Is Vertical Farming the future of agriculture? We spoke with AeroFarms co-founder and CMO Marc Oshima to find out.

AeroFarms

2019 saw AeroFarms voted one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2019. AeroFarms are one of the most innovative companies in the vertical farming sector and are also the #1 winners of the Food Tech 500, Forward Fooding’s endeavor to create a fortune 500 for the AgriFood Tech sector. 

Their mission is simple: to transform agriculture by building and operating environmentally responsible farms throughout the world. This way, they want to enable local production at scale and nourish our communities with safe, nutritious, and delicious food.

On April 22nd 2020, our CEO Alessio D’Antino interviewed AeroFarms Co-Founder and CMO Marc Oshima in a virtual fireside chat.

They dug deep into Vertical Farming, the latest AgriFoodTech trends, and shared advice and tips for the FoodTech startup community.

You can watch the full interview below or listen to the podcast here

Vertical Farming 

AgriFood tech is not an outsider anymore. This sector is continuously evolving and more and more players are entering the scene. That is especially the case with the world of vertical farming. In fact, by bringing science, technology, and innovation to the next level, vertical farming has now become a consolidated reality.

Recently, we interviewed one of the co-founders of AeroFarms, Marc Oshima.

Marc gave us the opportunity to understand more deeply how AeroFarms have been able to pursue and lead a real revolution in the food tech sector. They showed the entire world that indoor vertical farming is not just a futuristic and utopian idea.

AeroFarms’ journey

The journey of the American company started from the union of the expertise of three co-founders who shared the same passion and dream: the power of food to bring communities together. Equally important in the process of creation and growth of the startup has been the identification of a real mission.

To build farms where the communities are, and to convert buildings and warehouse spaces into new growing centers.

This purpose allowed AeroFarms to reimagine the idea of local production and to put their innovative technology at the service of the new agricultural era.

The revolutionary technological concept of creating beds of agriculture stacked on the top of each other, pioneered by the company’s Chief Science Officer, Ed Harwood, enables AeroFarms to reduce by 95% the consumption of water and to grow a deep and clean product without any kind of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.

Furthermore, the perfect blend of mission-driven innovation, sustainability, and cooperation of the team led the company to become a certified B corporation. Yet, despite all their recognitions,  AeroFarms’ core goal is still the same, to grow the best possible plants for the betterment of humanity.

Keeping up the good work despite COVID-19

Marc also discussed how the company is facing the COVID-19 situation. In fact, he unveiled the new project that AeroFarms are working on in Abu Dhabi. That is the creation of the world’s largest indoor vertical farm for R&D, a 90,000 square feet center of excellence dedicated to vertical farming as well as seeds and genetics, with the implementation of drones and automation technologies.

This goes to show that despite the complex and challenging global situation we are living in, AeroFarms are demonstrating how reactivity, commitment, and passion can play a key role to find new opportunities and to think about having a bigger impact in the future.

We feel a tremendous obligation as a food-producing company […] we feel our team members are on the front lines, the heroic work they are doing enabled us to maintain the operation.

Said Marc, highlighting how fundamental it is to establish a common goal and passion to be able to overcome challenges and to keep growing in today’s new normal.

Equally important for future entrepreneurs, according to Marc’s opinion, will be resiliency. This is a core part of AeroFarms’ identity and a key factor that has enabled them to realise who they are and how they want to solve global problems.

What will the future of agriculture look like?

In regard to the main problems that impact the world of Agriculture, such as drought and lack of arable land, AeroFarms’ CMO said:

We need new solutions. So we’re focused on how we can be part of the solutions, be a catalyst for further solutions as well.

Moreover, Marc Oshima shared his vision for the future of the sector. He identified the perfect way to bring a concrete and progress-oriented innovation in the union between transparency, traceability and technology.  

He also analysed the situation from a wider perspective.

How are we doing with our precious resources? 70% of freshwater today goes into agriculture and  70% of the pollution is coming from agriculture. We have to think about the fact that over the last 40 years we’ve lost a third of our arable land.

The increase in population, urbanisation, worker welfare and safety are other fundamental aspects to be considered when programming and designing the society of tomorrow and a sustainable business environment.   

Marc identified global politics and especially the local governments as key players to achieve betterment for the community.

AeroFarms will put a concrete effort to achieve this goal in the AgriFood sector. They are currently cooperating with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and with different universities in the US. Together, they are trying to identify stressors of leafy greens to optimise the taste and the nutrients of the plants. This is how they will drive the world to healthier consumption habits.

How will vertical farming contribute to the pharma world?

Another point that Mark made is that progress has to be related to health, too. This will be the starting point of the post-COVID-19 era.

Understanding how vertical farming can contribute to the nutraceutical and more broadly the pharma world is a priority for the global community. The company’s plant scientists are working to better understand plant health and how that translates into human health.

AeroFarms’ team is also made up of nutritionists and dietitians. And they are working to find new ways to stress plants and to make them express new key attributes that can be beneficial for consumers’ health.

It is important to mention that many new players are entering the vertical farming market. This trend could lead to more competition and consequently to a race for innovation from which the global scientific community could benefit.

Although this could be seen as a critical factor by AeroFarms, as the market leaders, Marc appeared enthusiastic about what he defined as ‘a movement’, encouraging new companies to start working in this environment. 

We need a lot of different players at the table, helping drive more solutions and innovation. We’re excited by new entrants  and by what it means to the consumer: more choices and more connection with their food. The more, the merrier.

Finally, the CMO of AeroFarms spent a few words on how crucial machine learning and AI are and will be, in order to continue to optimise the quality of the products and also to make course corrections to the environmental factors.

The future is in our hands

Marc also shared his personal experience from a pure business perspective. We asked him about the biggest lessons he learned during his entrepreneurial path.

His answer was incredibly inspiring and a concrete incentive for the new generations to come. He encouraged them to combine passion and resiliency with expertise, and to keep focused and never loose sight of who we are and the impact we want to have.

The future of the planet is in the next generation’s hands. 

People have to have the right mindset. We like to think that we don’t hire people to solve a particular problem. But we hire problem solvers.

We cherish Mark’s words as a keystone for the progress and development of the Food Tech business.

Get in touch!

We hoped you enjoyed reading about Vertical Farming and AeroFarms. If you did, feel free to share this post with your fellow food techies.

Also, if you’d like to read more about Food Tech, take a look at our European 2020 Trends post. Alternatively, you can access our  Global FoodTech Trends report.

We put together our reports using Forward Fooding’s proprietary data intelligence platform, the FoodTech Data Navigator. Would you like to know more about it? Then book in a free demo to experience the FoodTech Data Navigator directly. You can request a free trial period to see how it can benefit your organisation.

At Forward Fooding, we’re powering the Food Revolution through the power of data. We’re offering you consultancy services and access to our global startup network.

If you want to know more about us, visit our website or contact us at info@forwardfooding.com.

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