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- Vertical Farming World Congress 2022
Vertical Farming World Congress 2022
Bringing together vertical farming operators, investors, suppliers and customers, this 3rd annual Vertical Farming World Congress is designed to help develop and advance the sector’s future. It is the most substantial dedicated event of the year, featuring two days of conference sessions, exhibits, local vertical farm tours, networking with key industry figures and presentation of the 2022 Vertical Farming World Awards. For new entrants as well as industry leaders.
Sponsors
About
The Vertical Farming World Congress is the industry’s highest level and most significant dedicated event of the year.
After two successful years online, the 3rd annual event will be held in Brussels, Belgium – the heart of European policy-making - from 19 to 21 September.
The Congress will assemble vertical farming operators and suppliers, along with investors, customers and advisers from around the globe to debate and advance the sector's future.
Programme highlights include:
- Over 35 industry leading speakers from Australia to Sweden and from the United States to Korea
- Visits to 3 local urban farm operators showcasing fruits, herbs and vegetables from microgreens to mushrooms and strawberries
- 2022 Vertical Farming World Awards dinner
- Industry policy discussions with European Commission and a former adviser to President Obama
- Extensive coverage of market trends and opportunities for networking.
Speakers include
Monday 19 September
Registration opens
Coaches from hotel to new Abattoir urban farming development to visit 3 local farm operations:
• BIGH, aquaponics greenhouse – herbs, vegetables
• ECLO, underground vertical farm – microgreens, mushrooms
• Urban Harvest, vertical farm – herbs, seedlings, strawberries
Coaches from hotel to new Abattoir urban farming development to visit 3 local farm operations:
• BIGH, aquaponics greenhouse – herbs, vegetables
• ECLO, underground vertical farm – microgreens, mushrooms
• Urban Harvest, vertical farm – herbs, seedlings, strawberries
For attendees of the first farm visit group (Tour A)
Keynote introduction by Alfons Riek, Vice President of Technology and Innovation for Festo
Discussion panel including
• Colin Logan, Head of European Sales for IGS Limited, United Kingdom
• Wim Grootscholten, Business Manager - North America for Rijk Zwaan, Netherlands
• Tisha Livingston, Co-founder of 80 Acres Farms and Chief Executive Officer of Infinite Acres, United States
Moderated by
• Thomas Zoellner, Secretary General of FarmTech Society, Belgium
• Derek Smith, Executive Director of the Resource Innovation Institute, United States
Refreshment break
Keynote address by Barbara Trachte, Secretary of State of the Brussels Capital Region
Discussion panel including
• Gijs Schilthuis, Head of Strategy and Policy in Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development in European Commission
• Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation at US Department of Agriculture
Moderated by
• Sonny Ramaswamy, President Obama’s Director of National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States, from 2012 to 2018
• Richard Hall, Chairman of Zenith Global
Coaches return to hotel
Informal social gathering around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Close
Tuesday 20 September
Sonny Ramaswamy, President Obama’s Director of National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States, from 2012 to 2018
Professor Leo Marcelis, Head of Horticulture and Product Physiology Group at Wageningen University, Netherlands
Lambert van Horen, Senior Fresh Produce Analyst for Rabobank Research Food & Agribusiness, Netherlands
Erez Galonska, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Infarm, Germany
Questions and discussion
David Farquhar, Chief Executive Officer of IGS Limited, United Kingdom
Refreshment and networking break around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Dr Enrico Gribaudo, Chief Executive Officer of Turatti and Tecnoceam
Signing ceremony for supporting companies
Panel discussion on key industry issues such as identity, standards, investment, growth, sustainability and communications
Roger Buelow, Chief Technology Officer of AeroFarms, United States
Darren Thompson, Chief Financial Officer of Bowery Farming, United States
Erez Galonska, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Infarm, Germany
James Lloyd-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Jones Food Company, United Kingdom
Tisha Livingston, Chief Executive Officer of Infinite Acres and President of 80 Acres, United States
Lunch and networking break around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Tom Könisser, Business Development Manager for Signify
Daniel Tzvetkoff, Founder and Chief Architect of Stacked Farm, Australia
Andreas Wilhelmsson, Chief Strategy Officer of Ljusgårda, Sweden
Maarten Vandecruys, Founder and Chief Technology Officer off Urban Crop Solutions, Belgium
Rick Vanzura, Chief Executive Officer of Freight Farms, United States
Kate Hofman, Co-founder and Director of Brand and Strategy for GrowUp Farms, United Kingdom
Questions and discussion
Refreshment and networking break around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Tisha Livingston, Chief Executive Officer of Infinite Acres and President of 80 Acres, United States
Hyeyeon Leo Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of N.THING, Korea
Gary Grinspan, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Future Crops, Netherlands
Questions and discussion moderated by Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of CEA Food Safety Coalition, United States
Close
Close
Wednesday 21 September
Tristan Fischer, Chief Executive Officer of Fischer Farms, United Kingdom
Alexandre Van Deun, Co-founder of Urban Harvest, Belgium
Andrew Carter, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smallhold, United States
Questions and discussion
Rebecca Gyawu, Scientific Program Officer at Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, United States
Gilles Dreyfus, Co-founder and President of Jungle, France
Anne-Cécile Marie, Technology Adjacencies Director of InnovaFeed, France
John Diener, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vertical Oceans, Singapore
Questions and discussion
Refreshment and networking break around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Thibaut Pradier, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of La Grangette, France
Eric Lang, Founder and President of ZipGrow, Canada
Questions and discussion
Lunch and networking around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Join round tables of 5-10 delegates to discuss and advance policy debate on key industry issues of choice, such as Industry identity; Industry representation; Industry communications; Labelling claims; Key performance indicators and benchmarking; Recruitment and training; Nutrition; Sustainability
Plenary reports back from round tables
Close
Speakers
Sonny Ramaswamy
President Obama’s Director of National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States, from 2012-2018
President Barack Obama appointed Sonny to serve as director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture from 2012-2018. He has provided the vision for and has been an effective proponent for innovations in food and farming systems.
Sonny Ramaswamy currently serves as president of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities in Redmond, WA, which accredits institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and British Columbia. NWCCU focuses on supporting institutions to improve their student outcomes, while offering free space for innovations and experimentation on educational approaches.
Sonny served as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University, director of Purdue’s Agricultural Research Programs, university distinguished professor and head of Entomology at Kansas State University, and professor of entomology at Mississippi State University. Sonny’s BSc (Agriculture) and MSc (Entomology) are from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India; his PhD (Entomology) is from Rutgers.
Roger Buelow
Chief Technology Officer of AeroFarms, United States
As CTO, Roger Buelow leads AeroFarms’ innovation and capabilities team and works closely with R&D and Business Development.
Darren Thompson
Chief Financial Officer of Bowery Farming, United States
Darren Thompson is the Chief Financial Officer of Bowery Farming, the Modern Farming Company on a mission to reimagine farming from the ground up.
By combining his passion for environmental sustainability and business, Darren plays a critical role in building and scaling Bowery’s business model so that the company can bring fresher, safer produce to more communities.
Darren brings with him more than 30 years of leadership experience in the financial services industry and building high-growth businesses. Before joining the Bowery team, he served as President of Spruce Finance, a leading tech-enabled consumer finance company working with the renewable energy industry. Darren was also a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he raised more than $30 billion in capital for leveraged and emerging growth companies.
In addition to his role at Bowery, he frequently speaks on the subjects of global capital markets and entrepreneurial management. He appeared as a guest lecturer on entrepreneurial management at Cornell University’s The Johnson School of Business and spoke on financial markets at George Washington University’s graduate economics program.
Tom Stenzel
Executive Director of CEA Food Safety Coalition, United States
After almost 30 years as President and CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association, Tom achieved a longtime goal for the fresh produce industry by helping launch the International Fresh Produce Association....
Tom led United’s work in shaping legislative and regulatory policies; providing scientific and technical leadership in food safety and nutrition; and developing educational programs for its members. Under his leadership, the association was widely respected for its work in government affairs, agricultural policy, food safety and nutrition, leadership development, and industry education. He launched the United Fresh Start Foundation, a philanthropic arm committed to increasing children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and was a founding partner of the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools campaign. The campaign has donated salad bars to more than 6,000 schools across the country.
Today, Tom serves as Executive Director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Food Safety Coalition, supporting the fast growing industry segment of indoor vertical farms and high-tech greenhouses. Tom is a frequent speaker on industry issues, and the Stenzel Group works with industry leading companies and associations in strategic management, market development, government affairs, customer relations, and adoption of new technologies.
Tom has been recognized often by the produce industry throughout his career. He was honored as the 2002 Produce Man of the Year by The Packer newspaper, and is the past Chairman of the International Federation for Produce Standards, a global body representing national produce associations around the world.
Tom currently serves on the Bipartisan Policy Council Nutrition Task Force, developing policy recommendations to improve nutrition and public health through US government programs. He served as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 leading association executives and the Key Industry Associations Committee of the American Society of Association Executives, from which he achieved the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation in 1990. He has served in many government and industry leadership positions, including the first U.S. Department of Agriculture Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee, President George W. Bush’s Transition Advisory Team for Agriculture, and as an advisor on the U.S. Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade.
Tom was the founding President of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) in 1986, and is a 1977 graduate of the University of Richmond in Virginia.
Gijs Schilthuis
Head of Strategy and Policy in Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development in European Commission
Barbara Trachte
Secretary of State of the Brussels Capital Region
Barbara Trachte is Brussels Secretary of State for Economic Transition and Scientific Research.
Involved with Amnesty International at a very young age, she rallies around the issue of the Rwandan genocide and the major debaes on human rights throughout the world. A lawyer at the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, and later a lawyer at the Brussels bar, she gets involved in parallel in the Ecolo party, for which she was a candidate in the federal and regional elections of 1999 and 2000.
Co-president of Ecolo-J, the youth organisation of the Ecolo party, she was then elected as a member of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region in 2009 and also sat in the Parliament of the French Community. Re-elected in 2014, she specialised in education and children's rights issues. In 2016, she became leader of the Ecolo group in the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Between 2012 and 2019, she was also elected as a local councillor in Schaerbeek, the commune in which she has always lived.
In 2019, buoyed by the green wave in the regional and federal elections, Barbara Trachte was appointed Brussels Secretary of State for Economic Transition and Scientific Research as well as Minister-President of COCOF, the French Community Commission. She is the very first ecologist in the country to be in charge of the Economy portfolio. Her policy is resolutely focused on economic transition, with a view to aligning economic objectives with climate objectives. It is in this context and in order to accompany this transition that Barbara Trachte is mobilising Kate Raworth's Donut Theory in the Brussels-Capital Region.
As a mother of two daughters, born in 2013 and 2017, she attaches great importance to balancing her professional commitment with her family life.
Thomas Zoellner
Secretary General of FarmTech Society, Belgium
Tom Zoellner is a proven expert for innovative agri-tech initiatives in metropolitan spaces and has 25 years’ experience in agricultural consulting as well as in business development and sustainability in the food supply chain.
He is the co-founder and the secretary-general of the FarmTech Society based in Brussels after many years being part of the expert networks and policy development working groups in the US and the EU.
Alfons Riek
Vice President of Technology and Innovation for Festo
Alfons Riek, Vice President of Technology and Innovation for Festo
Tristan Fischer
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fischer Farms, United Kingdom
Tristan Fischer is the green energy expert and visionary behind Fischer Farms, an independent business specialising in sustainable vertical farming.
The 4-acre site will house 25,000 m2 of growing space – enough to supply 6.5 tonnes of leaf salad, leafy herbs and other fresh produce to UK supermarkets every day – and will produce yields 250 times greater than conventional farms.
With a vision of transforming the future of farming through the latest vertical farming innovations, pioneering tech, and solar power, Tristan is set to achieve his ambition of delivering a scalable and more sustainable food production industry.
Throughout his career, Tristan has been involved in several large-scale clean energy infrastructure projects, and has worked with some of the world’s leading companies, such as Citigroup and Shell renewables. He has also supported some of the most promising SMEs, including Camco, which he listed on AIM, increasing shareholder value 6-fold.
Tristan was previously Chairman of University of Leeds spin-out, C-Capture, and Chairman and CEO of Lumicity, which developed over £145m of infrastructure assets in the UK agricultural sector, including solar projects and 179 biomass package plant rooms worth £25m for the poultry sector. He was board director of Dukosi Ltd, a smart battery company.
With a highly respected background in Agritech, other commercial interests have included FishFrom Ltd, a land-based salmon company; and Great British Prawns Ltd, a land-based shrimp company, both of which use Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) technology.
Tristan speaks passionately about resource depletion and climate change, the global balance of power, and the economic and societal challenges that face the world. His personal website, History Future Now explores these overlapping themes, looking at current events from a historical perspective, and contemplating the future.
As a sustainable farming evangelist, Tristan can provide thought leadership and commentary on topics including green energy, vertical farming and sustainable food production.
Rebecca Gyawu
Scientific Program Officer of Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
Rebecca Gyawu is a Scientific Program Officer at the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). FFAR is a 501(c)(3) organization established by Congress in 2014 through the Farm Bill to fund innovative research in Food and Agriculture.
One of the programs she is excited about is the Precision Indoor Plant Consortium (PIP). PIP is a multi-partner pre-competitive collaboration that pursues audacious research to design crops and premium products specifically for indoor systems and pushes the boundaries of scientific knowledge regarding phytochemical production to increase yields of nutritious and flavorful crops. PIP leverages partners' resources and expertise to support innovative and transformative research and produce scientific discoveries that benefit partners' goals and the public. Current crops of focus include lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries. Rebecca manages the consortium activities and data workgroups. Additionally, she ensures that partners have access to comprehensive and robust data that each organization can leverage to answer unique scientific questions. Our current partners include Aerofarms, BASF, FFAR, Fluence, and GreenVenus.
Rebecca holds a master's degree in Food and Nutritional Science from Tuskegee University and another master's in Global Health Policy Management from Brandeis University. She is passionate about improving global food security issues.
Rick Vanzura
Chief Executive Officer of Freight Farms, United States
Rick Vanzura is the CEO of Freight Farms, the pioneer and global leader in hydroponic vertical container farming technology.
Gary Grinspan
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Future Crops, Netherlands
Gary Grinspan is the Co-founder & CEO of Future Crops, a leading Israel-founded, Netherlands-based Vertical Farm.
Gary has 25 years of extensive experience in the food industry starting his career at Unilever and moving on to PepsiCo in senior positions. Gary’s driving force is about change and impact. He is passionate about technology and innovation and started researching Vertical Farming as of early 2014. In 2016, Future Crops was founded as a mission driven company with the ambition to establish a radically different sustainable food supply chain.
The roots of Future Crops are embedded into deep plant science. Researchers from the worldwide known Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) were an integral part of the team that developed Future Crops’ cutting-edge technology, which is currently operating one of the largest vertical farms in Europe, while expanding globally.
Furthermore, Gary is also an active social entrepreneur on a volunteer basis. He has been promoting collective impact projects to solve large national challenges in partnership with Governmental institutions, mainly in the medical sector.
Kate Hofman
Co-founder and Director of Brand and Strategy for GrowUp Farms, United Kingdom
Kate began her career in technology consulting with IBM. She founded GrowUp nine years ago after discovering vertical farming during her MSc in Environment Technology & Business at Imperial College London.
In 2019, they joined forces with a project partner, bringing together indoor growing with expertise in renewable energy integration and experience building large-scale infrastructure projects. The two teams combined and Marcus Whately took over the CEO role from Kate.
This made GrowUp unique - cracking the biggest challenge in vertical farming - energy. With an energy model that breaks the reliance on electricity, the business uses renewable heating and cooling for most of its energy requirements. At its latest farm, Pepperness, this represents a 40% reduction in operating cost compared to Unit 84.
In December 2021 the team closed an investment round exceeding £100m with Generate Capital, a sustainable infrastructure company, accelerating delivery of GrowUp Farms' energy-efficient vertical farms and their ability to bring their taster, longer-lasting salads to supermarket shelves at everyday prices.
Kate's personal passion, alongside food that doesn't cost the earth, is business as a force for social change. As Brand Director, she's responsible for the company's external brand and marketing, and also for creating a company that lives and breathes its values and is the best place to work in the industry.
David Farquhar
Chief Executive Officer of Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS)
David joined Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) as CEO in November 2017. IGS is a Scottish-based agritech business, and David’s strategic appointment was made to raise investment through a Series A and subsequent Series B funding round,...
He is a seasoned technology entrepreneur, with a track record of driving shareholder value, based upon building an empowering, collaborative Culture as a Platform for growth. Most recently he was CEO of global SaaS vendor Workplace, leading the team through a hugely successful turnaround, transformation, growth and exit delivering a double-digit money multiple return in less than 3 years. In the past 27 years he has completed almost 30 transactions as a founder/CEO, angel investor and board director, including risk capital investments (PE, VC and angel), acquisitions and trade sales in Europe, North America and Asia.
Colin Logan
Head of European Sales for IGS Limited, United Kingdom
As Head of European Sales, Colin is responsible for working closely with prospective and onboarding customers to develop the optimum business case when deploying IGS’ precision indoor growing systems.
Having joined IGS in 2021, Colin’s skills in developing long-lasting customer relationships is driving forward significant sales growth for the business, covering key markets.
Prior to joining IGS, Colin spent more than 25 years working as a Commercial Manager for branded and private label food producers over a spectrum of food categories including Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Coop & Ocado.
Erez Galonska
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Infarm, Germany
Erez is co-founder and CEO of Infarm, the world’s largest cloud-connected farming network.
Today, the Infarm network produces millions of plants a month for 50% of the world’s largest retailers in Asia, Europe and North America. Infarm’s tech-driven, modular approach tailors production to customer demand, uses 95% less land and 95% less water, and travels 90% less than industrial farming.
Under Erez’s leadership, Infarm has recruited an industry-leading team and developed cutting-edge R&D to help cities become self-sufficient in their food production, while significantly improving the quality and environmental footprint of food.
Erez has been recognized by the European Commission as one of Europe’s top innovators in agriculture and technology.
Tisha Livingston
Chief Executive Officer of Infinite Acres and President of 80 Acres, United States
Tisha Livingston began her career in the food industry over twenty years ago. Since then, her roles have introduced her to every aspect of the industry—from finance to logistics and operations to engineering to research and development.
Anne-Cécile Marie
Technology Adjacencies Director of InnovaFeed, France
Anne-Cecile is the Technological Adjacencies Director at Innovafeed where she heads the company's efforts to co-construct technologies in partnership with other sectors such as insect rearing or vertical farming, so as to explore new markets.
Prior to Innovafeed, Anne-Cecile has worked 10 years for Veolia in Asia and then at corporate level, being involved with infrastructure projects development and strategic marketing for heavy industries customers. She holds a masters degree in Development Economics from the Paris Institute of Political Science (Paris).
James Lloyd-Jones
Chief Executive Officer of Jones Food Company, United Kingdom
James founded Jones Food Company in October 2016 having been introduced to technology via a feature on ‘Tomorrow’s World’.
The JFC growing estate continues to expand as the company broke ground last year on what will become the world’s largest vertical farm.
James does not have a traditional horticultural background, allowing him to come to the field with a pragmatic business mind, priding himself on trying lots of things very quickly and scaling on a phenomenal level. He predicts that vertical farming could provide 70% of the UK’s fresh produce within the next 10 years.
Gilles Dreyfus
Co-founder and President of Jungle, France
As Co-founder and President of Jungle, Gilles is in charge of investor relations, strategy, sales and business development, communication and public affairs. He has also launched Jungle's flavours and fragrance activity.
Thibaut Pradier
Chief Executive Officer of La Grangette, France
Thibaut Pradier is a visionary entrepreneur with a track record of professional success in various fields such as the music industry, hotel and event management services, and the construction industry before creating La Grangette.
Since then, society has changed considerably: today, few people are willing to put in that much effort and there’s much less space available. I’m convinced that, one day, our kitchens will have indoor vegetable gardens and that these will become standard features – just like fridges and washing machines are today."
Andreas Wilhelmsson
Chief Strategy Officer of Ljusgårda, Sweden
Andreas Wilhelmsson started his first company at 17. His success as a serial entrepreneur saw him named as one of Sweden’s 101 super talents by the respected Swedish magazine Weekly Affairs.
Throughout his career Andreas has also established himself as an appreciated key note speaker, always entertaining, thought-provoking and rooted in the notion of busting buzzwords.
Hyeyeon Leo Kim
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of N.Thing, Korea
Leo Kim is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of N.Thing.
It developed the world’s first modular vertical farm ‘CUBE’ which is easy to expand. N.THING CUBE is a modularized farm with mass productivity where a dedicated OS provides the most optimized environment for each crop so as to create maximized efficiency.
N.THING is the world’s first smart farming company that won the iF Design Award, Architecture in 2020. Also, it is a winner of Best of Innovation at the CES 2020 for its excellence in technology, which is the first ever in the agricultural field. N.THING is planning to expand its business on a large scale this year after it successfully completes the PoC process in the U.A.E.
Prior to founding N.Thing, Leo Kim worked as an Associate Researcher at KETI (Korea Electronics Technology Institute) and was an International Business Development Manager at MSC, a Korean greenhouse manufacturer.
Lambert van Horen
Senior Fresh Produce Analyst for Rabobank Research Food & Agribusiness, Netherlands
Lambert van Horen is working as a RaboResearch senior analyst in Utrecht. His focus is on CEA and floriculture.
Before joining Rabobank, he worked at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute of Wageningen University) and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. Lambert holds a master’s degree in horticulture from Wageningen University.
Derek Smith
Executive Director of the Resource Innovation Institute, United States
Derek Smith is Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute (RII), a non-profit organization whose mission is to measure, verify and celebrate the world’s most efficient agricultural ideas.
Wim Grootscholten
Wim Grootscholten, Business Manager - North America for Rijk Zwaan, Netherlands
Wim Grootscholten is business manager for North America with a focus on breeding new innovative vegetable varieties for
Tom Könisser
Business Development Manager for Signify
Tom Könisser is Business Development Manager at Signify (Philips), specializing in Indoor Farming (City Farming).
Tom is a guest lecturer at HAS University and WUR University, the Netherlands, on the topic of Indoor Farming.
Andrew Carter
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smallhold, United States
Andrew Carter is Co-Founder and CEO of Smallhold, a commercial mushroom farm in Brooklyn, Austin and soon California that leverages technology to distribute its growing footprint into retail, grocery and hospitality settings.
Andrew is widely regarded as a thought leader in indoor agriculture, with focus on mushrooms, commercial hydroponics, and greenhouse production.
Daniel Tzvetkoff
Founder and Chief Architect of Stacked Farm, Australia
With over 20 years in business and software development, Daniel has extensive experience in strategy, technical architecture, data analytics and process design.
Stacked Farm is working to create the future's harvest, a legacy for sustainability.
Dr. Enrico Gribaudo
Chief Executive Officer of Turatti and Tecnoceam
With 20 years of experience in various sectors of the beverage and food industry Dr. Gribaudo became the CEO of Turatti in 2019 and of Tecnoceam in 2022.
Maarten Vandecruys
Founder and Chief Technology Officer off Urban Crop Solutions, Belgium
Maarten Vandecruys is the Founder and CTO of Urban Crop Solutions. After graduating from Vlerick Business School in 2014, he started-up Urban Crop Solutions.
As the industry advances into more sectors beyond directly-for-consumption plants, the time is already ripe for the indoor farming pioneers to scale their businesses. Today, Urban Crop Solutions offers complete end-to-end indoor farming solutions, supporting their clients with contract research trials, business planning, as well as the engineering and construction of indoor farms. Their own award-winning indoor farming solutions can be commissioned and scaled anywhere in the world, from remote islands to crowded metropoles. The state-of-the art UCS Research Centre houses multiple growth chambers in which the team of plant scientists develop recipes for applications ranging from staple foods to space exploration missions.
Alexandre van Deun
Co-founder of Urban Harvest, Belgium
Alexandre is the co-founder of Urban Harvest, an engineering company active in the development of vertical farming technology with a focus on strawberries, cutting propagation and leafy greens.
After his law degree, Alexandre pursuit a master’s in general management and a master’s in finance. Before launching Urban Harvest, he was active in supply chain and treasury at a multinational company.
Robert Bonnie
Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation at US Department of Agriculture
Robert Bonnie is the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation at USDA.
In 2020, Bonnie also worked with the Bipartisan Policy Center on its Farm and Forest Carbon Solutions Initiative. Bonnie was Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA from 2013 to 2017, and a senior advisor to Secretary Tom Vilsack from 2009 to 2013.
Prior to joining USDA, Robert was vice president for land conservation at Environmental Defense Fund where he focused on developing incentives to reward stewardship on private lands.
Robert has master’s degrees from Duke in forestry and environmental management. He lives with his wife, Julie, and daughter, Lilly, in Loudoun County, Virginia.
John Diener
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vertical Oceans, Singapore
John Diener is a driven entrepreneur with a passion for food sustainability. In 2020 he co-founded Vertical Oceans, a vertical aquaculture system revolutionizing seafood production using cutting-edge technologies.
John completed his BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Chicago in just three years. He later obtained an MSc in Sustainable Aquaculture from the University of St. Andrews while working full time as CEO of Gold Coin / SyAqua. With an insatiable curiosity, John constantly explores new technologies applied to food sustainability. He lives in Singapore with his wife and two young girls equally passionate about the ocean and its conservation.
Professor Leo Marcelis
Head of Horticulture and Product Physiology Group at Wageningen University, Netherlands
Professor Dr Leo Marcelis is head of the chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology at Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
Eric Lang
Founder and President of ZipGrow, Canada
Richard Hall
Chairman of Zenith Global Ltd
Richard Hall is an acknowledged expert on the international food and drinks sector, chairing and speaking at numerous industry conferences. In April 2018, he served as an expert witness in one of the largest court cases in US corporate tax history.
In five years as a Director of the Dairy Trade Federation, he also served as its Head of Public Relations and as Secretary General of the European Federation of Dairy Retailers. From 1987 to 1990 he was Director and General Manager of beverage market consultancy Canadean.
He formed Zenith in 1991 as a specialist business consultancy for the food and drink industries. The company now has 30 staff working for more than 1,000 clients in over 50 countries. It provides a full range of consulting and market information services.
He also chairs FoodBev Media, which he founded in 2000. Its team of 15 staff publishes three business journals and manages the foodbev.com website.
Richard has undertaken many consultancy projects over the past 30 years as well as helping form several industry organisations, including the foundation and chairmanship of the Natural Hydration Council. In 2010 he was Series Consultant for the BBC Money Programme series on The Foods That Make Billions.
In 2013 he completed six years as Chairman of the Bath & North East Somerset Quartet Community Foundation, after two years as Chairman of the Bath City of Festivals Steering Group and two previous years as President of Bath Chamber of Commerce. He is currently Chairman of The Royal High School Bath and a Director of Bath Philharmonia.
Identity Statement & Industry Manifesto
Leading vertical farming companies have committed to a Vertical Farming Identity Statement and Industry Manifesto. An unprecedented industry momentum to contribute jointly to a sustainable transformation of global food systems.
Signing companies are 80 Acres, AeroFarms, Bowery, Crop One, CubicFarms, Elevate Farms, Fifth Season, Fischer Farms, Freight Farms, Infarm, Infinite Acres, Jones Food Company, Kalera, La Grangette, Ljusgårda, N.THING, Plenty, Stacked Farm, Urban Crop Solutions, Urban Harvest, Vertical Future, YesHealth Group and ZipGrow
The Vertical Farming Manifesto was signed at the Vertical Farming World Congress in Brussels (September 19-21).
Brussels, September 20, 2022 – Leading vertical farming companies signed the first Vertical Farming Manifesto and Identity - both clear and bold industry standards. They highlight the impact and contribution the industry intends to make to transform current food systems and help to solve one of humanity’s toughest challenges of providing food for a growing population in a sustainable, circular way.
The Vertical Farming Identity and the Manifesto describe the urgency of transforming current food systems and explain how vertical farming systems can contribute significantly to designing food systems which are resilient and future-proof. Through technological innovation, indoor vertical farming decouples food production from external factors like climate or public health crises. By localising production and controlling the growing environment, vertical farming provides pesticide-free produce, uses significantly less land and water, and requires fewer transportation miles.
Toward the industry’s goal of driving the transformation of food systems, the companies strive to set high standards by aligning with globally accepted impact frameworks, for example, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), B Corp, or the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, the industry is dedicated to continuously investing in research and development to improve vertical farming technology and grow even smarter and more sustainable food systems.
Read the full press release here.
Location and accommodation
As the administrative centre of the European Union, the Belgian capital of Brussels is at the heart of European policy-making. Not only is it a major focus for international politics, but the city also offers an inspiring mix of historic architecture and modern-day attractions.
The Steigenberger Wiltcher’s is a 5-star hotel located on the exclusive shopping promenade Avenue Louise. With 267 rooms and suites, it features stylish interiors and high-class comforts, a fitness room, swimming pool and spa.
For delegates wishing to book accommodation, an allocation of rooms is available at negotiated rates on a first-come, first-served basis. For a single-occupancy room, inclusive of breakfast, the rates are as follows:
- 18 September - € 199
- 19 September - € 219
- 20 September - € 239
- 21 September - € 239
Please book your accommodation online via this link.
The Steigenberger Wiltcher’s is located 17 kilometres from Brussels Zaventem Airport - a journey which takes between 20-40 minutes – and 3 kilometres from the Brussel-Centraal train station.
Address: Steigenberger Wiltcher’s, Av. Louise 71, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Tours
FarmTech Society and Zenith Global open the Vertical Farming World Congress with a unique farm tour convening high-profile industry stakeholders, researchers, architects & planners, investors, and—for the first time—international, national US & EU-level policy-makers.
The cluster of the innovative Urban Agriculture operations at the Abattoir in Brussels is unique as there are multiple operators engaged in commercial growing in the urban context, utilising commercial zones with a new CIRCULAR use case that is important to understand from an integrated approach for green infrastructure, tours will provide first-hand experience and exchange with the stakeholder to discuss recognition and visibility to policymakers and regulators.
- Urban Harvest - A vertical farming technology provider (focus on strawberries)
- BIGH - An aquaponic farming operator and system provider (vegetables, herbs and fish)
- ECLO - A vertical farming operator and system provider (mushrooms and microgreens)
These Urban Agriculture operations are an excellent example of intensive agro-ecological practices that follow the principle of a circular economy by utilising renewable energy and other waste streams from the site, achieving carbon neutrality in food production and beyond.
They also provide a set of STEM-based career options and allow the employment of people with disability, along with utilising automation to eliminate hazardous and physically challenging jobs. These urban farms also improve the supply chain by growing predictably, reducing waste and supplying local markets. This cluster provides evidence for the scalability and the transformative potential to decarbonise and make food production future proof!
| Pay by 22 Jun Super saver rate (limited) | Pay by 22 Jul Early booking rate | Pay by 19 Sep Standard booking rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Congress | Each delegate | €990.00 | €1,090.00 | €1,190.00 |
| Concession* | €390.00 | €440.00 | €490.00 | |
| Separate elements | 19 Sep tours/reception | €390.00 | €440.00 | |
| 20 Sep conference | €690.00 | €790.00 | ||
| 20 Sep awards dinner | €190.00 | €240.00 | ||
| 21 Sep conference | €490.00 | €590.00 |
*A concession rate is offered to start-ups and early-stage entrepreneurs. To be eligible, you must have annual sales below €1 million. For more information and to book at this rate, please contact events@zenithglobal.com
Substitutions will be accepted at any time. Cancellations will be subject to €150 + VAT administration charge per delegate and cannot be made after 22 July. Bookings are subject to Zenith Global Event Terms and Conditions, available here.
All delegates must pay VAT at the prevailing rate in Belgium. The rate may be subject to change.
Visas may be required from some countries. Zenith Global will be happy to help with visa support and document where possible.
Awards
The industry's only Vertical Farming World Awards are designed to celebrate excellence and innovation across the global industry.
The awards are a great way for you to attract validation for present and potential future investors, enhance your brand and ensure your product, concept or campaign is recognised on an international scale.
The awards will open for entries on 18 May and run until 5 August 2022. Winners will be announced at a gala industry dinner on 20 September, during the Vertical Farming World Congress 2022 in Brussels.
The categories
Crops
- Best Crop Innovation
- Best Crop Enhancement
- Best Yield Improvement
Technology
- Best Lighting Development
- Best AI/Automation Development
- Best Climate Control Innovation
- Best Farm Design Innovation
Sustainability
- Best Energy Efficiency
- Best Sustainability Initiative
- Best Community Initiative
Commercial
- Best Brand Marketing
- Best Retail Innovation
- Best at Home Innovation
- Best New Business
Products can be entered into multiple categories.
To register your interest in the awards, please visit the awards page on our website or contact awards@zenithglobal.com.
Sponsorship
Our event and awards sponsorship packages offer a unique and effective opportunity to showcase your brand and services to a highly relevant audience.
You can choose from our Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship packages, or we can create a custom sponsorship package to suit your specific needs and budgetary requirements.
Sponsorship opportunities include:
- Presentation within the main event programme
- Opportunity to host a workshop, roundtable or drinks reception
- Exhibit display in the networking area
- Distribution of marketing material / product samples
- Delegate passes
- Discounted delegate access for your clients
- Branding across event collateral, including stage backdrop, lectern and programme
- Logo on event webpage hyperlinked to your website
- Sponsored email communication to all attendees
- Sponsored social media posts
- Regular mentions in Zenith Global's event marketing and press releases
- Discounts on Zenith Global market reports and discounted access to our Globaldrinks.com database.
For information and pricing, please contact Francesca Hall, Associate Director - Events
e fhall@zenithglobal.com t +44 (0)1225 327900
Livestream
For those of you who cannot join us in Brussels, we are pleased to announce that livestream registration for this year’s industry-leading event is now open!
As a livestream attendee, you can view all conference sessions and panel discussions on 20 and 21 September, live and on-demand, and engage in real-time interactive polling and speaker Q&A to ensure you’re a part of the conversation.
Over 30 world-leading operators, advisers, innovators and suppliers will present across the two days, with highlights including:
- Opening address from Sonny Ramaswamy, former adviser to President Obama
- Market overview and outlook with Infarm, Rabobank and Wageningen University
- Industry leadership panel with 80 Acres, AeroFarms, Bowery, Infarm, Infinite Acres and Jones Food Company
- Achieving scale with Freight Farms, GrowUp Farms, Ljusgarda, Stacked Farm and Urban Crop Solutions
- Facts, Figures, Claims and Communications with 80 Acres, CEA Food Safety Coalition, Future Crops, Infinite Acres, N.THING
- Innovation in Crops with Fischer Farms, Smallhold and Urban Harvest
- Emerging new markets with Jungle, Innovafeed and Vertical Oceans
- Growing vertically at home with La Grangette and Lettuce Grow
- Sponsor presentations from IGS, Signify and Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
To register for livestream access, please click here or get in touch with events@zenithglobal.com.
| Pay by 21 Sep Standard booking rate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Livestream conference sessions 20 & 21 Sep | Each delegate | €540.00 |
| Concession* | €240.00 | |
| Student** | €120.00 |
Substitutions will be accepted until 20 September. Cancellations will be subject to an €80 + VAT administration charge per delegate. Bookings are subject to Zenith Global Event Terms and Conditions, available here.
*A concession rate is offered to start-ups and early-stage entrepreneurs. To be eligible, you must have annual sales below €1 million. For more information and to book at this rate, please contact events@zenithglobal.com
**A student rate is available for attendees with a valid student ID. Students will need to be registered through their University or sponsored by a company, due to VAT regulations. For more information and to book at this rate, please contact events@zenithglobal.com
Testimonials
"Not just another 'conference' but a diverse curation of cutting edge thinking and hard hitting ideas. This is THE industry event." Jay Desan, BoomGrow
“A great event with an excellent organization team behind and a good choice of topics. Outstanding moderator in the Q+A sessions.” Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Association for Vertical Farming
"Great conference for high levels of information, as well as, detailed information on CEA.” Melanie Corey-Ferrini, 3.14DC
“I found the conference very valuable and the level of speaker’s world class. Great work.” Fotis Fotiadis, Better Origin
“A truly excellent and well organised event, with a great line up of speakers and topics, not to be missed.” Harriet Duncalfe, Berrygardens Ltd
"A great incite to the vast differences between the world of vertical farming and how each company has a lot of differences and at the same time a lot of similarities. Good to network with other people. Can't wait for it to be in person." Linzi Naisbitt, Light Science Technologies
“I've attended the Congress as an external operator (not currently involved in VF) and found it extremely informative. Excellent platform to establish connections and networking too.” Martino Picotti, Proriented
"It was an amazing experience to meet the industry leaders and understand the current trends of the industry."
“The host from Zenith asked clear and concise questions and it was enlightening to see vertical farmers of all business sizes and technologies bring experience, expertise and skills to the screen.” Innovation Agri Tech.
"We got sound feedback from the speakers, fund managers as well as industry leaders and start ups of their challenges and the information guided by Richard Hall's unique way of brining the best out of everyone. It simply works." Leo Lobato Kelly, Karma Verde Fresh
"It was my first time at Vertical Farming World Congress and it was amazing. A well planned event and good panellists/presenters. Lots of great takeaways. Thank you very much!"
“The congress was well organized -everything went smoothly. Topics were diverse and engaging, and they managed to conduct virtual tours of the farms which I found fascinating." Semillar Translations
"Great line-up of speakers and topics"
"Richard is a great panel leader. He knows his subject, lets panellists talk without disruption and allows them to exchange opinions without overlapping the subject or allocated time. Very impressed.” Josephine Favre, The African Association for Vertical Farming (AAVF)
"An excellent platform to interface with the leading companies globally in this new industry." Porohita Projects Ltd