Garden Stack UK

This interview details Garden Stack, an indoor farming company based in the UK. The interview is with Daniel Matthews-Ferrero, CEO of Garden Stack.

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What is the origin story of Garden Stack?

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Garden Stack originated from an unexpected yet fruitful moment during the pandemic. It's an automated vertical farm utilizing passive irrigation technology. Fill it from the top and you can forget about over- or under-watering your plants. They will be automatically irrigated in the most efficient manner. 

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I was actually in Spain interviewing politicians—as part of my Marie Skłodowska–Curie doctoral research—when the pandemic hit and the idea for Garden Stack germinated. As was the case for so many of us, I found my plans scuppered and faced an urgent need to pivot. Luckily, I was not completely alone during the lockdown, having my cat for company. Bizarrely enough, I think the idea for Garden Stack came to me as a result of staring at my cat's water fountain in the first weeks of the lockdown. From then on, I couldn't drop the idea and found myself building prototypes, without anyone to really explain the idea to. 

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I did send photos of these early prototypes to some relatives, who I think were largely concerned. I talked my partner, Marta, into it and she has been supportive ever since. Both our backgrounds are in social science. I achieved the top grades in my school, full scholarships to attend university, a grant to study my MA at the College of Europe, and so on. Marta's path was similar, and we met while working in foreign policy at the European Commission. So I knew I was a competent person and good with ideas, but I had no experience in business. I taught myself about everything from patent filings, to product design, to manufacturing to marketing in order to get Garden Stack off the ground.

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What are some of the biggest challenges facing Garden Stack in the future?

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Desktop 3D printers are at a historical juncture right now, with innovations accelerating alongside increased competition. This is why I am convinced that it is possible to not only prototype but to manufacture Garden Stack inhouse at a competitive price while retaining healthy margins. When you compare the up-front cost of these 3D printers to traditional manufacturing methods, such as injection moulding, what was once an unavoidable and hefty fixed cost is essentially transformed into a variable cost. Inhouse manufacturing with 3D printers carries the additional benefit of deterring copycats. Overall, this means that Garden Stack is perfectly suited to an organic growth model, which is not necessarily to say slow growth. Printers can simply be added in line with demand.

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As a result, the main hurdle is getting the product off the ground successfully. We are fortunate to be renting space from an artist's cooperative well below market rates in a city centre. If we are really going to hit the ground running, we should be buying additional machinery to produce our own 3D print materials ("filaments"), as this would slash our primary cost, while also providing even more control over how we manufacture Garden Stack. The main hurdles are thus the general installation costs to get Garden Stack started, alongside international patent filings.

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What is unique about Garden Stack compared to competitors?

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Ollas are clay pots buried in the ground. They have been irrigating our crops for thousands of years, from China to Rome. Remarkably, they remain the most efficient method of soil irrigation to this day. They are far more efficient than drip irrigation, and even rival the water-efficiency of hydroponics, but without any of the energy inputs associated with hydroponic agriculture.

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Nobody has applied the logic of olla irrigation to vertical farming before. This is Garden Stack's key innovation.

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We believe this technology has applications in commercial vertical farming, which is currently afflicted by high energy costs. Olla irrigation is passive, automated, and hyper-efficient, which is just the combination that existing commercial vertical farms are lacking.

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However, given our academic, social science backgrounds, we decided that the best way to build credibility—before exploring commercial vertical farming applications—would be the B2C, e-commerce route that we are currently pursuing. 

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

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We launched our first ever crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, in order to test the waters and ensure there is demand. Garden Stack raised over $25,000. This crowdfunding data has therefore been our main metric to date. However, the product speaks for itself, and as long as we are able to churn these out at a low cost, there will be demand. Garden Stack is really the no-brainer way we should be growing plants from home.

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

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Launching Garden Stack has taught me the value of embracing change and taking the plunge. The diversity of tasks and the independence that entrepreneurship offers have been truly liberating and rewarding experiences. If I could advise my past self, I would encourage him to trust his own instincts first, and not hesitate so much in bringing his own ideas to life.

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How can people connect with you or learn more about Garden Stack?

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You can reach out at daniel@garden-stack.com or on our social media, such as Facebook or Twitter.

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