Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Square Roots

Freight Farms Launches Its Greenery S Vertical Farm System

Freight Farms, best known for its controlled environment agriculture (CEA) tech made for small spaces, this week unveiled Greenery S, the latest model of the company’s vertical container farm system. This is the tenth generation of the Greenery and includes “a fresh suite of features,” according to a press release sent to The Spoon. 

Said features are many, and include improvements to Freight Farm’s proprietary LED lighting system, which is meant to mimic the light spectrum of the sun. With the Greenery S, farmers can adjust that spectrum as well as light intensity and duration according to the needs of each individual crop. Other new features include greater controls for elements like humidity and cooling, as well as more cameras and expansion room for sensors. The latter two items on that list are crucial when it comes to uploading data to the Freight Farms network growers can then access to monitor their plants. 

The farm’s automation software, farmhand, includes a new feature called Recipes. With the feature, growers choose the crop within the app and the software automatically calculates light, temperature, and humidity levels for the plants, based on data collected from past harvests in the Freight Farms network. 

Typically, this type of farm gets referred to as a “container farm,” since it’s usually housed in a refurbed shipping container. Another term floating around out there is “prefabricated modular farm,” which doesn’t roll off the tongue so easily but might be a more accurate descriptor of what’s going on. The container in which the farm lives is less important than the actual system running the farm, which can be adapted to run everything from a single-unit farm behind a school or grocery store to multi-unit setups like those of Square Roots. Theoretically, you could take a Freight Farms setup and stick it inside a different type of closed-off structure and it would do the same thing. 

For now, however, Freight Farms is sticking to shipping containers, as they are easily adaptable to the vertical farming environment. The company said this week it services more than 500 trained farmers across 48 U.S. states and more than 32 countries. Those interested can reserve a Greenery S model now. 

Square Roots Unveils Its Third Modular Indoor Farm, Built in Just 3 Months

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company Square Roots today unveiled its newest indoor farm. The facility is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and growing micro-greens to serve grocery stores, e-commerce platforms, and restaurants in the Great Lakes region. Produce will be available “in the coming weeks,” according to a press release sent to The Spoon. 

Square Roots broke ground on the farm in December of 2020 and planted the first seeds just three months later, in March of this year. The company’s ability to move this quickly can be largely attributed to the types of farms it builds, which company cofounder and CEO Tobias Peggs calls “prefabricated modular farms.” For Square Roots and others, these are typically built inside of upcycled shipping containers (though Peggs suggested over a call this week that the setup could live in any properly insulated space, not just a container). As the word “modular” suggests, farming units can be added or subtracted based on the needs of the individual farm.

The aim he and company cofounder Kimball Musk share is to be able to build a farm quickly in response to demand for local produce in a given area. The new farm in Michigan, for example, is partly in response to the increase in demand for local produce across the Midwest during the Covid-19 pandemic. And it doesn’t get much more local than placing the farm in the same zip code as its customers, as Peggs said is the case here. 

The Michigan farm also shares a location with U.S. food distributor Gordon Food Service, with whom Square Roots has an ongoing partnership. The companies first joined forces in 2019 and plan to build more of these these co-located farms across the country.

One bonus of the prefabricated modular model versus something like a large plant factory (a la Plenty or AeroFarms) is that the size of the farm can be scaled up or down to meet demand relatively quickly by adding or subtracting containers. Each container is its own grow environment, with temperature and lighting adjusted to meet the needs of a specific crop.   

All containers are cloud-connected and run by a combination of human growers and Square Roots in-house software called The Square Roots Farmer Toolbelt. The latter guides farmers through day-to-day activities and collects data that can then be analyzed to improve yield, taste, and texture in addition to growing methods.

As far as competition goes, Berlin, Germany-based InFarm is probably the most similar operation to Square Roots right now. However, InFarm’s modular concept was only announced this year, and at last check is only slated for one U.S. location right now.

For now, the new farm is growing microgreens and herbs, as is the case with other Square Roots farms. Peggs said during our talk that growing other produce types, whether it be strawberries or root vegetables, is less a question of capability these days and one that’s more about economics. At the risk of oversimplifying the matter, is costs more money to grow denser vegetables, like a turnip, compared to something like basil.

That said, Square Roots mentioned in today’s press release that it has grown over 200 varieties of produce so far, including some of those denser varieties like root vegetables. 

InFarm Raises $170M to Expand Its Vertical Farming Network

Berlin, Germany-based vertical farming company InFarm announced today it has raised $170 million in the first close of its Series C round, bringing its total funding so far to $304.5 million.

The investment round, a mix of equity and debt financing, was led by LGT Lightstone with participation from Hanaco, Bonnier, Haniel, and Latitude, as well as existing investors Atomico, TriplePoint Capital, Mons Capital and Astanor Ventures. InFarm said in today’s press release that it expects the Series C round to eventually reach $200 million.

InFarm has built its reputation, not to mention its coffers, on the idea of getting fresh, local greens to more cities around the world via its network of high-tech vertical farms. The farms are smallish, pod-like devices that can live in grocery stores, restaurants, and food distribution centers. The farms use hydroponics and cloud-based software to grow leafy greens in completely controlled environments. A big benefit with InFarms’ approach is that, since farms are placed inside grocery stores, greens can be harvested onsite and sold without having to travel. 

Sourcing greens close to the store is becoming more commonplace as companies develop smaller vertical farms. While InFarm might be the most high-profile player in this area of vertical farming, it isn’t the only company bringing greens literally to market. Farm.One just installed its own mini-vertical farm at a Whole Foods in Manhattan and has plans to expand to other stores soon. Vertical Field launched a geoponic vertical farm at New York’s famed Evergreen market in August. Brooklyn-based Square Roots puts a slightly different twist on the concept by placing its shipping container farms next to food distribution centers. The company currently has a partnership with North American distributor Gordon Food Service.

All of which is to say, InFarm may be leading the farm-in-a-grocery-store movement, but it won’t be the only company grabbing major investment dollars for long.

InFarm raised $100 million in June of 2019. Since then, it has struck deals with major grocery retailers around the world, including  Aldi Süd in Germany, Kroger in the U.S., Empire in Canada, and Kinokuniya in Japan, among other places. The company said today it expects its farming network to total more than 5 million square feet by 2025, making it the largest distributed farming network in the world. 

To do that, the company will expand to new cities in future. The new investment capital will go towards that goal. InFarm will also use some of it to complete development on a next-gen version of its farm. 

InFarm’s High-Tech Vertical Farms Head to Canadian Grocery Stores

InFarm is bringing its in-store vertical farming systems to Empire supermarkets across Canada, according to a press release from Empire. The partnership will launch this coming spring and put InFarms’s high-tech farm pods in stores across that country, including at Empire subsidiaries Sobeys, Thrifty Foods, and Safeway Canada. 

Berlin-based InFarm, which raised $100 million in June of 2019, has struck multiple deals with grocery store chains around the world over the last several months, including Irma in Denmark, M&S in the UK, and Kroger stores in the U.S. The company is one of many startups developing vertical and/or indoor farming solutions meant to shorten the food supply chain by growing greens closer to food stores.

With InFarm, that means growing those leafy greens and herbs inside the produce section of stores. The company’s indoor farms come in the form of enclosed pods that use the hydroponic grow method, meaning plant roots are submerged in a nutrient-enriched water supply and no soil is involved. Cloud-based software controls the temperature, watering schedule, and light and humidity levels of the farms, adjusting those elements based on plant type. 

There are two major benefits to this in-store approach to vertical farming. Zero pesticides are used in the grow process, and greens can be harvested onsite, reducing carbon emissions since food doesn’t have to be transported to the store from a distribution center. 

Better-tasting greens is another one of InFarm’s claims. By precisely adjusting light, temperature, water levels, and other elements, vertical farmers can create ideal growing “recipes” for each plant type meant to bring out the optimal amount of flavor.

Many vertical farming companies make this claim, along with those about reduced water usage and carbon footprint. What the indoor ag industry needs next is more public data backing these claims up. With other companies — notably Square Roots and Freight Farms — striking deals of their own to get vertical farms closer to food stores, more hard numbers will be needed to show us when, where, and how these high-tech farms can be most useful in the overall food system.

InFarm will launch a range of herbs at two Safeway stores in Vancouver this spring, according to the press release, and Empire will also put farms in stores across seven Canadian cities.

Gotham Greens Makes Moves Into New England With Another High-tech Vertical Farm

Brooklyn, NY-based agtech company Gotham Greens marked its first move into the New England region today with the grand opening and first harvest of a new high-tech farming facility in Providence, R.I.

The company said in a press release that its new 100,000 sq. ft. facility, formerly a General Electric lighting factory, will grow 6 million heads of lettuce annually. Gotham will supply those greens and herbs to retailers like Whole Foods, Star Market, and other regional grocery stores. 

Gotham, which was founded in 2009 and has raised $30.1 million to date, operates a network of greenhouses across the U.S. The company uses the hydroponic technique, which means crops grow in trays without soil and soak up nutrient-enriched water through their roots. Like a growing number of indoor farming operations, Gotham’s system is fairly automated, with software controlling the amount of light and nutrients crops receive as well as the temperature of the greenhouses. 

The Providence greenhouse had its ribbon-cutting ceremony today. The farm is Gotham’s first location in the New England area.

Gotham is just one of many companies who’ve lately announced large-scale indoor farming facilities that rely on high-tech systems to grow and harvest heads of lettuce. Though Plenty shelved its plans to build out a farm in the Seattle area, it did recently announce its intention for one in the middle of Los Angeles. Kalera broke ground on a massive facility outside Orlando, FL that will grow 5 million heads of lettuce annually. And this year, Square Roots partnered with Gordon Food Service to build vertical farms onsite at many of the latter’s North American distribution centers.

Gotham’s new facility joins its existing roster of farms, which includes three in the NYC area, two in the Midwest, and one in the Denver.

Gordon Food Service and Square Roots Launch First Onsite Vertical Farm

Gordon Food Service, one of North America’s largest food distributors, and Kimball Musk’s indoor farming company Square Roots have officially launched one of the latter’s vertical farms onsite at the Gordon headquarters in Wyoming, Michigan.

The announcement, which the two companies made yesterday, follows news from March that Gordon and Square Roots were working together. The aim of the partnership is to build Square Roots Farms at or near Gordon distribution centers across North America. Food grown on the vertical farms will be available to Gordon’s corporate clients as well as individuals who buy from the company’s e-commerce store.

Square Roots farms, which are built inside shipping containers, pack a lot of produce into a very small amount of real estate. Case in point: the new farm at the Gordon HQ will take up less than two acres and is projected to produce more than 50,000 pounds of herbs and greens each year. Square Roots does this by growing plants vertically on panels and using a recipe of LED lighting and hydroponics controlled via software. As with many vertical farms, there’s no soil involved in the process.

“As our network of farms gets larger, it also gets smarter. Cloud-connected farms and data-empowered farmers learn from each other, enabling Square Roots to replicate success from one location to another, seamlessly,” Square Roots wrote in a recent blog post.

The partnership with Gordon also allows Square Roots to expand its Next-Gen Farmer Training Program, a one-year, all-paid entrepreneurial-meets-agricultural program that teaches younger adults both the tech and agricultural aspects of indoor vertical farming, with heavy emphasis on the former. As Square Roots opens more farming locations at Gordon distribution centers across the continent, it will be able to enlist more farmers to the program to man those locations. The number of new farmers varies based on the size of each location. Gordon, meanwhile, operates 175 distribution centers across North America.

So far, the farm at headquarters is the only one announced for Gordon, though more are planned for the future.

Square Roots Partners With Gordon Foods to Expand Its Indoor Farmprint

Urban indoor farming company Square Roots announced today it has teamed up with Gordon Food Service, a food service provider and distributor in North America. According to a press release (sent via email), the partnership will give Square Roots the chance to expand its farming footprint significantly while making locally grown produce more widely available.

Gordon Foods will assist Square Roots with building farms on or near Gordon distribution centers. Food grown on these farms will be available to Gordon’s customers, which include corporate clients as well as individuals buying from the company’s e-commerce store. Gordon is, according to the press release, a $15 billion company, so its deep pockets can facilitate the expansion.

Square Roots was founded by food entrepreneur Kimball Musk along with engineer-turned-entrepreneur Tobias Peggs. Since its inception in 2016, the company has been steadily rising as a leader in the vertical farming space. It’s known both for its indoor farms, which it operates out of recycled shipping containers, as well as its Next Gen Farmer Training Program. The latter is an entrepreneurial-meets-agricultural program designed to teach young adults the nuances of farming (right now the average age of a farmer is about 58). It places heavy emphasis on the technological aspects of urban farming, so participants graduate with as much tech savvy as they do plant savvy.

One cool thing about the Square Roots-Gordon Foods partnership is that it means more of these Farmer Training Programs across the continent. The deal includes building new Square Roots “campuses” on or near Gordon distribution centers, and each of these campuses will need people to care for the farms. Square Roots told me its Brooklyn HQ has 10 farms total and accepts 6 to 10 next-gen farmers each year. For new farms, the number of farmers will vary based on the size of the campus, Square Roots said.

Gordon operates 175 different distribution centers in North America. For them, the partnership is also a way for an old food brand to put on a newer, more modern face. The company has been in operation since the late 1800s and currently serves restaurants, hospitals, schools, and other food-service facilities. But as we’ve seen recently, even big institutions are starting to look beyond historical staples (green Jello, anyone?) and provide healthier alternatives to patients, students, and other customers.

While not a complete parallel, the deal does remind me of Corelle’s recent move to merge with Instant Pot: a century-old company teaming up with a young startup, presumably in response to the way our perception of food, cooking, and eating is changing. More and more consumers are growing aware of the quality of their food, and eating local is a growing movement that’s starting to become more than just a trend for rich hipsters. Big Food knows it. Old institutions know it. Gordon Foods has actually gone and done something about it, and possibly set a standard for other major distributors along the way.

Square Roots’ New Packaging Shines More Light on the Food Traceability Issue

At a Q&A I attended earlier this year hosted by Square Roots in Brooklyn, company CEO Tobias Peggs explained that the average apple travels nine months before it reaches you, at which point it’s basically a ball of sugar coated in wax. Aghast, I wandered Brooklyn for the next several months wary of apples, wondering where they came from, how long they’d traveled, how much nutritional value was actually left in them by the time they got in my hands.

Square Roots uses hydroponic farming to grow herbs and leafy greens inside refurbished shipping containers in the company’s Brooklyn HQ. Its software lets the growers control things like climate and light remotely. (The container farms use LEDs.) Onsite farmers employed by the company produce all the products that ship with the Square Roots label.

Square Roots doesn’t grow apples in its indoor farms yet, but they are helping tell consumers the full story behind their food. Today, the Brooklyn-based company announced it will provide total transparency for all its products via a QR code on the packaging.

Starting with basil, customers will be able to scan the QR code on Square Roots products and trace the food from seed to grocery store aisle. This “transparency timeline,” as Square Roots calls it, includes information like where the seeds were sourced, when they were planted, when the produce was harvested, when it was delivered to the store, and links to more information about the farmers.

Check out the timeline for Genovese Basil:

Right now, Square Roots’ timelines are fairly simple and straightforward. In the future, the company says it plans to include information like climate data or the recycling process behind the packaging materials for each pack of greens.

And Square Roots, of course, has far fewer steps in its supply chain to track than, say, an industrial food retailer. The company employs its own farmers, grows all its products onsite in Brooklyn, and none of its produce leaves the confines of NYC. The company also stated, in the press release, that should it expand, it would follow a similar setup in other cities, to ensure the food arrives as fresh and local as possible.

But food traceability gets a whole lot more complicated with Big Food, which is where we really need supply chain transparency. If a local company with a known reputation for fresh greens tells me my herbs were hand-harvested yesterday, I have no reason not to believe them.

In contrast, getting Big Food from seed to store typically involves the farm, a storage warehouse, a packaging facility, and moving through the hands of multiple distributors before the products hit store shelves across the country and sometimes the world. Besides racking up an enormous carbon footprint, all this transition also exposes the food to potentially harmful foodborne illness, like the recent E. coli outbreak that left all romaine lettuce to rot in the trash nationwide.

Technology like this new initiative from Square Roots is probably not robust enough to handle tracing nationwide food outbreaks like the current romaine-ia (please kill me for that). But I don’t think that’s the point here. Square Roots isn’t a national company, yet, and the company has stated that, should it ever choose to work with an industrial-scale retailer, the company’s data “is structured to be easily accepted by a partner’s blockchain.” Blockchain, of course, is one way many startups are looking to solve the food traceability issue that larger brands and CPGs encounter.

For now, though, Square Roots will be keeping it local. If you’re in the NYC area, basil with a traceability timeline is in stores today where Square Roots products are sold.

Farmery Wants Farm-to-Table to be Just a Few Steps

Farmery, a new modular, indoor crop growing startup, wants to redefine farm-to-table restaurants into something more akin to the-farm-is-literally-next-to-your-table restaurants. The company just launched its product of the same name last week, and promises to let restaurants easily farm their own food from inside their establishments.

The Farmery product is an expandable, self-contained, indoor hydroponic system capable of growing leafy greens and herbs. The smallest available size is five feet by six feet, and eight feet tall, which can be expanded with additional five foot by five foot modules. Each unit is enclosed and pressurized to keep bugs — and restaurant patrons’ sneezes — out of the grow area.

An accompanying app delivers updates on the status of the farms, including nutrients levels and any watering requirements. The app can also provide notifications to restaurant employees telling them which crops need to be harvested right as they start their shift.

A base-model farm costs $13,950, a price that includes shipping and installation, with additional units costing $3,950 each. The base unit takes advantage of full spectrum LED lighting, and only requires a regular 15 amp socket for power. According to Farmery’s site, each base farm or farm extension section can produce 528 heads of lettuce a month. That’s 85 to 138 pounds of greens per month or 33 to 90 pounds of herbs per month, depending on what you’re growing.

Restaurants can either buy their own seeds, nutrients and other inputs, or they can choose to order Farmery’s pre-seeded plugs, nutrients and cleaning solutions for a 59-cent-per-plant space monthly subscription.

Farmery is the product of Benjamin Greene, who grew his own crops at the restaurant he ran out of an Airstream trailer for two years. “The systems are great opportunities for restaurants to grow their own food on-site,” said Greene, “Harvest at 2:00, serve at 5:00.”

Greene is one among many entrepreneurs using technology to redefine what “farming” means. Companies like Growtainers and Square Roots use shipping containers to grow crops year round in urban environments, while startups like Bablyon and SproutsIO are bringing farms inside the home. But Farmery is most like Verdical, which won our 2017 Smart Kitchen Summit Startup Showcase. Both companies can convert dead floorspace in restaurants into productive areas that contribute to a restaurant’s bottom line.

Based in North Carolina, Farmery is just Greene plus six other advisors. The company has raised $300,000 in angel funding, and already has a customer in Costa Rica.

With the technology to produce crops indoors only getting better and easier, look for more restaurants to adopt indoor farming systems like Farmery’s. It will provide fresher ingredients that they have more control over and utilize more of the restaurant space. And who knows, maybe the new hot spot to be seated will now be next to the food you’re about to eat.