Meet Raiz, the VF planned with Agritecture designer

Added on 05 September 2023

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Meet Raiz, the VF planned with Agritecture designer

Editor’s Note: Agritecture (AGR) spoke with Emiliano Gutierrez (EG), Founder & CEO of Raiz, a vertical farm located in Lisbon, Portugal. An early adopter of Agritecture Designer, Gutierrez successfully opened his farm after using the resources provided to him through the platform. We wanted to learn more about what that journey looked like for him, what advice he has for other entrepreneurs, and what keeps him excited and motivated in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) space. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity purposes.

AGR: Tell me about your company - its focus and purpose and where you're located.

EG: For sure. So, our purpose is to create a decentralized food system, meaning a greener food system, healthier communities, and healthier cities. So that's the overarching vision - creating a healthier relationship between food and people. And we're doing it by creating vertical farms, and our first one is in Lisbon.

AGR: How long have you been in business?

EG: We launched the farm the second of July this year [2022] so it's not not too long ago, like five months ago. And in terms of incorporating the company, we did that in August 2021 so a bit over a year, reaching a year and a half.

AGR: What crops are you growing and who are you selling them to?

EG: We've been growing different kinds of herbs, dill, basil, etc. And we're also growing high-protein crops like amaranth which is a very interesting niche we're looking to explore more and more - not only for the crops themselves, but for the potential of transformation into something else, like a high-value product or an added-value product. And next year, we're experimenting with fruits as well, tomatoes and other kinds of veggies, which is keeping us excited.