Why invest in a Hydronov facility?
Today, more than 98 percent of U.S. lettuce is grown in California and Arizona and shipped throughout the country. Your salad likely traveled thousands of miles for up to a week to arrive in your bowl. This results in a lack of freshness for the consumer, a reduced shelf life for the retailer, and wasted resources for everyone.
Farmers will need to feed 8.5 billion people by 2030. More crops must be produced with less acreage, less water, and the best taste, freshness, and reliability. Growing crops indoors, in a clean and controlled environment, is the solution. The economic benefits of indoor agriculture are astounding:
- 6x increase in production cycles
- 12x increase in yield
- 97 percent decrease in water usage
Indoor farming can be located closer to cities, growing produce that is a truly local, stable, and sustainable year-round food supply. Hydronov sees a large opportunity for investors in indoor farming with these trends:
Changes in consumer behavior
Today’s consumers are knowledgeable about the source of their food and seek out food that is locally grown. During the winter months, it is tough to source locally grown produce. Indoor growing can help.
Reconfiguration of U.S. food supply chain
The ability to build indoor farms close to distribution hubs and to offer a consistent year-round product is a distinct advantage for the grocery market as well as online grocery services.
Flexibility in location
Commercial indoor farms have been located in spaces above hawker stalls in Singapore and on rooftops in New York. Their location is limited only by ingenuity and access to water and power. Combined with greater crop predictability in indoor systems, this should mean higher long-term profit margins.
Less reliance on labor
Most indoor farms need fewer workers than their outdoor counterparts, thanks to daily harvesting. Some large-scale commercial farms operate with as few as five workers. By their very nature, indoor farms are climate controlled, and workers can often multitask in indoor farms, harvesting in the morning then pruning or working in the nursery for the balance of the day. This helps them avoid the repetitive stress injuries that are all too often a result of manual labor.
Retention of greater margins
Right now, indoor farmers are less often price takers for their produce. Indoor farms are less likely to be selling through third-party distributors at present, so they retain a greater proportion of their margins. A recent industry survey found that indoor greens farmers are seeing 10x increases in pricing for their crops vs. conventional outdoor-grown commodity lettuce prices.
Contact Hydronov for more information: