesticides. Growing the plants in dirt trays stacked eight rows high allows the farm to conserve space.
West Village is about a year into selling its lettuce and microgreens at high-end grocers in Oregon and Washington, including New Seasons and Chuck’s Produce, where a plastic container retails for $4.99. The young company is in a state of rapid growth as it works its way into more stores on the West Coast.
In October, the farm began harvesting three times a week, up from twice, to get fresher products to customers. It’s also seeing double or triple revenue growth each month, Kaneko said.
“Compared to last year, we made 80 times more,” he said of the revenue. “But we’re still in the infant stages of the company.”
Kaneko expects to expand operations inside West Village Farm‘s rented space at 18110 S.E. 34th St. It’s using a little more than half its 25,000-square-foot space and plans to be at full capacity by the first quarter of 2020.
Unlike any outdoor farm, West Village also plans to expand operations upward by adding at least four more rows, which are bundled into a “pod” reaching nearly to the ceiling.
Kaneko touts both health and environmental benefits of consuming indoor-grown plants. Even outdoor-grown food labeled organic can sometimes be exposed to herbicides or pesticides, he said.
Another advantage is having a short farm-to-table time. Compared with plants harvested on outdoor farms and trucked long distances to the grocer, harvesting plants in Vancouver means putting them on shelves in one or two days.
“A lot of microgreens are shipped here from (California), but it takes two weeks before they hit the shelves,” he said. “With West Village Farms, the product arrives at grocery stores a day or two after it’s harvested. That’s how we provide quality to our customers.”
West Village Farm’s method uses 95 percent less water compared with an outdoor farm, Kaneko said. Part of that is due to the company’s patented irrigation system.
Technology company
Before Kaneko co-founded West Village, he worked for Apple in California and often traveled for work. He recalls a business trip to Japan, where he saw a vertical farm operating out of a defunct semiconductor factory.
“I thought it was an interesting idea,” he said. “It was a thing in Japan, especially after the Fukushima disaster, to secure the supply chains of food.”
The vertical farms also reminded Kaneko of his time at Stanford University studying computer hardware manufacturing. At Stanford, where Kaneko earned a degree in materials science and engineering, he learned about two of the legends to come out of the department: Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel, and Ko Nishimura. Nishimura fell victim to American internment during World War II but eventually became CEO of Solectron, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturing companies.
“I idolized both those people,” Kaneko said.
After Kaneko toured the vertical farm in Japan, he learned that Nishimura owned one in California called Ecopia, so he reached out to him via email.
The two met for lunch, and Kaneko began to materialize his interest in starting his own vertical farm in the Pacific Northwest, where Kaneko held his first job after college at Intel’s Hillsboro, Ore., complex.
Over the next year, Nishimura “probably was vetting me out,” Kaneko said. “Afterward, when we felt comfortable with each other, we decided to create this new company.”
Kaneko, Nishimura and some other investors eventually decided to name the company after Nishimura, which in Japanese translates to “West Village.”
US: Wisconsin - From Groceries to Growing: Ernessi Farms Aiming to Buy Market Fresh Site, Turn It into ‘Vertical Farm’
Ernessi Farms grows plants indoors hydroponically. According to its website, “In vertical farming our growing levels are stacked on top of each other in unused urban spaces. With our space saving design and proprietary technology, our vertical farm allows us to grow 80% more produce while using 90% less water.”
Bryan Ernst shows how the roots of the plant extend below the growing bed into the water tray during a February 2017 tour of Ernessi Farms in downtown Ripon.
Ian Stepleton, Editor
11/27/2019
Bryan Ernst speaks with the Ripon Common Council, including Ald. Doug Iverson, seen in the background.
Ripon’s downtown grocery store has been for sale for some time.
Soon, it may have a new owner — but the building will be used to grow food, not sell it.
Ernessi Farms, which first opened in the lower level of the Bluemke’s building downtown, is planning to purchase the Market Fresh building at 111 E. Fond du Lac St. There, it’s expected to greatly expand its ability to grow produce, increase its market share and hire new employees.
“With this expansion, this will make us the largest vertical farm in the state by far,” said Bryan Ernst, owner and founder of Ernessi Farms. “The only other vertical farms that are getting close to the size by the time we’re done would be found in cities like Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis.”
A closing date has not yet been set for the proposed sale.
“We’re a little further past the negotiation process right now; we’re finalizing some final details,” Ernst told the Commonwealth Tuesday, noting negotiations have been ongoing for a few months. “I’d like to be able to close by a little after the first of the year, but it’s looking like it should be relatively soon, assuming all things go well between the attorneys.”
Ernessi Farms grows plants indoors hydroponically. According to its website, “In vertical farming, our growing levels are stacked on top of each other in unused urban spaces. With our space-saving design and proprietary technology, our vertical farm allows us to grow 80% more produce while using 90% less water.”
Meanwhile, specifics about what will happen to Market Fresh, such as when it is expected to close, are unclear.
When called by the Commonwealth Tuesday, owner John Maczuzak declined to comment.
Read the full story in the Nov. 28, 2019 edition of the Ripon Commonwealth Press.