"We're not just jumping into building a vertical farm. We take a structured approach, assessing everything from market conditions to local infrastructure and regulatory requirements. We even build digital twins of our customers' facilities to demonstrate every process in the farm. The better assessments we do now, the better we get at reducing risks for our customers," says Endre Harnes, Chief Commercial Officer at Avisomo as he highlights the importance of in-depth feasibility studies before committing to full-scale projects.
By emphasizing a systematic and research-driven approach, Avisomo aims to set a new standard in vertical farming, one that prioritizes long-term sustainability and success over quick wins.
Endre Harnes
Pre-projects, assessing viability
The Norwegian startup has set up critical steps to conduct 'pre-projects' with clients, designed to assess potential challenges and ensure economic viability before making any major investment. "We've seen too many projects face setbacks because of unforeseen issues," Endre notes. "And that is why we need to address all aspects of a farm build: From location requirements, level of automation, and market access, to digitally building and running the farm over time. As our pre-projects are also part of our sales work, they come pretty cheap compared to other consultancies. We see how they can be essential to make sure that we and our customers only build feasible vertical farms. This structured approach allows us to use our knowledge and create viable projects tailored to each client's unique situation."
A recent example of this carefully planned approach is Avisomo's ongoing project with a Swiss client, where the company is revamping a facility. The team is looking into whether to repurpose existing farm buildings or to build a new one, taking into account the market perspective, local electrical infrastructure, regional legislation, and more. "It's all about building a structured decision-making process to avoid the challenges we've seen in the industry in the past. Ultimately, for every project, the goal is to balance risk and feasibility, ensuring that the projects are not only technically sound but also economically sustainable," Endre explains.
Avisomo's R&D facility
Push for R&D
"Our strategic focus on feasibility and R&D is not just about building successful vertical farms today, but about shaping the future of the industry. In 10 years, it will be more efficient to build vertical farms globally. But for now, we need to be flexible and respectful of the current ecosystems. The vertical farming industry has been a bit cowboy until now. We need to build more feasible and profitable farms, increasing the success rate and attracting more capital into the space," Endre emphasizes.
One of the flagship R&D initiatives is Avisomo's ongoing collaboration with Coop, a major Norwegian retailer. This partnership has allowed Avisomo to gather essential data and refine its vertical farming systems. "We need to learn as much as possible. Collaborating with our customers allows us to identify risks and opportunities from both research and practical perspectives. We've been running so much data with Coop, learning different things that we can now apply in other customer dialogues," Endre shares. The project is set to begin producing in-store goods by Q1 2025, marking a significant milestone in Avisomo's journey.
The Avisomo team
Pushing for this constant R&D, the team is currently working with a Norwegian university on a strawberry project involving strawberries, leveraging three climate cells and a testing area for automation and parameter testing. "We're planning to build more of these stations to continue our research and improve our crop recipes," Endre reveals.
For more information:
Avisomo
Endre Harnes, Chief commercial officer
[email protected]
https://avisomo.com