“It’s true to say that we are not just an agricultural company, but an engineering company and we wanted to make a strong statement on the development side. All of our growing systems are controlled by our own-built, cloud enabled software. Now, we are developing our own substances, dosing and climate control to ensure that the results are correct and solid. Not only did we want to reduce the installation costs by creating our own growing systems, we also reduced the overall costs. We want to share our solutions with the third part companies and introduce an effective working way into the sector”, Erdem Varer, Managing Partner with Plant Factory says. The company built its first R&D container in 2017 and currently the company is constructing a bigger facility to upscale productivity.
Environmentally friendly
The team of six is also looking at reducing electricity costs by establishing batteries into the system. Varer adds: “The electricity cost could be reduced by building our own batteries, we can charge them when it’s cheaper, and use them when needed to be cost-effective. Time will tell.” The company tries to use biodegradable packaging as much as possible to have a minimum impact. Halil Beşkardeşler, CEO of Plant Factory mentions: “If we change to sustainable packaging there’s a cost imbalance with the product price. Therefore, we are trying to find a balance in the whole production process. Distribution-wise we will use electric bikes for home delivery for example.”
The Plant Factory team
New facility
Plant Factory built its first R&D container in 2017 and currently the company is constructing a bigger facility. The new facility will start its first test production around June this year and produces around 4000 kg of basil and lettuce per year as they have seen a growing demand. The products will be directly sold to restaurants and consumers online. “We chose these specific products as there is a large demand as they are frequently used in the Turkish cuisine”, Beşkardeşler says. “There is a huge potential in greater urban areas such as Ankara and Istanbul. Once we can obtain the level of mass production we can lower our costs and we can reach the middle class of the society”, mentions Varer. “For now, we have enough seed supply until September. If the seeds are our only problem, we're on the right track”, Varer says laughing.
The Plant Factory growing systems in the kitchen art academy
Society reacts
There are mixed reactions towards the Istanbul-based indoor farm. “It’s something they don’t really need at this moment, but the trends are aiming for healthy and high quality food. We have an advantage here, as we can fulfill this need. Next to that we receive a lot of emails from individuals on how to self-build growing systems to grow their own vegetables”, Varer says. There’s a small range of imported lettuce available in Turkey. The company offers a kitchen art academy in their R&D facility where leafy greens are grown and tested. “Lettuce is expensive and low-quality, therefore chefs based in Istanbul are very eager to make use of our lettuce once it’s fully tested and grown in our facility. It’s hard to maintain quality crops for restaurants, plus its time and resource consuming. We can deliver the same high-quality year-round for a fixed price”, Varer notes. There’s also a big part of the society that needs proof first. “They don’t understand the efficiency of CEA growing and stick to the argument of ‘overpriced crops’.”
Freshly harvested lettuce
Opportunities ahead
25% of the Turkish society is working in the agricultural business. The sector is lacking high-tech greenhouses that can respond to the changing environment. Beşkardeşler adds: “We are working on short educative videos about indoor growing in order for society to get used to CEA growing. As word gets out, we believe urban farming will really take off in Turkey. Next to that we will offer workshops for people to participate in harvesting, and for them to experience the whole growing process.”
Eventually, word will be spread on the street and Plant Factory will participate in festivals so people can taste the products. “Last summer we participated in an organic festival and received a lot of positive attention. We need to spread the word as much as possible, because we are one of the first indoor farms in Turkey and people need to understand correctly what we do.” The company has been introduced to the pharmaceutical industry where a great proposal is awaiting. They have been asked to supply plants which are used by the industry to extract oils and other components.
For more information:
Plant Factory
Halil Beşkardeşler, CEO
halil@plantfactory.company
Erdem Varer, Managing Partner
erdem@plantfactory.company
www.plantfactory.company