Transcript
Speaker: So I think, first of all, there there are some drivers that we as people ga cannot influence. The biggest driver there is climate change, but in broad a sense. ah So something is changing. we We see it happening all over the world. You have droughts, or on the contrary, you get floods, immense temperature swings. How do we see what we do that could influence positively um how we eat and how we feed the world? Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design Podcast. I'm your host, Mathieu Maheus, and each episode I interview leading authorities in regenerative practices. People who excel at doing well and doing good.
Speaker: So are you passionate about protecting our planet for future generations while thriving in business? Well, you're in the right place because this podcast is dedicated to making our world better and your business more successful.
Speaker: Hello, this is another episode of the Regenerative Design Podcast. Today we have another special guest. His name is Alexandre Van Doon and he is the founder or co -founder of Urban Harvest, which is focused on indoor growing in controlled environments. He has an excessive list of ah experiences he has studied at Fleerig Business School here in Belgium and has made other experiences in bigger companies before he decided to start his own company about six years ago. So, Alexandre, how are you doing today? I'm doing very well.
Speaker: um Sun is shining, so happy to be here, highly energized and happy to speak about what're what we're doing at the at Urban Harvest. Amazing, yeah. Thank you for coming on the show. My first question to you is really about how all of this started. Give me your backstory, maybe even from from your early stage, where where did the ID come from? No, cool. So we incorporated company in 2018 together with my business partner Olivier. ah We met at a business school where let's say amongst many students we kind of made the the pact of well if one of us had a multi -million dollar ID that we would call each other and the
Speaker: me It was me calling after four years after graduation, called Olivier and asked him, literally, well, do you want to become a farmer? And let's see, the journey kind of kicked off over a beer where we discussed some kind of rules and guidelines. And yeah, we all fast forward six years, close to 19th of March will be our sixth year in corporation anniversary. So yeah, that was fine. Oh, that's amazing. So it's been six years. That's incredible.
Speaker: most entrepreneurs, they kind of get stuck at three years, some many companies go bankrupt after three years. So tell me about these early stages of founding the company because now that you're here like six years, it does sound like everything is going well. But I'm pretty sure that it wasn't just an overnight success. Tell me how was this early stage of founding the company? um Let's the truth heart. So no, it wasn't no given. So let's say both Olivia and I or were coming from the corporate world.
Speaker: um We're kind of living in our golden gauges and then we we we freed up our ourselves but also meant, well, no salaries anymore, no company anymore, no insurance, than nothing. um So we just saw, let's say, our banking account got month after month decreasing, so ah kind of painful moments. but Also, let's say, I think a very good learning school because you kind of know being fully bootstrapped and and every year that we would spend, you were thinking, well, is this really wisely spent and and ah are we going to gain some some insights or some value or ah or so long? So we we started actually in at the back of a supermarket
Speaker: uh where we we kind of pitched the id and then the owner said i i like it because well back at the time when he was young and launched his first company he said i also received the favor of of of a company owner uh to give me some free space i could do kind of whatever i wanted and uh Same thing for us. We also did more over what we wanted. So we had to a production facility, well, I don't know if it's a production facility, really of kind of a garden shed -ish thing of nine square meters big, where we wanted to to to test and validate three things. um Because let's say
Speaker: None of us had a background or parents in agriculture. So let's say rather important, well, can we grow, first of all, crops in a fully controlled environment? Secondly, um are we able to sell those crops at a market competitive price to potential prospects and clients? And then thirdly, I think even more ah importantly is, well, do we like what we're doing? Because as I said, none of us had a background in farming, ah no experience, no knowledge, no ah no links to the industry, and and kind of were able to validate those three elements ah within three, four, five months. um And that kind of led us to to to push quite hard. So by the end of 2018, we did a small seed round to to build our
Speaker: or a larger farm. um At the same time, we closed the deal with the second largest retailer of Belgium, ah worked with a company called Délez. And then by June, the year after, so by June 2019, we delivered our first crops to the National Distribution Center. Of course, you're going to ask them, what did you do in between? Well, we built the farmer cells. So we didn't do subcontractors. So it went from mean going from pulling cables, installing all the irrigation, all the racks, lighting, name it.
Speaker: the the software we wrote, everything ourselves. So quite quite a hassle ah knowing that when we were in production, we were growing 60 ,000 crops a month. um So it was not just a ah hobby project anymore. ah So we we had to deliver every day to to the DC and, well, If the last came up with an order, what that was, we had to deliver. It was not like, well, although we don't feel feel like it, we're more for staying home. No, it was the the crops were growing. So we had also joining the company. So it was more, let's say we, responsibilities actually went up. ah So there you all, you need to be there and and and make sure that everything runs smoothly.
Speaker: um We're growing maybe just super information. Yeah. Aromatic herbs. yeah that's it with when All all all Thai basil that you found in the shops was coming from, let's say our facility here in Brussels. Yeah, that's incredible. So at first you really focused on aromatic herbs for the retailers or what was the main focus from scratch? Yes, so ah main focus was on retailers. ah So the last was our biggest clients. um Second client that we had was the do -it -yourself shops, Avivi, mostly active and in Flanders. ah And then ah we had a small high -end chain called Fireman in Brussels and and the neighboring cities.
Speaker: And then we exported a bit also into France, so we're very proud that we were able to see our crops even getting up to knees. So ah yeah, and and enjoy the journey. um Let's say we we divested that part of the business um end of 2022 to then focus 100 % on what we're doing at the moment so ah developing ah growing technology for the production of strawberries ah independently on ah location climate or seasons. Yeah that's amazing I have a question that is related to a more global food system approach like
Speaker: Your growing system, how do you see that it can be part of a bigger picture where we actually focus on producing healthy and accessible food on a global scale? um What I believe is, I believe many things. So I think, first of all, there there are some drivers that we as people can cannot influence. The biggest driver there is climate change, but in broad a sense. ah So something is changing. we We see it happening all over the world.
Speaker: ah How do we see that? We see that in really extremes. ah we we We have droughts or on the country you get floods, you get immense temperature swings. I saw that last month that in Texas it was freezing. um Here in Europe we had in September the hottest night ever recorded, which will influence my industry massively, so strawberry production, that ended up having, let's say, a massive amount of strawberries in September, beginning of October. And then there was a big gap um ah in between, let's say, the northern production and the southern production. um So you see already that big, big driver that's, let's say, just given.
Speaker: and How do we ah see what we do that could influence positively um how we eat and how we feed um the the world? is well We're believing that um due to the fact that things are changing, that you need to be able to either protect um your crops or being able to grow your crops faster. Meaning, ah you you what we see is that you could potentially put um the first stages of the crop in an indoor farm,
Speaker: And then when you need to grow them big, then you plant them at ah did the the right moment. Well, of course, what's the right moment? But that's case by case. and So that your outside ah growing period is the shortest possible. You see that definitely with all types of grains and so on, if you just could win those first um weeks because those are there the crops are the most vulnerable um if if you you see it or you plant those very very tiny young plants there you can kill them very very quickly if you can overcome that step i think um the indoor farm
Speaker: has proven already just for that, um that it has a big added value. What we see in in our industry, meaning the strawberry industry, um it's often related to foot miles um that we that we can, let's say, put a big effort on that or big being a very big advantage. Also on the water consumption side, you definitely see that there is a big impact that you could generate. um So it's really depending on the location that you kind of will have a specialization in the growing methods. What do I mean with that? We see that you will have crops that will be still 100 % suitable for outside production. Then you will have, let's see,
Speaker: all the types of covering going from the plastic tunnels to the glass greenhouse, at the heated greenhouses, the lighted greenhouses and then you end up let's say in the fully closed environments that we're active in. So let's say blocking all outside factors which can be positive and negative um just to bring control to your um
Speaker: crops and being able to grow year -round productions ah so that you can influence the market positively. Yeah, thank you for that answer. I really like that what you said about the fact that your system can actually be complementary for the bigger soil -driven farm production because we will still definitely need that to produce most of the food, I think. But like you said, in certain climates already today, it's just become very harsh, very difficult to grow outside. And then this can be a solution to produce more food locally. locally right So I have a question that is might be a bit controversial. But in the whole agricultural sphere, there's different opinions. there's I would say nowadays there's the regenerative
Speaker: Agriculture Group, which is really focusing on soil health, improving soil. And by that, we can actually sequester carbon into the soil. Then there's the other focus of organic farming, which is really about, OK, let's get rid of chemicals. And then there's more innovative farming ways of what you are doing. Like, I would like to hurt hear from you what your take is on the fact that Some people say that growing without soil cannot produce healthy, sustainable food. So I'm just playing the advocate of the devil here. So I'm i'm happy to hear your take on that. um I think, first of all, we need all types of carbon that have least impact on ah on the climate, and and or let's say on planet in general.
Speaker: um And of course, you can have that in multiple ways. As you were saying, regenerative farming is focusing on one thing, organic farming is focusing, let's say, on no another element. What we're doing is focusing on on on on even ah other elements. ah Related to your question, is food that you grow soilless, ah valuable, nutritious, tasty? Well, we did, we we send up our strawberries that we've grown in in our facilities to labs. And what we showed is that ah for some elements, we're way higher than what you can find outside. ah it's It's what what we,
Speaker: enable our farmers to do is being able to grow disease -free, pesticide -free in the most optimal way, but let's say without interfering with the genetics of the crop by forcing the crop, what we are kind of just doing is giving the crop every element that it needs at the right moment, in the right quantity, in the right dosage, but without excess. So um you should kind of see ah a crop is kind of like a factory.
Speaker: You put things in, meaning fertilizers that you either find in the soil or ah that you give with with your irrigation water. ah You put um heat on that. You put light, light meaning energy, which can transform ah via fo photosynthesis into sugars. ah So you have a lot of ins. You have the transformation ah in in the crop like you have also in the human body. we eat, we drink, we eat multiple things, the the body transforms it into many things and then it it produces some nice things, meaning in our case um strawberries. So um let's say the lab results kind of give us the the the conclusion that what we're doing is it's good, it's tasty and on top of that we don't impact the environment
Speaker: We can work 100 % with clean energy because let's say energy is our ah main ah energy source. and and And on top of that, we don't pollute soils um like ah some farming techniques ah used to do or are still doing in some regions of the world. So I think it's it's it's just ah a matter of looking at data and ah we are, let's say our company is like everything except of gut feeling farming. So what we do is only data driven. So we measure even plant activity. So what we see even is the plants still active with the light that we're giving? Is it reacting to the irrigation that we're what we're giving? Is it is is it happy in in the environment that we create? Although it looks artificial, it's let's say the optimal natural conditions that you can find out outside.
Speaker: but we just give them consistently in the right dosage as the crop would need. And I think that's a bit of difference, but still believing that there are so many crops that you can grow in a, let's say, perfectly 100 % natural way, meaning outside, of course, if climate conditions and all and market conditions allow you to do so. Yeah, that's really interesting that you mentioned that in that way, What I'm really curious about is about the mineral content of the food, because the minerals that we eat in our food are an essential part for our human health. Now, you don't have soil, do you? Is there ways that you incorporate minerals into your system to get that mineral content? Exactly. That's but the thing that we do. it's it's We give what the crop needs.
Speaker: and um There again is soil, the thing that you need to get minerals in in your crop, meaning the technical or a substrate. um Or do you need, let's say, the composition of all the the fertilizers um that allow the crop to ah build those minerals into their fruit or or vegetable? So in that regard, ah pushing let's say kind of the question back, is it soil or is it
Speaker: fertilizers that you need. In our opinion, it's fertilizers. Of course, in the right doses, with the spores, with everything, so we don't just do the NPK, we bring way more elements into into our systems ah with the micronutrients and ah and and so on. If you bring all of these into the system, we send our crops to the labs and we not only do that for the strawberry, but also for for the the plant itself. And then what we see is, well, super healthy crops.
Speaker: ah So I think it's kind of approved that what we're doing is is that we're moving in the right direction. Yeah, I really like that. And what you mentioned about, is it either the mineral contact or the fertilizer? And I think one, well, it's kind of obvious, but one important aspect that we are forgetting here, and I think it's the most important one is water, because it doesn't matter what condition you're growing, being indoor, being outside, if you don't have water, all life will die. So I think that's another good argument as well to say like we can actually grow without soil, obviously with with specific mineral conditions and fertiliser like you mentioned, but it it can perfectly work. And in fact, I was in Canada ah this week and I was talking to a farmer who used to be really about like,
Speaker: the regenerative trend about soil is life and he spent some really serious time in investigating everything about microorganisms, soil health, everything and he now is actually concluding that it's really about water rather than soil. In fact that water It's the only thing that we need and the in addition to the medium. So soil can be a medium or your system can be a medium to grow healthy foods. And he was actually going really crazy about, I don't know if you heard about activating water, but he he said that if you put a vortex in water, so you energize it, that it creates an electric charge and that minerals can attach better to this. Is this something that you are experimenting with as well?
Speaker: ah not in our company but there's a different technique with nano bubbles for example um so it's it's a similar idea that's popping up here and there um that just for the same thing what we see as an explanation for that is well you need to have water but you need to have at the same time oxygen um that's the reason why you often see well also the crops die because a lack of oxygen so it's it's really making sure that you again enable or you make let's say the fertilizers
Speaker: accessible for the roots and as soon as you can break them down in smaller pieces of course for the re roots it's easier for the uptake so of course it has um very beneficial ah consequences ah for your crop production. This podcast is brought to you by the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass. Are you struggling with finding the right tools and tricks for your garden? Are you lacking the confidence to cultivate the garden you have always wanted? Do you have a backyard with lots of potential but you get overwhelmed by the lack of knowledge and time to do gardening? Then the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass is for you.
Speaker: Yeah, that's amazing. And I have one other question related to that. And we might go now into very specific biology. But from my knowledge, I know that microorganisms play an essential role in a soil system. They play an essential role in making nutrients available for the plants through the root system. And in fact, I now came across that the roots are actually inverted stomachs, like our own stomach, where we have our own gut, which is full of microorganisms, that in that way we can digest food and take up the nutrients. Pretty much the same thing is happening under the soil. So I'm very curious to hear ah if if you can measure microbiology biology in your system. Are you managing the managing it in a certain way?
Speaker: ah Let's say measuring it as such, no, didn't come across yet of a ah sensor that could measure that directly. ah What we do, however, do is, well, ah We recirculate water and water recipes with the fertilizers and so on. So there is ah definitely some ah activity in it. ah But how is that expressed? um Big question mark. So we're not looking yet into into those aspects.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. Probably, well, most of the microorganisms even move around in the air. So probably they will end up in your system by air as well. Or maybe it's just less relevant than I thought. So now I want to get more specific about your, your personal journey. Was there any part in your, when you were younger that you could trace back to that you would become a farmer or is this like something that came out of the blue? ah No, let's say becoming a farmer was not never in my top three of professional as a boy I would would like to become. um what However, what's always the case is I love being outside. my I used to to live at my parents' house
Speaker: ah with a massive garden and ah living literally between ah fruit trees and so on. So it must have had an impact on me and and just the fact of everything that I try to do ah for the moment, is it personally or professionally, is kind of always related to what can I do to Make life better in in the broad sense is it? Eating less meat and if I eat meat I only eat qualitative meat and not the the garbage that you can find ah With the one plus two extra. I just find it disgusting those things ah But I think it's just broader. It's also involved in the plastic recycling company ah So it's it's it's just finding the ways how can I find of
Speaker: kind of make a positive impact on on the world. Is it even on the smallest scale possible? But just try to get those little things to improve. And then um one when one kind of thinking, well, what's my mindset when I was working for my previous and employer, ah was well I saw two or three big categories that were interesting. um I think energy is one. ah Because without energy, well let's say our civilization wouldn't exist because it's always a transformation of one product into another thanks to the availability of of energy. Before let's say a lot of fossil fuel, let's say also the
Speaker: the the engine that made Germany big, so their cheap access to gas made let's say the big concerns and the thing very profitable and and and impactful. um So believing that there is still a lot to be done and that you see that at the moment. And then you have everything related to, let's say, um humans as such, going from food into pharmaceuticals, into biotech, and while unfortunately not having the brains to go into biotech or or pharma, I said, let's look into foods and then, well, food as it was what is it has been grown forever. ah So really found, well, that's the way to to to dive into. so Yeah, amazing. I love that.
Speaker: because what you said is that if you wanted to go into pharma, you'd be making medicines, whereas now you're producing healthy strawberries that can function as ah as as a medicine. So exactly I think, ah did I hear it ah correctly that you said you're also involved in an energy or sorry, in and in a recycling business? Yes, like and actually energy businesses, it's two projects that has for ah both in and are active in Africa. ah So one company recycling plastic and out of nature, located in Cameroon, Gabon and now
Speaker: c um and the other one is setting up decentralized water turbines ah first located in Kenya and also moving now into the DRC ah because everything's well the second company you see everything starts with energy ah just to give you super example is well in Kenya you can still grow food it's more in in the south of of and and let's say the the regions where there is water. As you were mentioning before, water is life. But those guys, while transport is still that bad, so you need to be able to store them. But you to be able to store food, you need to have cold chambers. And cold chambers, you mean electricity. So they are just enabled by bringing electricity to those villages and, let's say, renting cold chambers as a service.
Speaker: those people ended up by being able to grow food, store food, and sell food, let's say, in a normal pace, instead of having to sell the full farm, or let's say the full produce, which ended up in lower prices, so again, lower income, and so less, let's say, a financial viability for for those little farms. um And then same thing with with the plastic recycling. If you see how nature got spoiled there with rivers ah just getting fully trapped by the plastic, it's an organization that's working for both consumers. So you buy
Speaker: a plastic drink or a bottle with a drink in a plastic bottle. ah You don't have those recycling services as we see in Western Europe. So it ended up in nature. So they're focusing on that and also on pre -consumer goods. So always plastic waste streams of industries. They recycle that in ah in Cameroon and Gabon and they make end consumer goods or they so they make plastic pallets that you see for transportability and they make those straps ah locally. So trying to to help those guys as well. So it's always kind of related to ah the people, to to planets to to do something good and and and nice.
Speaker: Yeah, that's really fascinating. I really love the idea that you said it or not the idea. The thing that you're actually doing is to help local farmers set up a food storage storage system. And if I understand it correctly, it's fully with a de decentralized sustainable energy production. So there's no harm to the environment to produce that energy. And in that way, they can actually extend their ways of selling their produce locally. They don't have to ship it around. So yeah, that's that's really incredible. can Can you explain it a bit more in depth even? Yeah. Well, a company and in in Canada is called Hydrobox.
Speaker: ah And the the thing is that you have plenty of rivers. And what they do, they're de -rooting a part of the river to go through the turbine. ah They do that also in a fish -friendly way, just to being able that fish are not trapped in the in the turbine. And then they and make those mini grids so for the villages ah ah that are either having generators or just no energy. And and as soon as, let's say, you bring that energy and to communities, to villages, well, all the possibilities open up. we You couldn't even have this goal over there because there is no energy.
Speaker: Available to charge your your computer or even setting up um the the mobile network which you need electricity for again to Power up the antennas. So it's it's as soon as you have energy stable energy ah You're able to do so. They are also selling an energy to a tea producer and and so on so and to schools and to two families that didn't have access to electricity so as soon as you can have electricity you have all the organization say i do you wanna have a computer for education purposes yes give me the computer because i now have power ah so it's it's it's kind of that first building stone that if if if you have it.
Speaker: then all the services can come. You can use your your phone. and As you know, in Africa, everything goes over the mobile phone. At least you can charge them. You have your bank account always available in your phone. So it's a super interesting dynamic. and And I think it's the same thing with what we try to do it with with ah indoor farms. it's it's enabling people to have access to is it electricity or is it to have sustainably grown strawberries year -round available without pesticides. So it's it's kind of a link that you you more or less see and in most things that that I try to to set up or to to support or to be kind of an ambassador for or to name it.
Speaker: Yeah, that' that's really incredible. I love this because the question that I really like, or not not the question, but the aspect of looking at food production also as an energy source, and then also being really careful on how you produce the energy for your system, then we can actually resolve many issues and in fact empower local communities in becoming self -sufficient, even growing their economy so that they don't even have to migrate because that's also a big issue we we are facing in in Europe that we have huge waves of immigration because of climate change and because of poverty.
Speaker: probably also because of conflict, but that' that's less and that's more difficult to influence. But what you are doing in those communities is really making sure that they have a ah a livelihood and beyond that. So congratulations to that. That's that's something really powerful. maybe to add on that because let's say we're speaking about Africa but we're setting up a Canadian project and dare you say self -sufficiency on so long it's even for a country like Canada it's a federal strategic pillar
Speaker: um that ah resulted after the COVID crisis, or let's say during the COVID crisis, even that country got into food troubles. So access to qualitative healthy food was even ah in ah Canada and provinces like Ontario experienced it even in regions, food shortages. um So it's it's it's it's often a case s same thing with the middle east and the middle east is just too hot too dry to grow crops so they're relying on um ah third countries to grow food for them that they import them via planes via boats and even it's for those guys a strategic pillar to say no we want to increase our self -sufficiency
Speaker: ah just to make sure that we're less dependent on a third countries because a small virus like COVID could have massive influences on their, let's say, economy and day -to -day life. Yeah, that's really interesting and I like how you opened it up to to the whole world because like Canada, it's now a country that I've spent some more time in and it's true like in a way they really have long and cold winters. So it's mostly impossible.
Speaker: for a long extended period of the year to grow outdoors. And even if they grow outdoors, their growing season is so short, so they can't even grow everything. So lots of the produce gets imported from Southern California, maybe even Mexico. So and like you said, with these time type of events, then when the food doesn't come anymore, you're you're in trouble. So I really like that this system is actually improving the the food security for each and every country, the food sovereignty, which is often talked about, right? Exactly, exactly, exactly. So we are trying to put ourselves and and in that field.
Speaker: ah and yeah going step by step. Nice, amazing. So ah will I will still have two questions for you. So one, my my second last question is, okay, let's say I am, or I want to become a farmer, I want to become a strawberry farmer. Can people just reach out to you? Can you support them in in that journey or how does that work? Maybe this becomes interesting for the audience if they feel like, I want to become a strawberry farmer.
Speaker: No, I think um definitely everybody can reach out to me. I think ah that's always welcome to to to contact me. um what What's, I think, important when you believe, well, I want to start farming, even not necessarily with with our technology, I think it's it's important to first of all know um Can I generate off -take? Meaning, well, can I generate the sales that I would need to, let's say, make a decent living out of my food production? What what we often see is people that are focusing too much on the technology and less on um on the business side. Because, again, if you have sales, all the best you can optimize. um If you have you don't have a top line, so no turnover,
Speaker: Well, you can optimize as much as you can, but optimizing zero with a lot or less will still be zero. um So that's often my first question. um Do you have offtake or can you generate the offtake ah which is needed? and then And then secondly, I tried to, let's say, make people understand that food is a volume -driven business. ah You're not selling one strawberry, maybe in specific cases you can sell one strawberry for a crazy price, but let's say in the majority of the regions, food is volume -driven. And and that's a thing that people often tend to forget. um You need to have offtake, you need to have volume. So that means if you want to grow volume,
Speaker: You need to be able also and being aware that you will need to invest quite some money in it. So it's it's kind of paying it forward ah to harvest later on. um Look at all farms today. um It's either big corporations with a lot of lands that need to invest in machines or you have a bit less land but then you need to invest in a greenhouse ah or you need to have
Speaker: ah cheap land, but a lot of labor, again, accessibility of labor, putting a lot of question marks in many regions and in in the world. So it's all those concerns that people kind of need to be aware of, that food, I think it's an amazing business to be in. But you need to be able, well, where are we going to sell, which volume, which prices, how are we going to be set up? And of course, having, let's say, the the the mindset that you will need to invest first ah before being able to to harvest what what what what you invested in. So it's it's those elements that I think um your audience definitely should
Speaker: Think about it's not only from for what we do. It's it's for let's say all food related businesses um That those those elements apply Yeah, amazing. Thank you for clarifying that that's really an important point to consider right because I've interviewed some other people in the urban farming business and and they exactly say the same like the enthusiasm is so high because it's very it the imagination of all its grow indoor and make it super techy and everything but then at the end of the day if you can't sell your products or you don't have the right price or your your offset doesn't work
Speaker: you're out of business very soon. So thank you for bringing up that argument to really consider that. And I i guess or maybe relate a follow up question to that. How do you deal with that? Do you start back end and contact retailers like what do you need at what time of the year or how do you do you cope with that? and No, we we can support our clients from from the beginning to the end. So it's ah setting up all the facilities, it's technical support, it's biology support, it's operational support even. ah what What we don't do at the moment is, ah let's say, the business case, ah because that's ah locally driven.
Speaker: So ah they often need to understand how is the market looking like? ah would Would I need to contact? And that's often, ah especially if you go a bit further away, it's ah theres if we would contact them, there's potentially a culture culture gap, or we don't, let's say, um communicate in in the the most efficient ways. Let's say we could kind of consider that ah We are really behind the scenes and making sure that everything goes as it should be. um And then the sales part is for our partners, although we also know ah execute projects under our own control, where let's say we do the production ourselves as well. So there again, if in your audience there are people that are interested in buying the strawberry as such, so not the technology,
Speaker: Also happy to to speak with those guys. That's a deal that we landed in and in Canada. it's We set up our own technology, we operated ourselves, and we sell the crop ah did do produce to a distributor that spreads the world. Wow, that's amazing. Really cool. So yeah, on that note, I want to ask you the final question and this is a bit of a different question in a sense. So let's fast forward 50 years from now. You've been well developed in your career and you get an award from the United Nations because an award for food security
Speaker: So you go to the United Nations to receive your award and you're asked to get on stage and give a speech. What do you say?
Speaker: Good question. Never never thought about it ah receiving that type of of of question. and I would say um that ah Change is possible as long as you believe in it and commit 100 % to that and that kind of being positive in what you do and what you say and how you act and how you react, that you really can change the world for a better and and if
Speaker: If the United Nations would award me, I hope it would mean that I ah would have changed, let's say, the world at least for a slight or a little better ah so that even ah people out of small Belgium are able to, let's say, drive a positive change. Yeah, perfect. That's very humble of you. So, Alexandre, how can people reach out to you? What is the best way if they want to get in touch with you? Send me an email, so my first name, Alexandre, at vertiberry dot .com or urbanharvest .eu, um depending on what you like. Or if you go to website, you send an email or at vertiberry dot .com, there you go. fill in ah your contact details and I'll i'll reach out to you guys so or via you Mathieu can also be forwarded over you so multiple ways to to contact us next week next week we are in Berlin at the fruit logistical
Speaker: Yeah, we will put all of that in the show notes. Thank you, Alexandre, for coming on the show. This has been really valuable and thank you for bringing your personal story. Thank you, Mathieu.
