Canadian vertical farming startup Adapt AgTech has partnered with Reef Technology to bring mushroom-growing shipping containers to Austin and other major cities across the United States.
Reef transforms urban real estate like parking lots into mobility and logistics hubs, currently operating over 8,000 locations in hundreds of cities. The partnership allows Adapt shipping containers to be located away from customers, such as restaurants and grocery stores, without having to pay astronomical rents for commercial or industrial space downtown.
Adapt opened its first shipping container in Austin and started delivering to restaurants this week. Over the next few years, the startup plans to expand to over 50 locations, including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Miami.
“Our model is to create hyperlocal farms in densely populated urban areas to reduce the distance from farm to fork,” Jonathan Murray, CEO and founder of Adapt AgTech, told TechCrunch. Told.
Adapt’s network of shipping container farms specializes in “Extraordinary Gourmet Mushrooms”, gourmet mushrooms that were not available in North American retail outlets until very recently. Think pinks, yellows, blues, king oysters, chestnut mushrooms and the trending lion’s mane.
“Mushrooms are very well suited for container farming compared to other crops such as leafy greens because they consume energy,” Murray continued. “They don’t need a tremendous amount of light, just temperature and humidity.”
Adapt, which launched in February 2022, delivered its first farm to its Toronto location last June. Since then, the company has continued to grow and now has farms in Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax, Kingston and Austin. On February 17th, Adapt announced that he will begin a partnership with Loblaws, Canada’s largest retailer. Starting with his two flagship stores in downtown Toronto, there are dozens more in Toronto and Ottawa, then expanding to other locations over the next few months.
Adapt will also be deployed on retail banners for Canadian grocery chains Sobeys and Pattison Food Group in 2023.
“By the end of 2023, it will be available in at least three of the top five Canadian retailers from Halifax to Vancouver, bringing the total to more than 3,500 stores,” said Murray. .
Adapt recently completed a seed round with Climate VC Congruence and plans to use the funds to expand its base and hire more support.
Sustainable Fruiting, Inexpensive Mushrooms
Image credit: Adaptive Agtech
Adapt AgTech designs and manufactures shipping containers in Delta, British Columbia. In addition to his 5 containers currently in operation, Adapt recently started production of 16 more units and over the next 12 months he aims to deploy more than 25 units. Some of Adapt’s shipping containers use solar power with backup plugs, but the startup will connect the shipping containers to the grid for a quick U.S. launch. Murray says the energy consumption is low, about 10 kilowatt hours per day.
The company’s distribution model resembles a hub and spokes. Adapt uses a central hub in Kingston, Ontario to do all of its lab work and colonize substrate blocks. That is, it allows the fungal root structure, the mycelium, to grow in blocks of sawdust, used coffee grounds, or coconut cores. The startup then sends the blocks to shipping containers, where the mushrooms can bear fruit near customers. Murray said this allows Adapt to deliver the mushrooms within hours of harvest. Not only does this mean fresher mushrooms, it also means that they last longer and spoil less.
The startup deploys and operates containers and also fulfills orders. The operator centrally manages everything from mushroom harvesting to order management and delivery.
“Today, all of our containers are basically run by one full-time farmer, so we allow them to be called ‘farmer entrepreneurs,’” Murray said. increase. “It’s an open-ended commission, so make your territory as big as you can. We’ll add more containers and expand your territory.
Murray also noted that existing mushroom farm operators are reaching out to Adapt to transform their home businesses into Adapt Farms.
The entire process allows the startup to remain vertically integrated, saving Adapt money on materials such as home-made substrates from locally available sources. Also, with Adapt managing each farm, the company is able to monitor good fruiting mushroom strains and propagate more strains, resulting in a healthier profit for the company and more money than what is available at the farmers market. We can provide high quality products at low prices. Malay.
