While technological advances continue making the indoor farming sector more economically viable, one leading U.S. producer has said a consumer trend toward locally grown produce has propelled sales forward in recent months.

Chicago-based FarmedHere sells a variety of herbs and microgreens all grown in indoor farms, and thanks to demand outpacing supply it plans to double the number of stores selling its products in six months and is currently building additional production facilities.

A FarmedHere production facility

FarmedHere CEO Mark Thomann is due to speak at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fruittrade Latin America event, which will be held in Santiago, Chile from Nov. 12-13, where he will discuss different aspects of the indoor farming phenomenon and how technology has impacted agriculture as a whole.

Speaking to www.freshfruitportal.com, Thomann explained how by changing things like the type of lighting used in vertical farms, production costs could tumble while yields could improve, thus greatly increasing the sector's competitiveness against traditional farming methods.

"The costs of converting flourescent lights to LED is significant, but over the last couple of years the technology has advanced and costs have gone down substantially - enough that we're able to do it from an economic standpoint, and the return on our investments is one that we can afford to do," he said.

FarmedHere is partnered with Texas-based lighting company Illumitex, and Thomann said that by working in conjunction both organizations had been able to benefit.

"The marriage is a very good one - we're very much aligned with our partner Illumitex because they're trying to show that this is a viable way for vertical farming to go," he said.

"We're able to strike a deal that is symbiotic; where we're helping them and they're helping us, and over the next year we'll have a full conversion of our LEDs.

"Not only will this increase our yield by about 30%, but it will also reduce our energy costs by about the same."

Demand for FarmedHere's products has also be on the up recently, largely thanks to the nationwide trend toward locally grown fruit and vegetables.

The FarmedHere CEO said while this trend undoubtedly had a lot to do with sustainability, it had more to do with product freshness and increased shelf life.

"Yes we're organic, but the thing that makes us most interesting to our distribution partners like Whole Foods is the fact that we're grown locally," he said.

"So I do think that that's a trend people need to be more aware of, because local is becoming a movement and consumers are starting to demand that their produce is produced locally and vertical farming allows delivery on that message.

"Our product is on consumers' shelves within 24 hours from harvest, and that's a big deal. I think that trend is accelerating rapidly as more and more consumers are demanding that their product be produced locally, and indoor farming allows for that."

Thomann also said he was not looking to replace traditional farming with indoor methods by any means, but rather he was looking to 'enhance' it in certain areas, such as in terms of eliminating the impacts of adverse climatic conditions or by lowering shipping costs.

"We're different pieces of the puzzle. When there's droughts, when there are shortages for whatever reason within a year - we're part of the solution," he said.

"The other indoor farms and vertical farms throughout the world - we look at them as collaborators. We need to all band together to figure out how the make the technologies work better, how to reduce our costs so we can feed more and more people."

"Ultimately we want to be able to compete with traditional farming from a cost standpoint and we're not quite there yet, but we're getting there."

Fruittrade opportunities

Speaking about the upcoming PMA Fruittrade event, Thomann said it would be an excellent opportunity to meet like-minded people in the industry with whom FarmedHere could collaborate in the future.

"We clearly know how to build a vertical farm, and our know-how is ultimately going to be what makes us successful," he said.

"As far as I’m concerned we’re not only going to be in Chicago, we’re hopefully going to be in cities throughout the United States and throughout the world, and this offers me opportunities to meet people within agriculture that may not know enough about indoor farming, and we can collaborate in the future.

"I do see traditional farms looking at indoor farms to enhance what they do - to reduce their shipping costs and so forth. Even if it’s something that happens five years down the road, at least planting the seeds to a relationship is important to us."

He added although the company was currently focused on the U.S., allowing other people to licence, franchise or partner with FarmedHere in the future was 'clearly on the radar'.

"Doing something in Latin America is in our business plan, just probably a couple of years down the road. But if we have a partner who is willing and able to work with us we would certainly think about that," he said.

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