Vertical Farm Systems

This interview details Vertical Farm Systems, an indoor farming company based in Australia. The interview is with John Leslie, Executive Director of Vertical Farm Systems.

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What is the origin story of Vertical Farm Systems?

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VFS was essentially created with a goal of providing healthy and affordable food for everyone on the planet using technology and natural systems. We wanted to ensure that crops could be grown all year round in any location in any climate whilst using minimal power, water and without harmful pesticides, herbicides or inorganic fertilisers. Of course, we knew that that was only half the challenge and if our system was to be taken up in a big way, it would have to be commercially sound, last the distance and be safe and simple to operate.

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What are some of the biggest challenges facing Vertical Farm Systems in the future? 

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Right now, our business would really benefit from having local representation in North America, we get daily enquiries from the region and having boots on the ground there would mean a quantum leap in our business potential.

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We are a small, dedicated team with 101 ideas just bursting to be commercialised, be it insect protein, algae production or batch growing of forests, we want to make a difference.

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What is unique about Vertical Farm Systems compared to competitors? 

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We understand that our customers must be profitable, that is why our system leaves the competition behind in terms of automation. Our systems are all designed to be run by a single operator. Every task from filling benches with grow media, seeding, growing and harvesting are all automated.

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We are extremely proud of the fact that our machines recycle the grow media, water and nutrients. This is unparalleled in the industry.

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

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We are providing game changer solutions for our customers, we know this from feedback, this is how we measure the impact of our business. One customer can now grow leafy greens affordably all year round even when it is -15°C outside. Another customer has made our equipment the heart of their US$1Billion farm.

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Equally important is the VFS family, the sole of the business. We know that without the right people we may as well shut the doors. VFS fosters an environment where our team is happy, well supported and enjoys coming to work. We understand that our team has family, friends and a life outside of work and that can be bumpy too. We tackle stuff together and we have each other’s backs, this is who we are.

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Do you use CO2 in your operation today -- if so, how much and what do you pay for it? What are your thoughts in CO2 usage in indoor farms? 

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We do offer the option for customers to use CO² in our systems. There is a strong relationship between PAR light levels and beneficial CO² enrichment and in a commercial operation the cost of electricity for lighting and the cost of CO² which need to be determined to establish the benefit of reducing one and increasing the other.

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Energy is a big topic in indoor farming right now. How much do you pay for electricity (kWh)? Is it mainly from the grid or renewables?

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We are a Vertical Farming equipment manufacturer with systems installed in New Zealand, UK and Canada - electricity costs in Australia vary from state to state as they do in North America and elsewhere.  In our own demonstration facility in Queensland Australia we are 100% solar during daylight hours and grid powered during the night.

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

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VFS has taken on some very gnarly engineering challenges and we’ve learnt of many ways how not to do things. However, those mistakes have been invaluable and made us stronger and smarter. We’ve also learnt that designing and building great products is not enough to be successful, equally important are great logistics, an awesome installation team and committed customer support.

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We’ve also come to expect the unexpected and to ‘have eyes in the back of your head’. Curve balls come at you from all over the field, get back up, dust yourself off and work the problem.

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How can people connect with you or learn more about Vertical Farm Systems?

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We have a great website (www.verticalfarms.com.au) which shows systems in operation and how the technology works. It also shows some of the other exciting things that we are working on too such as growing animal fodder.

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Pay us or one of our distributors a visit and see a system in operation! We have working systems in Queensland, Australia, Canterbury, New Zealand and Ontario, Canada. Our VFS family is super friendly and more than happy to give a tour.

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Allow us to talk vertical farms at you! - pick up the phone and speak to one of our super friendly team members.

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