After months of detailed planning, Taiwan based vertical farming company YesHealth Group has commenced construction of its first international vertical farming project in Copenhagen, Denmark. “We are building one of Europe’s largest vertical farms in Copenhagen,” Business Development Director at YesHealth Group, Jesper Hansen reveals.The company partnered up with Nordic Harvest ApS to realise the project. The total installation will cover 7,000 sq. m including production area, offices, cold storage, labs etc.
The vertical farm will officially be opened later this year with participation of representatives of the Danish government who also visited the company in Taiwan before. "Once the vertical farm reaches full production capacity, it will yield more than 3.000 kg every day making it the most efficient vertical farm in Europe to date", Jesper says.
The construction site in Copenhagen
Construction of the vertical farm located in Taastrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, started in March led by YesHealth Group’s Chairman, Tsai Wen-Chin and senior management of Nordic Harvest ApS. Operations are planned to begin in Q4 of this year with the strategic partner Nordic Harvest ApS taking over local operations. Jesper explains: “We will harvest the first cycles by the end of the year and be able to deliver to clients like restaurants, hotels, and retail chains immediately after. This strategy allows us to reach high production volume very fast.”
Green technology
“Our ambition is to grow with Nordic Harvest ApS. When we have proof of concept in Denmark, we will expand into Sweden, Norway and Finland. In the Nordics, we don’t have the climate to support traditional farming methods. As a result, a lot of products are imported, which leaves a huge carbon footprint. By taking away the transportation part of the supply chain, this footprint can be reduced and in return we can offer the clients much fresher and better products. The partnership with Nordic Harvest proves that it is now possible to commercialize vertical farming produce on a large scale and that this produce will be able to support the traditional farming sector from now on. Vertical farming is no longer just a theoretical concept,” Jesper continues.
Constant improving technology
“Our company can now gather a lot of data worldwide from different environments and conditions. Therefore, we have a unique ability to optimize our growth processes and improve production efficiency. The more vertical farms we have, the more efficient our technology becomes.” YesHealth Group’s Chairman Tsai affirms, “with all of our technology in-house, YesHealth Group will now be able to utilize real-world data from vastly different climates and environments and improve our technology at an even greater speed and efficiency.”
Advantages over traditional products
Jesper adds that the technology is still not efficient enough to compete everywhere in the world. “You must sell the produce with a premium at a price like organic products to make it profitable. But that is not a problem because the products have a lot of advantages over traditional products. A good thing about the Nordic countries is that they are willing to pay for quality and safety. Furthermore, Scandinavians care a lot about sustainability and protecting the environment. The vertical farm in Copenhagen will be powered exclusively by renewable energy from wind power, and we believe that Scandinavians will support this initiative rather than buying products that have been transported thousands of kilometers.”
Product range
There will be a small assortment in the beginning, such as a few lettuces, cruciferous vegetables and culinary herbs. In the future, the assortment will be expanded. “The interesting thing about vertical farming is that we can grow anything in a controlled environment. Over time we can introduce new crops to the market that have not previously been available and expand people’s horizon. Like in Taiwan, today we grow more than 30 different crops in our HQ farm. There is currently a global trend towards a more plant-based diet. We believe it’s part of our mission to provide a broader selection to the public and enhance their experience with eating leafy vegetables”
Farming at an advanced level
YesHealth Group has spent more than 10 years developing the technologies that underpin the vertical farm in Copenhagen. The vertical farm will have a high degree of automation. The seeding, transplanting and packaging processes will all be automated, and robots will move the plants around inside the farm. Nordic Harvest will be responsible for daily operations, and YesHealth Group will continue making research and development from Taiwan.
“Although vertical farming has reached an advanced level and has proven its profitability, we are still not satisfied with the current status. We believe that technology can become much more efficient. Therefore, it’s likely that the farms we build throughout the Nordics with Nordic Harvest will become more and more efficient with each new farm” Jesper concludes.
For more information:
YesHealth Group
Jesper Hansen, Business Development Director
jesperhansen@yeshealth.com.tw
www.yeshealthgroup.com