To offset the high CAPEX and ongoing energy costs of operating a high-tech indoor growing facility, it’s helpful if the crop pulls a profit. Growing high-value crops such as saffron and vanilla can be a way to offset the cost of installing high-tech environmental management systems in indoor facilities.
“We believe CEA will be fuelled by the diversity of crops. We need to focus on products for consumers and food producers, looking forward to other stable crops we can produce. We have to break the perception of what can be grown and what cannot be grown in CEA as we believe it’s the future of growing crops, sustainably and locally.” – Jaime Guerrrero, Accenture
At a panel session at the Indoor AgTech NYC Innovation Summit in late June, consultancy firm Accenture’s Jaime Guerrrero was joined by three SME growers: David Freidenberg, CEO of Saffron Tech (Israel) and David Soo, CEO of Australian Vanilla Plantations (NSW), both using innovative indoor systems to grow unusual, high-value products; and Mark Tester, CEO of UAE-based Red Sea Farms (UAE), producing tomato crops tolerant of saline water.
Listen to David Soo talk about his growing system for vanilla on ABC Landline.
Read this account of the Indoor AgTech panel discussion in FreshPlaza.
Source: Mapping a pathway to competitive production I Fresh Plaza