{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F51776519-7a70-4cd8-b48e-3ec1dbdfb6ca","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"S3E37: Thomas Oberlin - Micro Greens: A Gateway Vegetable","description":"Episode Summary\r\n\r\nJoin Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show, co-founder at Fazenda Urbana, Thomas Oberlin. Fazenda Urbana is the producer of the MightyGreens brand of vegan microgreens and mushrooms. Today, Harry and Thomas talk about the origin story of Fazenda Urbana and how Thomas became involved in controlled environment agriculture. Thomas provides his thoughts on the evolution of entrepreneurship and why that spirit is so prominent in Brazillian culture. Finally, Thomas speaks to what excites him about the future of micro greens, the Mighty Greens brand and the AgTech industry as a whole.\r\n\r\nEpisode Sponsor\r\n\r\nCULTIVATD\r\n\r\nKey Takeaways\r\n02:37 \u2013 Harry welcomes to the show Thomas Oberlin, who shares the story of how he\r\nended up living in Brazil and how he got involved in controlled-environment agriculture\r\n11:33 \u2013 Thomas speaks to how shocked he was to learn about food deserts in many wealthy countries\r\n13:49 \u2013 Thomas reflects on the origin story of Fazenda Urbana\r\n18:00 \u2013 The initial response Thomas and his team received after launching their micro greens\r\n24:43 \u2013 Thomas explains why he approached chefs and restaurants first and foremost\r\n28:28 \u2013 Thomas speaks to the evolution of the entrepreneur movement\r\n34:27 \u2013 The relationship between Fazenda Urbana and the Mighty Greens brand and how Thomas and his company got involved in mushrooms\r\n53:31 \u2013 Thomas explains the difference between fogponics, hydroponics and aeroponics\r\n56:19 \u2013 What excites Thomas the most about the future of micro greens and the vertical farming industry\r\n1:01:21 \u2013 Harry thanks Thomas for joining the show and let\u2019s listeners know where they can learn more about Fazenda Urbana and connect with Thomas\r\n\r\nTweetable Quotes\r\n\r\n\u201cThe reality is I grew up on a farm. Rodrigo\u2019s a vegetarian. But beyond that, we didn\u2019t have any touch with agriculture.\u201d(15:32)\r\n\r\n\u201cAnd so, our restaurant business grew literally by going door-to door in the start. And then combined with word of mouth from one well-known chef and then another well- known chef.\u201d(26:09)\r\n\r\n\u201cI think entrepreneurship is very strong here. Brazilians always have this spirit of figuring out a way to do something.\u201d(28:44)\r\n\r\n\u201cThe best thing that happened to us when we started is that we didn\u2019t raise a whole lot of money. It forced us to be extraordinarily disciplined in what we\u2019re doing. We just learned so much. In two and a half years we cut our labor cost per unit by seventy-five percent through mechanization and processes. And I\u2019m not sure if that would have happened much faster with a lot of money in our pocket.\u201d(31:51)\r\n\r\n\u201cI believe that we can create micro greens as the gateway vegetable for kids.\u201d(46:52)\r\n\r\nLinks Mentioned\r\n\r\nThomas\u2019 LinkedIn\r\n\r\nFazenda Urbana Website\r\n\r\nMighty Greens Instagram\r\n\r\nSponsor Info:\r\n\r\nCultivatd Website\r\n\r\nCultivatd Instagram\r\n\r\nCultivatd\u2019s Twitter\r\n\r\nCultivatd\u2019s Facebook\r\n\r\n\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\r\n\r\nPodcast Production and Marketing by FullCast: https://bit.ly/3sxZ34y\r\n\r\nSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/97e839f3-0a6d-4755-bf76-cde864cc4bce/image.jpg"}