Today it's all about vertical farming and my personal opinion on the developments I've seen in recent years. I have written this article in 1.5 hours, maybe I have forgotten or overlooked something.
I have been more or less active in this field for many years now. Ultimately, however, I feel - and in the end probably actually am - just a spectator, watching companies throw around sums and marketing buzzwords without making any progress.
Instead, I take a more critical view of the post-Covid years, quite a few companies have gone bankrupt, innovation is taking as long as a farmer waiting for the next generation of a pitchfork. The answer: there is no new pitchfork. As it stands, it has reached its optimum.
That's how I see it in the vertical farming industry. I worked at the Association for Vertical Farming for 7 years in a technical capacity, but that was 2 years ago now. And you are constantly reminded that people only notice you if you have a title, if you lose the title, you virtually disappear from their perception. Instead, others are making a name for themselves in the foreground, some of whom are able to push ahead with charisma rather than facts and figures, who are more likely to captivate people with a smile rather than lay the hard facts on the table.
Has vertical farming failed?
From a technical point of view, vertical farming is just great, I love it, I love how technology works with nature to grow better, to produce food for people that is fresh, has no bitterness and is healthy.
But unfortunately that's where it ends. I keep seeing videos on YouTube where people complain about why the topic is being hyped up so much and why you can't find the products in the supermarket. That the products are too expensive or that it's not economically viable.
And yes, these are the hard facts, the consumer has to decide why they should choose an overpriced lettuce that was grown indoors over one that costs 1/3 of the price. You don't tend to find such products in supermarkets, at least I haven't stumbled across them in a German supermarket yet, but Germany is not a market for vertical farming products anyway, see topic Vertical farming and electricity consumption. Another problem is that due to inflation since Covid, prices have risen sharply everywhere, people have to save, and you can usually only save on food if you don't want to reduce your standard of living in other ways.
One problem that is always felt to be hidden is that people in the industry feel they are lying to themselves, they don't talk openly about the problems at the conferences and instead celebrate themselves as I did at the VertiFarm 2 years ago When I was there, most of the exhibitors told me behind closed doors how they saw the problems, but nobody wanted to talk about them openly. It could scare off investors. And that's the other point: many companies need repeated financial injections, so they are not viable themselves and cannot establish a functioning business model that makes them independent of external investors. As I am not addressing any company in particular here, anyone can simply do their own research.
The people who work in vertical farming companies do so because they believe that their work is important and purposeful. And I don't want to put a negative burden on these people, I also have friends who work and do research there.
Is vertical farming now doomed to failure?
Yes and noI have the comparison to the LaserDisc and the DVD in the title, and it didn't come from anywhere. The LaserDisc was a competitor to the DVD, but the DVD prevailed and the LaserDisc disappeared into history.
I therefore see vertical farming in the same way as LaserDisc, the industry has been around for more than 20 years now, but it's not really moving forward and getting closer to the people. Instead, it feels like the whole thing is being overtaken by the technology itself, but more on that later.
Websites of Vertical Farming companies show visually exciting animations or are simply built, but many lack basic things:
- What do you do?
- What is sold/what is offered?
- How can I reach someone?
- Where can I find the contact form?
- Who is my contact person for questions about the company?
Many sites are based on a marketing bullshit bingo where it is simply tiring to even read the content because a lot is said but no information is actually provided. Many international companies don't even have an imprint or address, contact details etc. So how can you rate such a company? Anyone can make a page like this etc.
And if there is a telephone number, then there is only a mailbox, the number does not exist, or you should please write by email. And while we're at it, it's not uncommon for the announcements to be barely usable, either in the local language or only in English. In some cases, we have not heard of customer friendliness either. Even when it comes to internationalization and providing content in English, for many companies that are not primarily located in English-speaking countries, this is sometimes unreasonable effort, but well, I'm speaking as a web developer now.
The industry is cannibalizing itself
I, too, have been involved in the industry through my websites, and I realized that the industry is cannibalizing itself. The first thing I did was start a international company directory in the vertical farming sectoralso a job page for the industry, most recently I have been an event listing I built up a website, but others came along, even though they were actually pursuing completely different tasks in the industry and more or less copied my work. Instead, they simply take the work away from you and then get all the praise etc. because of their reach.
In difficult times, it is more important to work together, to support each other in challenges, but this does not happen, instead the majority in the industry looks at themselves and what they can do to survive, this mindset is a problem and is the Reason why the industry will go bust sooner or later.
I had a website partner who was pulling data from my job site, I even programmed an API and server code to integrate the content with the partner. And although we had an agreement, I recently looked on their website, it was simply removed and replaced with their own solution. Oh, and my directory was also copied as an idea.
I have no problem with competition or rivalry, but somewhere along the line you have to understand that it's not right to push each other out. But being stabbed in the back from behind like that, especially when you have an agreement, that's bitter. But what can you do? Legally, it wasn't about money, it was simply about links and the agreement to work together.
In my opinion, trust in the industry has been damaged. I also tend to keep in touch with older people and experts in the industry, as they have a bit more foresight and understanding and no longer need to make money at the drop of a hat; you can exchange ideas and talk openly with them and they know about the problems. It's always pleasant for me to talk to people, even if there are 20-30 years between them, to find a common level of understanding, so I like to listen and learn their wisdom.
Technology is overtaking vertical farming
While research in industry tends to focus on cost reduction, how to automate more, which is not wrong, competition is already coming from another area: the laboratory. More and more new technologies around bioreactors, food produced directly from bacteria, as I recently read an article about itthat a biotechnology company in Switzerland had managed to virtually "produce" cocoa beans and coffee beans in a bioreactor. The fruits are produced directly, no more plants are needed. Everything is cell-based. The start-up is called Food Brewer.
They have managed to do what vertical farming has failed to do for decades: grow plants that require a lot of energy. Food Brewer has almost single-handedly developed a solution for the production of cocoa and coffee; fewer plants are needed and you no longer have to wait years for the trees to bear fruit. Other companies are also developing new products that have more calories and are more filling. Vertical farming is failing because of precisely this Problem: growing plants in a short time that can cover a high calorie requirement and still be sold profitably.
This is the billion dollar equation that has not really been solved so far. Growing large quantities of staple foods all over the world at low prices and in a short space of time and selling them economically.
This is where vertical farming fails.
Due to the increased prices in the supermarket, people are more interested in cultivating their own gardens again, just as their grandparents did for the most part before we had the benefit of modern civilization, which can provide everything at any time. Well, those days are over. Just remember the beginning of the Ukraine war, where North Africa from vital wheat supplies was cut off. In the USA and Europe, there is bird flu, many chickens have to be culled and egg prices are rising. In the USA, egg sales are on top of the already increased prices, now also rationed. In Germany, there is even talk of a Rationing of egg sales under consideration.
I will continue to work in the vertical farming industry, but I will be more of an observer and act from the background in the administrative area, knowing, but not trumpeting publicly. One thing I have learned here is that if you want to know the truth, just ask me, people don't want to hear the truth, so you don't impose it on anyone unless you are explicitly asked for the truth.
The world is changing, the good years are long gone, hard years are ahead of us and we will all have to adapt to the new circumstances, will vertical farming still find a place in the industry?
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