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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

AeroFarms

AeroFarms is Supplying Goose Island UK With Hydroponic Hops

Goose Island UK has collaborated with indoor vertical farming company AeroFarms to craft Hail Hydro’s beer, a brew made with hops grown hydroponically in AeroFarms’ 100,000 square-foot global headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.

The new hazy session IPA joins Goose Island’s Impossible IPA series, a collection of beers using new recipes, techniques, and hops. Those looking to learn more about the new beer can scan a QR code on the can to read about AeroFarm’s hops and take a virtual tour of its farm.

The hydroponic hops plants were grown without soil and submerged in AeroFarms’ patented growth medium and fed nutrient-rich water. Because this method is unaffected by changes in the weather, soil conditions, and any other environmental factors that come with crop farming, AeroFarms can grow and harvest these Cascade hops year-round.

As fluctuating temperatures, droughts, and flooding impact crop yields more each year, expect to see more indoor farming in the craft beer industry and beyond. The industry took off in 2020, as companies like Freight Farms, Elevate Farms, Plenty, and BrightFarms raised large funding rounds and broke ground on major expansions. While these companies have historically grown leafy greens and herbs, some are beginning to branch out to produce crops like strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. AeroFarms grows over 550 varieties of plants, including leafy greens, hops, berries, and tomatoes (and how hops).

The AeroFarms and Goose Island collaboration beer is currently available on the Goose Island UK website.

AeroFarms Partners With Nokia to Build Out Drone Control and Other Indoor Ag Tech

Vertical farming company AeroFarms announced today an official partnership with Nokia Bell Labs to further develop the technology capabilities of its industrial-scale indoor ag operation. 

Currently, New Jersey-based AeroFarms uses a proprietary system that combines machine vision and machine learning technologies with the company’s agSTACK software, custom lighting, and aeroponics. The goal is to create an indoor farming environment where temperature, humidity levels, and other environmental factors are fully controlled, and where automation can take over some of the tasks around the farm.

According to today’s press release,  Nokia Bell Labs, which is the research arm of Nokia, will contribute its autonomous drone control and orchestration systems to the partnership as well as imaging and sensor tech and new AI capabilities.

These drones fly over the crops and autonomously image each plant to collect more data on overall plant health. AeroFarms CTO Roger Buelow said in a statement today that scientists and engineers have been working for two years to train these systems in plant biology.

From the press release:

“Nokia Bell Labs’ machine vision technology has enabled the most precise data capture yet, down to the level of individual plants, using leaf size segmentation, quantification, and pixel-based scanning to identify consistency and variation. Going beyond what even the human eye can perceive, this state-of-the art imaging technology enables the gathering of immense insights about a plant including its leaf size, stem length, coloration, curvature, spotting, and tearing.“

The end goal of all of this is to improve plant quality, nutritional profile, and taste, as well as crop yield.

To what extent drone imaging can help with that remains to be seen. So far, few indoor ag companies employ drones for any tasks on the farm, Finland’s iFarm being a notable exception. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with Sadarah Partners to build an indoor farm in Qatar that will include drone tech. 

AeroFarms and Nokia have worked together since 2020, testing the technologies with some of AeroFarms’ crops. As of today, the tech capabilities are “ready to scale” to all of AeroFarms’ crops as well as to the company’s forthcoming farms in Danville, Virginia and the Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. 

 

AeroFarms Talks R&D in the UAE for Vertical Farming

One place that gets a lot of attention these days when it comes to food tech initiatives is the United Arab Emirates. Like Singapore, the country is aggressively pursuing food and ag tech initiatives as a way to improve food security and quality within its own borders and in doing so become a more self-sufficient food producer.

The UAE got another big agrifood boost recently when New Jersey-based vertical farming company AeroFarms announced that its UAE-based subsidiary AeroFarms AgX LTD had started construction on an R&D facility in Abu Dhabi. The center will focus on new developments for indoor ag and controlled environment farming, and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2022.

“The region aligns very well with our value proposition,” Aerofarms cofounder and CEO David Rosenberg explained to The Spoon recently. “The UAE imports 90 percent of their crops, so there’s a food security issue. They also have relatively cheap energy.” He added that a facility for R&D in the country gives Aerofarms a “strong regional presence” from which it can expand to other areas in the Middle East and beyond. 

There’s certainly enough opportunity for indoor agriculture in this part of the world. Because of the desert climate, the UAE and other countries in the Middle East deal with a lack of arable land as well as water scarcity. Vertical farming operations like those of AeroFarms or another player, Vertical Field, claim to use significantly less water than traditional outdoor agriculture. And because of the vertical nature of the grow systems (plant trays are literally stacked inside a giant warehouse-like setting), companies can pack more plants into less space than would be possible on a horizontal field.

According to Rosenberg, the R&D center isn’t really to figure out how to grow food in the desert (“We could grow anywhere in the world”) so much as it is about growing plants specific to Middle Eastern eating habits in general. He cites mint and parsley, two popular foods in the region, as examples. Having an R&D center that focused on optimizing the grow cycle for these plants could increase quality, yield, and nutritional profile. 

The other goal of the forthcoming new center will be to apply the learnings discovered there to other parts of the region in the future. That includes research in areas like plant science, vertical farming and automation, accelerating innovation cycles and commercializing products.

Rosenberg says that versus a greenhouse, his company’s vertical farms can grow plants faster, producing around 26 harvests per year instead of 12 to 16. Right now, Aerofarms is best known for leafy greens, but the company has its sights set on other crops, too. In April of this year it announced a deal with Chile-based berry producer and distributor Hortifrut to research and develop blueberry and caneberry production. 

“Today we’re most known for leafy greens, but behind the scenes, we’re working with some of the biggest ag tech companies in the world to improve their genetics,” says Rosenberg. He adds that AeroFarms has grown 70 different varieties of berries, and that of the 550 different plants the company has grown, “probably 350 of them are in the leafy greens category.” He declined to elaborate on other crops, but suggested that information might surface soon to the public.

Last year, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) invested $150 million in a few ag tech companies, AeroFarms being one of them. The forthcoming R&D facility will be one tangible result of that investment. 

AeroFarms announced in March its intention to go public via SPAC with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. 

AeroFarms Partners With Hortifrut to Grow Blueberries, Caneberries Via Vertical Farming

Vertical farming company AeroFarms this week announced it a partnership with Chile-based berry producer and distributor Hortifrut. Via the multi-year partnership, the companies will research and develop blueberry and caneberry production in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) settings, including vertical farms.

Up to now, AeroFarms has been known primarily for growing leafy greens and herbs inside its commercial-scale vertical farms on the east coast. Blueberries and caneberries (blackberries, raspberries, etc.) are both a departure from the usual from AeroFarms, and somewhat unique in the vertical farming space, where strawberries are more common. 

According to a press release, the first phase of the partnership between the two companies is underway, and blueberry plants will arrive at AeroFarms’ New Jersey facility this spring. Hortifrut has bred “compact blueberry plants ideal for vertical farming,” while AeroFarms has adjusted its proprietary tech system for berry production. 

While the companies aim to commercialize the process of growing these berries indoors, there is not yet any kind of timeframe as to when we might see vertically grown blueberries or caneberries on store shelves. Rather, this first phase of the partnership appears to be more about experimenting with Hortifrut berries in an indoor setting and assessing how feasible it is to grow such foods via CEA.

Fruit on the vertical farm is still the exception rather than the rule when it comes to the crops companies grow. As noted above, strawberries are more common at this point, with companies like SinGrow and Oishii growing high-end versions of the berry and Plenty partnering with Driscoll’s on the west coast. 

AeroFarms’ news comes just days after the company announced it will go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company Spring Valley Acquisition Corp.

AeroFarms to Go Public Via SPAC Deal

Large-scale vertical farming company AeroFarms announced today it will go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. Once the deal goes through, AeroFarms will become publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ARFM ticker symbol. The combined company is expected to have an estimated equity value of about $1.2 billion.

Certified B Corporation AeroFarms also noted that the deal will help to fund things like expanding retail distribution, constructing additional farms, and further developing the technology that powers the company’s growing operations. 

Headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, AeroFarms grows leafy greens via indoor vertical farms that rely on LED light recipes, hydroponics, and software to grow plants. The company, which has raised $238 million to date, currently distributes products in the New York Metro Area as well as online via Whole Foods, FreshDirect, AmazonFresh, and Shop Rite.

The announcement comes not long after another controlled-environment agriculture company, AppHarvest, also went public via SPAC earlier this year. AppHarvest (also a Certified B Corp) completed a merger with Novus Capital Corp. and began trading on the Nasdaq on February 1. Its high-tech greenhouse model differs considerably from AeroFarms in terms of both the facility and the crops, but the end goal is similar — get pesticide-free, more locally grown produce to more people.

IPOs aside, it has been a busy month for the indoor farming space, with vertical farms Plenty and Bowery both expanding their retail footprint, Sweden’s Grönska raising $2.4 million, and Bablyon Microfarms closing a $3 million seed round.

AeroFarms said today that the merger has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both it and Spring Valley, and now just needs the approval of Spring Valley shareholders.  

Vertical Farming Could Help Us Build a More Equitable Food System

One of the recurring questions vertical farming companies face is how they are going to get their locally grown, supposedly healthier wares to more than just those with disposable income. So far, the answers have been few and far between, but that could be changing. Towards the end of last week, ABC7 reported that New Jersey-based AeroFarms and World Economic Forum have partnered with the City of Jersey City to distribute greens free of charge to communities in need.

While AeroFarms actually hinted at the news back in June, it’s worth reiterating here because it underscores the point that vertical farming can — and should — play a much bigger role than simply providing greens to high-end groceries and restaurants. 

This is the first partnership between a city municipality and a vertical farming company in the U.S. Through it, AeroFarms will build 10 vertical farms in senior centers, schools, public housing, and municipal buildings around Jersey City. Collectively, the farms are expected to produce 19,000 pounds of vegetables annually, according to AeroFarms. Greens will be free of charge to residents, and the initiative also includes healthy eating workshops and quarterly health screenings.

The idea, of course, is to get healthier foods and food habits to those in food-insecure communities.

Speaking to ABC7, Jersey City Director of Health and Human Service Stacey Flanagan said that while food security has always been an issue, “with COVID it’s just exacerbated that.”

Her point is an important one. We talk about the ways in which the pandemic has forced us to rethink our eating choices and habits. Thanks in no small part to the pandemic, plant-based foods are on the rise, consumers are vying for space on CSA waitlists, and vertical farming companies are now releasing models of their high-tech systems for individual homes. But it’s a small number of consumers that have the time or money to explore those options.

For many, a $10 pack of alt-meat or a $500 at-home farm remain out of reach in terms of accessibility and affordability. As JourneyFoods’ CEO Riana Lynn reminded us recently, our eating is not equal, and lack of access to food is less the issue as lack of access to nutritious food: “Even when we are braced with an overwhelming lot of food options, they almost always lack the nutrient-density need to curb away from negative outcomes.” 

As it is right now, vertical farming, because of its focus on leafy greens, can’t adequately feed a community in the sense of it providing a healthy balance of proteins, vitamins, and calories. But it can play a role in bringing more nutritious elements to that community, which is what AeroFarms’ new partnership seems to be about. And we’ve seen promising news in the recent past that shows these farms will grow more than arugula one day: strawberries and even wheat, for example. 

AeroFarms isn’t alone in trying to bring more food equity to the vertical farming sector. Boston-based Freight Farms works with Miami’s Lotus House, a facility and resource center for women and children experiencing homelessness. The farm works in tandem with Lotus House’s Culinary Center, supplying both food and education to residents.

Over in Chicago, Wilder Fields has taken an abandoned Target store located in a food desert and turned it into a massive vertical farming facility to supply 25 million heads of lettuce to local grocery stores. The facility will also house an educational and retail component, and sell greens for cheaper than you would find at, say Whole Foods.

North of the border, Elevate Farms and North Star Agriculture Corp. are building out farms in isolated parts of Northern Canada, where food insecurity is rampant. 

All of these efforts (and quite a few more) suggests vertical farming has a dual role to play in future. If it can prove itself scalable, which it seems to be doing so far, it can provide a healthier alternative to traditional farming. And it can help lead the charge for food and food tech companies when it comes to creating more equality in our food system.

AeroFarms, RNZ, RDI, and Madar Get $100M Investment to ‘Turn Sand Into Farmland’

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced today it will invest $100 million USD total in four agtech companies to develop next-generation agricultural solutions specifically for farming in desert environments.

ADIO said in a press release sent to The Spoon that it has partnered individually with New Jersey-based AeroFarms, United Arab Emirates-based Madar Farms, Florida-based Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI), and Abu Dhabi-based RNZ. The $100 million investment covers all four individual deals.

ADIO’s overarching goal is to develop farming solutions that solve both regional and global agricultural challenges, among them minimal water supply, non-arable land, food scarcity, and climate change. ADIO also hopes the new investments will create more jobs for the region.

To that end, AeroFarms, which operates warehouse-sized vertical farms in the U.S., will build out a 8,200-sqm R&D center in Abu Dhabi where it will develop solutions specifically for desert-based agriculture as well as focus on genetic phenotyping and organoleptic research, advanced speed breeding, machine vision and machine learning, robotics, automation and drone technology.

Madar Farms will build out a commercial-scale indoor tomato farm in the KIZAD industrial zone of Abu Dhabi and, like AeroFarms, is also developing its own solutions for growing microgreens while using the region’s natural resources. 

And speaking of natural resources, RDI is using the investment to build a water irrigation system it says can improve crop yield in the region, which is comprised mostly of sandy soil and non-arable land.

Finally, RNZ will research and formulate new agri-input solutions such as seeds, fertilizers, and crop-protection products.

The investments in these four companies are part of ADIO’s $272 million AgTech Incentive Programme, which the Abu Dhabi Government’s Ghadan 21 Accelerator Programme established in 2019. “Four global AgTech innovators are joining our mission to turn sand into farmland,” H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, said in the press release. “Each of these companies will add to our already established agriculture ecosystem, and benefit from our plentiful land, natural heat, competitive energy prices and access to research universities and skilled talent.”

Agtech in general is a priority for the Abu Dhabi government right now, with indoor farming, precision agriculture, and farming robotics as some of the biggest areas.

The long-term value of high-tech, indoor farming is yet to be truly determined, as there are still plenty of questions around its ability to scale economically while providing adequate amounts of food for a growing global population. Placing vertical farms in a desert environment, where alternative forms of farming are less available, could be a true test of the sector’s usefulness to our overall food system.

LettUs Grow Raises $3.1M for Its Indoor Aeroponic Farming System

Bristol, UK-based agtech company LettUs Grow announced today it has raised £2.35 million (~$3.1 million USD) for its indoor aeroponic farming system, according to a press release. The round was led by Longwall Venture Partners LLP and brings LettUs Grow’s total funding to roughly $4.1 million.

The company, which was founded in 2015, has a patent-pending indoor farming system that relies on aeroponics and software to grow plants. Many vertical farms currently grow crops using hydroponic farming, where plants are rooted in a soilless medium and fed nutrient-enriched water. Aeroponics more or less lets the plant roots hang in the air, where they are periodically doused with a nutrient-enhanced mist.  

LettUs Grow’s system also has a software component, which automates the bulk of the farming work. Called Ostara, the software controls the entire farm, automating temperature and light control as well as when nutrients are delivered to plants. The system also collects data on crops from seed stage to harvest, which growers can analyze and use to improve their farm operations. The entire Ostara system can be controlled remotely.

Like a number of other indoor agtech systems coming to market, LettUs Grow’s farms are modular, which means businesses can add to them over time. Sizes start at 24 square meters (about 258 square feet). While they wouldn’t fit inside an apartment, they’re ideal candidates for unused indoor space at schools, hospitals, universities, and other institutions that would benefit from having an onsite farm.

A number of other indoor farming companies now use aeroponics to grow leafy greens, strawberries, and other crops. AeroFarms, based in New Jersey, is one of the most well-known entities out there. French startup Agricool and Denver, CO-based Altius Farms are a couple more among a growing number of examples.  

LettUs Grow has one growing facility running, which the company built in 2019. With the new funds, it will build out a second location, scale their existing technology, and develop new product lines to bring to market.

Intelligent Growth Solutions Raises an Additional £1.6M for Its Automated Vertical Farm Solution

Scotland-based agtech and lighting solutions company Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) announced today a further raise of £1.6 million (~$2 million USD) in what’s the second and final close of its Series A round. Agtech investor Ospraie Ag Sciences contributed the bulk of the funding, with participation from Agfunder. This brings IGS’s total Series A funding and total funding overall to £7 million.

In June, IGS raised a £5.4 million Series A round for its “farm in a box” indoor vertical farming system, which uses patented IoT tech to automate many aspects of running a vertical farm, from loading and moving grow trays to adjusting water levels and lighting to monitoring overall crop health.

In particular, the IGS system promises to help vertical farming companies bring down energy costs associated with LED lighting, one of the most expensive parts of running an indoor vertical farm. On its website, IGS says it can increase LED efficiency by up to 50 percent versus other indoor grow environments. The company has two patents in this area, one granted and the other pending.

IGS’s farm, located outside Dundee, is also Scotland’s first commercial vertical farm, and investor Ospraie’s first venture into that country as well as into the indoor farming market.

IGS said in a press release it will use the funds to “expand its market presence” through global sales operations for its lighting system, which the company expects to deploy in early 2020.

IGS will face plenty of competition as it expands in the vertical farming space. In 2019 so far, an Australian company called Vertical Farm Systems raised $1 million for its automated indoor farming technology and Eco Convergence Group rebranded as Kalera and broke ground on a massive vertical farm outside Orlando, FL. As well, there’s been plenty of movement from commercial vertical farm heavyweights like New Jersey-based AeroFarms as well as new entrants like Fifth Season, who just announced a robot-powered farm this week.

IGS’s key differentiator right now is its lighting system. As it deploys its solution in the next year, we’ll see if that’s enough to keep it at the top of the ever-rising competition in the vertical farming market.

Is the Singapore Airlines-AeroFarms Deal an Anomaly or the Future of In-Flight Greens?

Singapore Airlines’ partnership with AeroFarms is cleared for takeoff. As of next month, the airline will offer AeroFarms leafy greens as part of the meals on its non-stop flight from NYC’s Newark airport to Singapore.

The two companies first announced the partnership in March of this year, and have been prepping for launch ever since.

AeroFarms, headquartered in New Jersey, grows different leafy greens using aeroponics that mist the roots of plants with nutrients, water, and oxygen. Like other forms of indoor farming, there is no soil or sunlight required to grow the plants. AeroFarms is considered something of a heavyweight in the vertical farming space, having been named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list in 2019. The company also just raised $100 million in fresh funding in July.

Right now, greens farmed indoors via aeroponics or hydroponics is a trendy topic in the food world, and a popular purchase item among those with some disposable income. Given that, it’s something of a no-brainer that Singapore Airlines — known for its ridiculously upscale experience — would be the first airline to start carrying these products. The NYC-to-Singapore flight is also the longest nonstop flight in the world and done with the Airbus A350-900, a massive, ultra-long-range plane built to accommodate lengthy flights that require multiple meals for passengers. Since this trip in particular is all about the premium travel experience (there’s not even an economy class), Singapore Airlines already offers passengers perks like a nutrition-focused menu designed by wellness folks at Canyon Ranch spa. Vertically grown greens fit right in.

As to whether such greens will show up on the average flight between, say Toledo and San Antonio, the answer is, probably not.

Companies are still trying to find ways to scale vertical farming operations to meet greater demand, but from both a spacial and economical perspective, that hasn’t happened yet. As well, most domestic flights have neither the time nor the money to offer full meals, let alone gourmet ones. When there’s any food on offer, it’s usually vacuum-sealed or shrink-wrapped. It was certainly not chosen by nutritionists at a spa.

So if you’re planning on splurging for a Singapore airlines flight in the near future, let us know how the greens taste with your dinner. For the rest of us, a $5 can of Pringles will have to do.

Vertical Farming Heavyweight AeroFarms Raises $100M in Fresh Funding

Vertical farming startup AeroFarms has raised a $100 million Series E round to expand its warehouse facilities that hold massive indoor farms, and explore new types of produce it can grow in those facilities, according to The Financial Times. The round was led by Ingka Group (IKEA’s parent comany), with participation from existing investors Wheatsheaf and ADM Capital as well as Mission Point Capital, GSR Ventures, and AllianceBernstein. The round brings AeroFarms total funding to $238 million.

The company previously worked with IKEA Group, as well as Momofuku Group’s David Chang, to close a $40 million Series D round in 2017. And in 2019 alone, AeroFarms has doubled down on its efforts to spread the use of vertical farming, including closing a partnership with Singapore Airlines to provide fresh greens in flight and landing on FastCompany’s 2019 Most Innovative Companies list.

AeroFarms is also part of a group called the Precision Indoor Plants Consortium, which is working to develop crops specifically meant for indoor growing. The group focuses on optimizing flavor and other elements about the plants themselves, rather than the hardware or software used to grow them.

But with a vertical farming market predicted to grow to 9.96 billion worldwide by 2025, AeroFarms isn’t the only one looking to move beyond leafy greens. In June, Plenty, who previously received a $200 million investment from Softbank, announced it too was looking to add things like strawberries, tomatoes, and potentially more exotic plants to its grow systems. Freight Farms, whose Leafy Green Machine has helped pioneer the concept of farming in a shipping container, also went into detail earlier this year about how it’s rearchitecting its own farming concept to in part accommodate growing a bigger variety of crops.

Will we see carrots and root vegetables making their way to shipping containers and warehouses in the near future? Probably not right away, as it’s expensive and complex from both a space and cost perspective to grow these heartier crop varieties. But the level of interest AeroFarms, Plenty, and others now express in growing more than just kale suggests we’re well on our way to that point. A hefty investment doesn’t hurt, either.

This Startup Is Using AI to Bring “Post-Organic” Farming to the (Urban) Masses

Kale: great for your health, not so great for the tastebuds. Sometimes I wonder if people eat it because they actually like the taste or because it’s so trendy.

That issue may soon become irrelevant, however, thanks a company called Bowery, which is using artificial intelligence (AI) to tweak crops’ color, texture, and even taste.

Billing itself as “The Modern Farming Company,” the New Jersey-based indoor-farming startup will soon open a second facility it says will be the most technologically sophisticated in the world. Sounds like a brazen claim, until you look at what Bowery actually has cooking, er, farming, at its forthcoming facility.

Bowery’s “brains” are found in its propriety system called FarmOS. Using vision systems and machine learning, FarmOS monitors the crops 24/7, collecting data about water flow, light levels, temperature, and humidity. Bowery growers can then use the data to make adjustments to the environment, which will impact color, texture, and taste. The system also alerts growers when plants are ready for harvest.

All of those elements and more roll up into what Bowery founder Irving Fain recently called “post-organic produce”—Bowery commands the entire process of raising produce, from seed to store, and grows crops in a fully controlled environment that doesn’t have to rely on chemicals, pesticide, or human intuition to ensure quality of crops. Sure, the name’s a little much, but the concept grows more promising each year, thanks to factors like cheaper LED lighting, better data analytics, and concepts like vertical farming, which is predicted to be worth $13 billion by 2024.

And while they’re not all using the “post-organic” label, there are plenty of others exploring the possibilities of farming in fully controlled, indoor environments.

Also in New Jersey, AeroFarms has a 70,000-square-foot facility, where it grows bok choi, arugula, watercress, and other greens, including kale. The company closed a $40 million Series D funding round at the end of 2017, bringing in IKEA Group and Momofuku’s David Chang as additional backers.

Meanwhile, indoor farming startups abound in Alaska, where growing produce outside is pretty much impossible in the depths of winter and anything shipped is often close to spoiled upon delivery. Alaska Natural Organics operates a 5,000-square-foot farm that grows butter lettuce and basil. Vertical Harvest Hydroponics designs systems that can be grown inside shipping containers and distributed across the state, including hard-to-reach areas. Both companies are based in Anchorage.

And in Kyoto, Japan, a “vegetable factory” is run by robots and grows 30,000 heads of lettuce per day. The company, Spread, says that it recycles 98 percent of its water and, because the factory is sealed, doesn’t have to rely on pesticides or chemicals.

What sets Bowery somewhat apart—for now, at least—is that it has gone beyond simply monitoring water supply and temperature with its ability to adjust things like taste, texture, and even blemishes on produce. With the U.S. alone throwing out about 50 percent of produce grown annually, a proprietary system like Bowery’s could seriously be leading the way in terms of indoor farming’s impact on overall agriculture.