A mix of red and blue light helps promote optimal plant growth in controlled environment agriculture settings. © kynny/iStock/Getty Images Plus pg 22 03.19 • www.ift.org BY MARY ELLEN KUHN

Will controlled environment growing remake the landscape of modern agriculture? Pioneering indoor growers believe that it’s time for farming to go high tech.

t its most idyllic, a traditional farm scene calls The challenges that CEA presents are equally clear: to mind the vivid hues of nature. Think rich It’s difficult and expensive. Starting an indoor growing brown soil and rows of leafy green plants operation is capital intensive, and the labor and energy sprouting under a bright blue sky and a costs required to operate it are high. A radiant, golden sun. Growers must be vigilant about food safety, and entre- Indoor farming conjures up somewhat different preneurs who come from outside the produce world may imagery: the slightly eerie, pinkish-purplish glow of LED underestimate the complexity of building a fresh food lighting, metallic-gray shelving units, and sterile white supply chain. growing trays. In the bold new world of controlled environment The Rising Profile of CEA agriculture (CEA) in which crops are grown in enclosed Despite the challenges it presents, indoor growing has spaces ranging from smart greenhouses to high-tech some high-profile fans and funders. Celebrity chefs Carla vertical farms, much more than the color palette of farm- Hall and Tom Colicchio invested in Kearny, N.J.–based ing has begun to change. Futurists have long theorized Bowery Farming, which closed a $90 million funding about the potential that indoor farms have to help feed a round in December 2018 with funding from investors growing global population, but such farming operations who include the CEO of Uber (Zaleski 2018). In July have tended to be experimental and relatively small in 2017, South San Francisco–based hydroponic grower scope. In just the past couple of years, however, the busi- Plenty secured the largest ag tech investment to date, ness of indoor growing has moved closer to viable raising $200 million in a funding round led by a huge commercial reality thanks to new sensor technologies, Japanese tech fund (Cosgrove 2017). And earlier this advances in LED lighting, and state-of-the-art climate year, Cincinnati-based 80 Acres Farms announced a control systems, not to mention machine learning and major investment, which AgFunder News (Burwood-Taylor advanced data analytics, all of which are coming together 2019) put at more than $40 million. to transform growing practices. “At any given time, it is very difficult to say how many But where will these changes lead? What do they indoor commercial growers exist in the world, as new mean for the world’s food supply? Is CEA truly scalable? indoor farms are constantly being launched, and many And can the ambitious pioneers who’ve put a stake in the continue to fail,” says Henry Gordon-Smith, founder and soil-free ground of indoor growing make a go of it? managing director of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Agritecture The appeal of CEA is clear. Growing in a controlled Consulting. “The industry is still waiting on data for indoor environment is local and sustainable; it requires far 2018, but what is clear is that 2017 was a very good year less water than outdoor growing, and it doesn’t deplete globally for agricultural technologies in which we saw a the soil. Because of their closed systems, many indoor record $10.1 billion in early-stage investment.” growers use no pesticides. And produce can be bred for Indoor growing has grabbed the attention of private garden-fresh taste rather than for the ability to withstand equity investors because they see the potential for big the rigors of a distribution cycle that spans thousands of wins, says Allison Kopf, who in 2015 founded Brooklyn, miles; most indoor growers proudly tout the fact that N.Y.–based Agrilyst to bring to market a web-based soft- their products are free of GMOs. ware platform for managing the indoor growing process. »»

03.19 • www.ift.org 23 pg “Venture capitalists are really interested in massive, massive market opportuni- ties where you can deploy technology and get a really big outcome,” notes Kopf. “Agriculture traditionally has been a very massive industry that has been underserved by technology.” The way Kopf sees it, indoor farm- ing is just starting to scale up and growers have a lot of learning left to do, but the opportunity is there for compa- nies that get it right. “I think you’re going to have a lot of companies go under in the next few years, but you’re going to have companies that become really successful,” she predicts.

Farm Models Differ Thanks to their short growth cycles, leafy greens are ideally suited to indoor growing and represent the bulk of CEA Greens from Bowery Farming are available crops. Indoor farmers also are growing at retailers in New York City and New Jersey. Photo courtesy of Bowery Farming microgreens, herbs, tomatoes, and cucumbers, and they are experimenting with additional crops. 80 Acres Farms least two crops thanks to their ability to that they give the effect of walls of has strawberries and grapes in the R&D create microclimates inside their grow- greens. And some companies, particu- stage, for example. According to an ing facilities. larly those that use a greenhouse model, Agrilyst survey conducted in 2017, 80% Among the major CEA players, use low shelving units. of the indoor growers polled raise at there’s no single approach to growing. Growers employ sophisticated cli- Most companies have developed their mate control systems to maintain the own systems over the course of years of perfect balance of air flow, light, water, Figure 1. Breaking Out Indoor Farming Growing Systems. (based on responses to a 2017 survey of indoor growers)* From Agrilyst’s State of R&D and trial and error. and humidity in their facilities. In the Indoor Farming 2017 Hydroponics—growing plants in a most advanced operations, hundreds if nutrient-rich, water-based solution—is not thousands of sensors track plant Hybrid (Aquaponics, the method of choice for the largest per- growth. Machine learning and artificial Hydroponics, Soil) 6% centage of indoor farming operations; intelligence technologies enable growers 49% of the respondents in the Agrilyst to interpret the data their sensors col- survey opt for hydroponics. Aquaponics, lect and use the information to Aeroponics 6% which involves raising fish and plants in continually tweak their growing prac- an integrated system, is used by 15% tices, adjusting inputs like water and (Figure 1). nutrients with great precision, ensuring Newark, N.J.–based AeroFarms that plants get exactly what they Aquaponics 15% grows greens using a system called aero- need—no more and no less, thus reduc- ponics in which the roots of plants are ing waste at the same time they are misted with water and nutrients rather ensuring optimal growth. Hydroponics 49% than immersed as they are in hydro- To efficiently manage its operation, ponic growing systems. The company the team at Bowery has developed a has patented its process, which employs proprietary software platform, a cloth growing medium made from BoweryOS, which uses vision systems, Soil-Based 24% recycled plastic. automation technology, and machine At AeroFarms, which operates one learning to monitor plants and “all the farm in a former steel mill and another variables that drive their growth 24/7,” in a onetime paintball arena, plants are according to the company. “Now more grown on shelving units stacked 12 lev- than ever, we need scalable solutions for * Totals exceed 100% due to rounding els high. Plenty grows greens on 20-foot an impending climate and food crisis, vertical towers located so close together and we deeply believe in the power of 49+pg 24 03.19 • www.ift.org 24+15+6+6 technology to make drastic, necessary improvements to the food system,” says Making Produce Even Better for You cofounder and CEO Irving Fain. When its Hamilton, Ohio, facility ne of the benefits of controlled environ- the same every time.” now under construction is complete, ment agriculture is the potential it Marketing produce for enhanced nutri- 80 Acres Farms will have automated Oaffords to yield produce with enhanced tionals would be challenging, however, growing from seeding to harvesting, nutritional content as well as superior taste. Mattson notes, because nutritional labeling the company says. Neil Mattson, a plant scientist at Cornell isn’t required for produce sold in the United At San Carlos, Calif.–based Iron University, explains how it works. “Many of States. “Because there’s not currently a Ox, which opened the doors of its these nutritional compounds in plants or the nutrition label on produce, it may be some- robotically powered indoor farm this compounds in plants that contribute past fall, a robot named Angus lifts 800- to flavor and aroma are actually pound containers filled with seedlings compounds that plants make in the and carries them around a 2,000- environment in response to stress,” square-foot growing area. Seedlings are says Mattson. transplanted via a robotic arm (Smith Plants grown outdoors have 2018). The company describes its developed defense mechanisms in approach as “human led, robotics first” response to environmental stress- and its produce as “grown by robots ors, he says, because “plants can’t with love.” move around and get away from Automating the farming process is a those stressors, so what they have priority for many companies because to do is form pigments of protective the cost of labor is one of the biggest compounds to ward off these challenges that growers face. In the stresses.” Antioxidant anthocyanin Agrilyst survey, hydroponic growers compounds in red leaf lettuce, for reported that labor accounted for 49% example, are made in response to of their total operating costs, and verti- high light stress or stress from cold cal farmers put it at 56%. The labor temperatures. In order to achieve shortages that conventional farmers face specific nutrition or taste benefits, helped inspire Iron Ox’s robotic sys- plant scientists are exploring tems, company cofounder Brandon approaches such as exposing plants Alexander told The Guardian last year to controlled stressors at different (Smith 2018). points in their growth cycle. Growers at 80 Acres Farms are Operational Challenges enthusiastic about the potential to In addition to labor, energy costs are a grow nutritionally enhanced pro- major contributor to operating expenses, duce. “We know that by stressing and lighting is typically a big part of that. something like lettuce, you can pro- Photo courtesy of Bowery Farming Unsurprisingly, all the indoor vertical duce more vitamin C in the lettuce farms Agrilyst surveyed reported using naturally,” says 80 Acres Farms CEO Mike what difficult for a company to differentiate supplemental lighting versus only 43% of Zelkind. “We just create an environment themselves based on nutrition,” he says. greenhouse growers. Indoor vertical where lettuce feels like it needs to protect “You can’t say this product has 50% more farmers reported using lights 16 hours a itself, and to do that, it produces more of antioxidants than normal lettuce or toma- day on average. these certain chemicals, volatiles, and toes, or this product has more vitamin C.” LED lighting has become more effi- nutrients.” Vonnie Estes, vice president of technol- cient and considerably less costly in “We can do it in such a way that it is con- ogy for the Produce Marketing Association, recent years, but it’s still a significant sistent and reliable every time,” says Tisha shares Mattson’s perspective. Marketing for expense for indoor growers, says Livingston, 80 Acres Farms president. “In enhanced nutrition “will be part of the Vonnie Estes, vice president of technol- nature that happens, but it happens only future,” she predicts. “But as far as being ogy with the Produce Marketing under certain specific conditions, so you commercially viable, I think that’s going to Association. “Getting enough power to might see a spike in certain volatiles or com- take a while to really figure that out. … You run all the lights and all the heating that pounds, but then you don’t see it again until can say that something tastes a little differ- is required right now is so expensive,” that condition happens. Well, we can make ent, but if you’re going to say that you can get she says. sure that at the right time in the plant’s devel- more vitamin A, you’ve got to be able to Lighting costs are “a big part of why opment that we stress it that way, so that it’s prove it.” we use sunlight to grow,” says Abby

03.19 • www.ift.org 25 pg Bowery grows crops with precision in its indoor vertical farming operation. Photo courtesy of Bowery Farming

Indoor growing has moved closer to viable commercial reality thanks to new enables us to meet their needs with a sensor technologies, advances in LED lighting, and state-of-the-art climate year-round, large-scale program that really becomes a meaningful part of control systems, not to mention machine learning and advanced data analytics. their salad category,” she explains. All the produce grown at the company’s Prior, vice president of marketing for reported operating profitably. On aver- Virginia farm goes to stores within the BrightFarms, a hydroponic grower that age, profitable farms were in operation Ahold grocery chain, and in the Chicago uses a greenhouse model for the farms it for seven years versus five years for area, BrightFarms has partnered with operates in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, those that were unprofitable. the Mariano’s division of Kroger. and Virginia. “We think it is an available Other challenges for indoor farming “The salad category is typically the and abundant natural resource, and it startups include correctly forecasting largest category within produce at our also enables us to reduce our operating demand, establishing and maintaining supermarket retailers,” says Prior. “So, expenses, which enables our farms to be relationships with retailers, and manag- it’s really strategically important for profitable,” she says. “We use as little ing the supply chain. As Estes observes, them.” Typically, the company puts supplemental energy as we possibly can.” “Even though the supply chain is shorter long-term retail supply agreements in Data from Agritecture show that the because they say they’re going to be place before it builds a new farm. cost of operating a smart greenhouse next to urban centers, a truck still has that takes advantage of natural sunlight to pick it up and take it somewhere to Safety First and advanced automation is about one- be sold or deliver it to the consumer.” As it is for any food company, food third that of an indoor vertical farm Establishing relationships with local safety is a critical concern for indoor (Holt 2018). retailers before building a farm has been growers, and having systems in place to Confronted with high costs for key to BrightFarms’ success, according mitigate the risk of pathogen contami- labor, lighting, and more, it’s not sur- to Prior. “By partnering with just one or nation and facilitate traceability is a prising that only 51% of the Agrilyst two major retailers with each farm, it must. indoor farming survey respondents enables us to be really efficient and it “Our growing practices are pg 26 03.19 • www.ift.org The highly automated Iron Ox growing operation in Silicon Valley was built around robotics.

Right: Baby bok choy springs to life in a controlled atmosphere environment. Photos courtesy of Iron Ox

structurally much safer than [practices for] field-grown greens,” Prior main- tains. “We have complete control over our systems—from the point at which we seed our product to the point at which we harvest it and get it to the consumer.” This, she says, is safer than with the field-grown model “where products from many farms are commin- gled at many different processing sites. They’re mixed together and packaged under a variety of brands and shipped to potential human-borne pathogens,” building and air is coming in, or you are out to a multitude of customers. So, it says Neil Mattson, an associate profes- naturally ventilating and there’s an can be very difficult to identify the sor in the School of Integrative Plant opportunity for pests to come in, source of an issue when there is an Science at Cornell University and an there’s always going to be an option for issue.” A case in point is last year’s expert on controlled environment a risk,” she continues. romaine lettuce E. coli contamination, growing. Leading conventional growers have which was ultimately linked to an out- Kopf agrees. “Anytime you have decades of experience dealing with food door irrigation canal. people interacting [with plants], any- safety threats, which could give them an “Being indoors doesn’t completely thing with biological systems, there’s a advantage over indoor farm newbies, eliminate human-borne pathogens, but food safety risk. Always,” she says. notes Estes. “People like Taylor Farms (a it allows us to have stricter control of “If people are handling plants at any marketer of greens and salad kits) know the inputs and the exposure of our crops given time, or if you have a leak in your about food safety in their guts because pg 28 03.19 • www.ift.org where you learn about it is [by] having a of the entire category, and that’s the “I’m very bullish on indoor agricul- problem. So they have all the protocols. opportunity we’re going after.” ture,” says Estes. “I think the technology They know what to do. They know More than eight of 10 Agrilyst sur- we’re developing is fabulous, and I think what to look for. They have the experts vey respondents (84%) said that they there is a place for it.” Still, she doesn’t on speed dial.” plan to expand their facilities within the expect indoor growing to put tradi- Prior emphasizes that BrightFarms next five years. Nearly a quarter (24%) tional ag out of business anytime soon. has rigorous food safety protocols in of the respondents said that increasing “I think there will be a blend,” says place, and when the company volun- profitability was their No. 1 goal for the Estes. “I think the outdoor growing tarily recalled product because of year ahead, with increasing revenue a companies—where it makes sense— possible E. coli contamination in 2017, it close second at 22%. will use technology and they’ll do was as a result of its own testing. At To get there, they’re turning to indoor farming.” BrightFarms, every meeting starts with technology. Nearly half (49%) said they Kopf also expects to see conven- a safety status update, “because nothing hoped to purchase two or more new tional growers play an important role in is more important to us than that technologies, and 71% believe they can advancing CEA. “Companies like [safety],” she says. increase crop yields by using data ana- Driscoll’s (a berry grower) and Azura BrightFarms isn’t alone in its focus lytics (Figure 2). Group in Europe (a grower of tomatoes on food safety. AeroFarms and Little Leaf Farms, a Devens, Mass.–based hydroponic grower, joined forces with the company to create a coalition of Touting the Benefits of Indoor-Grown Greens controlled environment growers for the York City and Chicago, delivers the locally purpose of sharing food safety practices verybody knows that produce is good for grown message with creative brand names and creating industry-wide standards. you, but marketers of greens grown via like Queens Crisp, Blooming Brooklyn The group held its inaugural meeting Econtrolled environment agriculture are Iceberg, and Windy City Crunch. And indoor last year during the United Fresh pro- making it clear that their brands have some grower BrightFarms reinforces the local duce expo. Prior says most leading bonus benefits via messaging around locally message by including a state map with the indoor growers are now members of the grown and pesticide-free. Many are growing location highlighted on its package. coalition. highlighting the Non-GMO Project Verified “The local aspect is something that In addition, new technologies like logo on packaging. people really appreciate,” says Henry airborne pathogen detection systems Gordon-Smith, founder and managing can help eliminate problems before they director of Agritecture Consulting, a start. Agrilyst is teaming up with a provider of consulting services to indoor partner on such a project, says Kopf. growers. “And, talking about the market “What we’re working on now,” she says, opportunity for indoor agriculture, there’s “is deploying some sensors through a really no better case than the rising partner that can do airborne detection. consumer demand for fresh local produce. Then, in Agrilyst, what you’ll see is a What was a $5 billion-a-year industry in the plant health hub where you can see at all United States in 2008 is now expected to times how healthy your plants are. If reach $20 billion this year.” there’s a risk of contamination, you can BrightFarms is working to add more act on it before the pathogen hits the excitement to the salad category with the plant.” introduction of innovative varieties like Happy Beet, a combination of beet greens Growth Agendas mixed with baby spinach, and Fresh Kick, When it comes to the future, indoor which includes a mixture of mustard greens, growers are thinking big. Plenty’s vision pac choi, and arugula. “We will always have is to build an indoor growing facility spinach and spring mix and arugula and kale near every major population center in Photo Courtesy of BrightFarms and the standards in the category,” says the world, which would mean about Abby Prior, BrightFarms vice president of 500 farms in all (Roberts 2018). marketing, “but as people are eating “We’re just getting started,” says Greens from Bowery Farming, for healthier and learning more and more about Prior of BrightFarms. “When we think example, prominently state on the package produce, and particularly greens, and how about competition, we think about front that the produce is “grown locally with integral that is to a healthy diet, we want to West Coast growers of field-grown zero pesticides.” Gotham Greens, which give them more ways to enjoy them and product, not just other indoor growers. operates urban rooftop greenhouses in New more reasons to be excited about it.” We think this can be a meaningful part

03.19 • www.ift.org 29 pg Figure 2. Top Technologies or Improvements in Which Indoor Growers Plan to Invest. you’re going to start wheat or corn or soybeans in a vertical (% of responses in a 2017 survey) From Agrilyst’s State of Indoor Farming 2017 to see this balloon farm anytime soon,” he continues. “But in the next 10 in terms of helping Americans get high- years,” she says. quality, nutritious food in their diet, I Mattson is the think it can be part of the solution.” principal investiga- Although he’s a passionate believer Adding tor on a $2.4 in the potential of controlled environ- LEDs 16% Data and Analytics 21% million National ment growing, Mike Zelkind, CEO of Science Foundation 80 Acres Farms, readily acknowledges grant that aims to that it’s not the whole solution to feed- Organic help establish the ing the world nutritiously. “I don’t think Nutrients 14% economic viability there’s one silver bullet to take us from Climate Control and scalability of today to where the future of cities and Farm System 18% CEA (Cornell the future of food will lie,” he says. “I 2017). He thinks think some crops are best grown out- Management the jury is still out doors—some row crops. Other crops Postharvest System 16% on the role it will are best grown indoors. … I think this Automation play in addressing [CEA] needs to be eventually integrated Equipment agricultural chal- with a variety of other solutions.” 16% lenges. “We’re not Kopf concurs. “Indoor ag is a really certain yet if indoor critical component of our food system, * Totals exceed 100% due to rounding farming is going to but it’s also not the end-all, be-all,” she compete on price says. “I don’t think anything is. You can and other produce), they’re doing this with outdoor,” says Mattson. “It may be never have a complex system like agri- already;21+ they’re growing under plastic. a specialty niche.18+16+13+16 It’s not clear to me yet culture and have one end-all, be-all It’s not high tech, but they’re already that it’s going to completely change how solution.” »» taking steps to mitigate those risks [of we grow our vegetables. outdoor growing], and I just think “We’re not going to be growing Mary Ellen Kuhn is executive editor of Food Technology magazine ([email protected]).

BrightFarms uses a greenhouse model for its farms, which allows the company to IFTNEXT content is made possible through minimize the use of expensive artificial lighting and to capitalize on the same source of energy that outdoor growers use—sunshine. Photo courtesy of BrightFarms the generous support of Ingredion, the IFTNEXT Platinum Content Sponsor.

REFERENCES Agrilyst. 2017. State of Indoor Farming. Agrilyst, Brooklyn, N.Y. agrilyst.com. Burwood-Taylor, L. 2019. “80 Acres Farms Raises $40m to Complete ‘First Fully Automated Vertical Farm.’” AgFunder News, Jan. 17. agfundernews.com. Cornell. 2017. “Lighting the way for future urban farming.” Press release, Oct. 12. Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. cornell. edu. Cosgrove, E. 2017. “SoftBank Invests in Largest Ever Agtech Deal, a $200m Series B for Indoor Ag Startup Plenty.” AgFunder News, July 19. Holt, S. 2018. “Is Vertical farming Really the Future of Agriculture?” Eater, July 3. eater.com. Roberts, D. 2018. “This company wants to build a giant indoor farm next to every major city in the world.” Vox, April 18. vox. com. Smith, N. 2018. “America’s first autonomous robot farm replaces humans with ‘incredibly intelligent’ machines.” The Guardian, Oct. 9. theguardian.com. Zaleski, O. 2018. “Uber CEO and Alphabet Invest in Urban Farming Startup.” Bloomberg, Dec. 12. bloomberg.com.

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