Fork Farms

This interview details Fork Farms, an indoor farming company based in the United States. The interview is with Alex Tyink, CEO and Co-Founder of Fork Farms.

‍

‍

What is the origin story of Fork Farms?

‍

Fork Farms started with the simple idea that growing your own food has the power to create positive change. During the summer of 2010, I volunteered at a rooftop garden in Brooklyn, New York growing food for a neighborhood pantry. At the end of the summer, I was given a bag of fresh food to take home as a token of appreciation for my service. I had never grown my own food before. And as simple as it sounds, that bag of fresh produce changed me forever.

‍

The summer of 2010 ignited a chain of events that would lead to the cognizance of the power of growing fresh food and its ability to bring about happier, healthier people. I realized that involvement and engagement provides opportunity for connection. Connection leads to real, sustainable change. I wanted to create a way to break down barriers to fresh food and give everyone the power to grow their own food in a sustainable and transformative way.

‍

‍

The over decade-long journey has seen Fork Farms transform from an independent contractor, building rooftop gardens, a garage-based hydroponic prototype made out of wood, to four generations of Flex Farms, and partnerships with organizations across the globe. To date, Fork Farms has been involved in more than 2,200 Flex Farm installations across the United States and globally.

‍

‍

What are some of the biggest challenges facing Fork Farms in the future? 

Our food supply chain is in crisis. There's a systemic issue with the way that fresh food is produced, transported, and distributed within our country and world. This problem is expected to get substantially worse as the population grows, climates change, shipping distances increase, and overall health declines. Currently, two billion people suffer from food insecurity and this number is projected to increase to 10 billion by 2050. Our water and land resources diminish every day and climate change issues are harming crop yields. Also, according to the CDC, only nine percent of adults eat the recommended daily amount of vegetables. At Fork Farms, we believe the time is now to change the way we think about and grow food, engage our communities, and provide nutritious, local food for all.

‍

‍

What is unique about Fork Farms compared to competitors? 

The technology used in the Flex Farm is not just innovative, it is disruptive. The Flex Farm is the most efficient, scalable, and transformative indoor, vertical hydroponic technology on the planet. The Flex Farm from Fork Farms is four times more energy efficient than other indoor vertical hydroponic farms, growing 25+ pounds of lettuce every 28 days in nine square feet of space. 

‍

Fork Farms creates plug-and-play indoor farms for any space, ranging from nine to 20,000 square feet. Fork Farms recently developed our newest farm, the Flex Acre, that is capable of producing more than 100 pounds of fresh produce per month, or the equivalent of four Flex Farms. The Flex Acre is also a hydroponic system that utilizes nutrient-infused, recirculated water to nourish plant roots and optimize growth. In addition to the farm, new technology will provide highly localized HVAC, power, dehumidification, automated controls, and water handling to provide optimal growing conditions for a variety of crops in the same growing facility at a greater scale. The Flex Farms and Flex Acre systems are completely customizable, offering simple and efficient opportunities for expansion and flexibility to grow a variety of foods with nearly any space constraints. 

‍

‍

Not only does Fork Farms provide everything our partners need to successfully grow food indoors, we have created a robust, turnkey curriculum for K-12 students. The curriculum offers schools and students hundreds of learning opportunities for students in the areas of: STEM, nutrition, sustainability, agriculture, and health. By combining hands-on experimentation with real-world farming technology, interdisciplinary learning and hydroponics provide numerous benefits for students' engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. 

‍

Fork Farms provides the curriculum and other resources within Farmative, a digital community of growers. Farmative is a platform where our partners can connect with each other, and access transformative and collaborative tools to help them grow. 

‍

‍

How do you measure the impact of Fork Farms so far? (Revenue, Employees, Customer Quantity, Production Volume) etc? 

We are proud to have installed more than 2,200 Flex Farms across 43 states and nine countries. Flex Farms are growing in more than 800 K-12 schools, providing both fresh food and valuable learning opportunities to young people. Fork Farms has grown by 150% in the last year alone. Vertical farming is a $5.3 billion dollar industry and is expected to be a $33 billion dollar industry by 2030. As we continue to build awareness for our Flex Farm and brand new Flex Acre, we are building capacity to feed thousands more people every day with our partners. 

‍

‍

We have 30 team members and are quickly growing our employee base. Just last year alone, we added nine new team members and more than 380 new partners to our Fork Farms community. 

‍

We are also incredibly proud of the environmental impact that we make through the deployment of our technology. In 2022 alone, more than 7.1 million kWh of CO2 energy and more than 19.2 million gallons of water were conserved through food grown in our Flex Farms. This also saved upwards of 337,000 pounds of food waste and averted more than 2.7 million miles for food transport.

‍

‍

What have you learned that you wish you knew when you joined or started the company? 

I’ve learned that the role of a founder evolves immensely over time. When you are first starting or leading a company, you are involved in every aspect of the business and have your hands in every detail. As the business progresses and you start making real change and positively impacting others, you learn that what you originally created is not only owned by you, it is owned by many more - your employees, your partners, investors, friends, and family. Your role as a founder shifts from everyday details to furthering the mission of the company and making the most positive impact possible for everyone. You no longer think of the company as “your baby”, you think of how you can be a steward and caretaker of the company’s mission and work to protect beyond this generation.

‍

‍

How can people connect with you or learn more about Fork Farms?

Please visit us at www.forkfarms.com; or on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or TikTok.

‍

‍

‍