S7E90: Alexander Kappes / Greener Crop - From Groupon to Green Thumbs: Planting the Seeds of Vertical Farming in Dubai

Episode Summary

Join us as we explore the exciting world of vertical farming with Alexander Kappes, the CEO of Greener Crop. He shares his passion for CEA and explains how Greener Crop provides comprehensive farm management solutions for clients. Alexander discusses the potential for hydroponic farming to address food security issues and his vision for Greener Crop to lead the charge in this growing industry. He also talks about the challenges and opportunities within the industry, the focus on resilient crops, and the need for education and reliable data to shape the industry's reputation, particularly in the Middle East, where Dubai is an ideal location for vertical farming.

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Key Takeaways

Uncover the potential of hydroponic farming in the Middle East and its advantages
Learn about Alexander’s experience at Groupon the origin story of Greener Crop
Explore the market opportunities in the region and why it is ideal for vertical farming
The challenges of securing offtake agreements and the educational pieces needed to generate interest in the industry
How Greener Crop is leading the charge in the vertical farming industry with their comprehensive approach

Tweetable Quotes

“I think Dubai is a great place to call home. There's a high degree of safety. It's phenomenal infrastructure. There's a lot of business opportunities. The weather is always sunny and blue skies now. Dubai has this incredible mentality and this incredible attitude.”

“I think everyone realized how vulnerable these countries are. And so there was an immediate shift in government prioritization in public policy and subsidies that were being granted. There was a very quick shift in the regulations where they, for the first time, allowed foreigners to own farming businesses. Previously, that wasn't possible.”

“My focus has been on growing crops that are as resilient as possible, both from a growing condition point of view, but also from a market dynamic point of view. And so we grow almost exclusively in all of our greenhouses tomatoes, bell peppers, chilies. And we found that that strategy works really well. Those are among the most consumed crops. And the way we build our business plans, the way we build our visibility studies, the way we build our forecasts, is by projecting that we're going to achieve average yields with these, and we're going to sell them into wholesale.”

“I think we just need to as an industry get to a point where we are a bit more conservative with our projections, where we're a bit more transparent about the things that we don't know. My feeling is that with the VC money that had come into the industry over the last two years, people started behaving like tech entrepreneurs.”