Pflanzentheke Germany

This interview details Pflanzentheke, an indoor farming company based in Germany. The interview is with Dr. Julia Dubowy, COO of Pflanzentheke.

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What is the origin story of Pflanzentheke?

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About 2 years ago, my brother talked to Michael and me about vertical gardening and even tinkered with a hydroponic plant tower. We all heard about this topic for the first time back then and were excited that it could solve the problem of food security for our population in the future. 

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My brother dismissed the subject for himself, but it stuck with Michael and me. We went looking for people who really knew about it and came across Lasse through a blog and then through him to Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and Leon. The two have been researching hydroponics for years and are experts in this field.

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Then we founded Pflanzentheke together.

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What are some of the biggest challenges facing Pflanzentheke in the future?

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Basically, we have one major global challenge: How can we manage to meet the growing global demand for food (an estimated +60% by 2050) with the resources that are already very scarce?

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In addition to this global challenge, we also have an urgent need for action locally in Germany:

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• Agricultural areas are continuously decreasing
• Climate change and periods of drought lead to crop failures and increase the demand for water
• Natural soils are affected by degradation and salinization
• A large part of freshwater is already being used for agricultural purposes
• Farms have successor problems and staff shortages
• Supply chains are becoming more unstable due to geopolitical unrest (corona, wars)

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What will food production look like in the future?

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• Climate-resilient, ie adapted to climatic conditions
• Water and fertilizer must be massively saved
• Of course floors must be protected
• Local production reduces international and national dependencies and reduces CO2 emissions
• Yield per area must be increased
• Food production must become more self-sufficient and be possible with fewer personnel

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These requirements are met by hydroponic vegetable cultivation:

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• No natural soils needed
• Cultivation possible on sealed surfaces and in urban areas
• Multiple yields per square meter of floor space
• 85% less fertilizer required
• 90% less water requirement
• Can be used for a wide variety of fruit and vegetables
• The systems run largely independently thanks to closed water circuits and intelligent measurement and control technology

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Our vision is the permanent & safe supply of locally produced food. To protect the environment. For all humans.

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We want to bring people back closer to food production and make hydroponic systems accessible to a broad section of the population.

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We also support vegetable growers and farmers in general in agricultural transformation and help them break new ground in fruit and vegetable production.

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Here we see ourselves as a full-service provider and offer all services from a single source, so that the farm can cultivate hydroponically successfully.

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As a company, we have the challenge of convincing conservative Europe, and above all the farmers here, to seriously deal with the subject of hydroponics and at least partially leave their old ways. They are our main target group alongside private end users. 

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Another challenge is to make our fertilizer exclusively organic and to invest in conveyor technology for harvest automation. Here we would like to help farmers to overcome the problem of staff shortages as well.

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What is unique about Pflanzentheke compared to competitors?

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The special thing about the services of Pflanzentheke is:

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• Full-service provider, everything from a single source;
• Open-air cultivation possible (clear distinction from indoor farming with often high energy consumption due to artificial lighting);
• Scalable farm that can be successively expanded;
• Low initial investments make it easier to get started and make vertical farming accessible to a larger target group (clear differentiation from so-called indoor farming with extremely high initial investments);
• Own research and development: own planting systems, measurement and control technology, own fertilizer, own seeds, permanent optimization of plant cultivation;
• Many years of know-how in hydroponic cultivation and plant nutrition.

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

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We measure our impact by how many square meters of sealed area we can occupy with our A-frames and other systems, and then also what contribution we make to the use of otherwise unusable soil. We then also measure how much water and fertilizer we save per square meter compared to conventional agriculture. 

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Our marketing reach is also important to us, as it shows us how well we can reach the relevant people with our offers. 

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Of course, we also measure our impact in terms of sales and the number of our employees.

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

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Back then, i.e. before the company was founded, we would have liked to have had more information and clarity about our target customers. That would have saved us time in the beginning. 

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In addition, we were faced with unexpected challenges in getting our systems ready for series production - e.g. the return flow in the closed water circuit did not work well for a while or we were unsure about the number of functionalities of our measurement and control technology for a long time. Or some components, like our floats in the water basin, have not turned out to be as reliable and high-quality as we first thought.

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How can people connect with you or learn more about Pflanzentheke?

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People can contact us at any time by sending an email to info@pflanzentheke.de or directly to our CEO m.mueller@pflanzentheke.de. Please also find us on LinkedIn.

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We can also provide all the information in a face-to-face meeting to be arranged by email. All of our founding team speak good English. 

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Further information about the systems and our other products can be found at www.pflanzentheke.de

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