Innovation

Sustenir grows Superfoods such as kale, spinach, and salads in high-density population centers. The company is focused on growing non-local and offseason foods to not compete with local farmers and communities. They also aim to decrease the environmental impact tremendously by decreasing the need for imports with a high carbon footprint.

The produce is grown in a controlled indoor hydroponics system. This means that the plants grow on vertically stacked racks in a nutrient solution under LED lighting and with precision watering. Such a controlled environment creates many benefits compared to traditional farming techniques.

Sustenir’s farming provides the basis of a healthy lifestyle through the provision of adequate nutrition to its customers (SDG 3).

Sustenir aims to maintain its qualitative and sustainable infrastructure that heavily relies on regional actors in the agriculture industry. Ultimately, the provision of high-quality produce supports the well-being of its customers, whilst on a mission to provide accessible nutrition sources (SDG 9).

The indoor environment is independent of outdoor weather and climate and therefore able to be resilient and productive on a constant level throughout the year. This increases productivity by 160 to 170 times from traditional farms, decreasing the need for the agricultural land use area. The products are also pesticide free and use 95% less water than traditional farming techniques. And while indoor farming techniques have a higher need for electricity, the carbon footprint is significantly lower than imported products. One kilogram of kale grown in Australia and imported to Singapore emits 7.2 kilos of CO2. One kilogram of kale grown in a Sustenir farm in Singapore emits 600 grams of CO2. Minding that Singapore is run on close to 100% fossil fuels, this number is likely to improve even more with further efficiency improvements as well as the energy transition in the country (SDG 13).

Due to the proximity from production to sales, Sustenir can ensure fresher, longer-lasting produce and cut food waste close to 0 from production to sales (SDG 11).

Inspiration

‘Farming as we know is nascent’. Sustenir as a business came to be in a time where agricultural technologies are on the rise. Nevertheless, such technologies are likely to only supply small parts of the food value chain. Sustenir was created partly due to frustration with Singapore’s lack of quality produce. It aimed to tackle logistics and transportation obstacles for fresh produce from overseas. An article by Dixon inspired Founder, Benjamin Swan to look closely at vertical farming and its benefits in highly dense urban areas.

‘‘Sustenir simply started with a guy who just wanted a good salad’.

Overall impact

Self-inquiry and research were quintessential to kickstart this project. The result was that a niche in the market was identified. Approximately 30-40% of food across the board including corn and rice is wasted in transit. Specifically on highly perishable products like leafy greens, approximately 70% of produce is wasted in the same manner. An opportunity showed itself to leverage technology and grow produce that could only be feasibly acquired by being imported.

Sustenir’s business focuses on growing seasonal produce that does not natively grow in East Asia; they also do not compete with local farmers. Sustenir’s local growing of this manner equally displaces a certain percentage of waste and carbon footprint of imported foods. Sustenir’s produce has figures of 0 waste, including transport to the end consumer and minimized emissions. Sustenir manages to reach 1/12 of carbon emissions of a hypothetical import of 1kg of lettuce from the East Coast of Australia.

Business benefit

This innovation of vertical farming, with environmentally modified organisms, gives the company a specific niche in the market, allowing them to compete with the other vertical farmers. The company explains that: "vertical farming is not to compete with local farmers but must collaborate, opening doors for them in that way." The company has lowered the amount of food transported from far distances and lets them serve highly dense markets, opening new markets for them. Benjamin explains how "vertical farming can be remarkably effective in environments where land is scarce, like Singapore, allowing densely populated areas to create these products that cant be grown locally and would otherwise come from exceptionally long distances. Because this can be done, vertical farming can now be implemented in many populations were growing outside is not necessarily an option. This also significantly reduces the risk of environmental uncertainty; controlling the environment allows them to consistently produce their product, unlike traditional farming."

Having the ability to modify these products has also allowed them to create new developments in the sense of being able to produce local products in off-seasons that typically would not be able to be procured. For example, Benjamin mentions "when they first started growing kale, it was very tough, and the people in Singapore did not like it that way, and they were the target audience. By trial and error, we discovered a way to environmentally modify the organism to make the kale crunchier, like lettuce. With this ability, we are now able to modify products to the liking of the audience we are targeting in each country, which can come at a considerable advantage."

Social and environmental benefit

Sustenir has had the ability to transform traditional farming and place it indoors. This has eliminated conventional farming land degradation, leading to 95% water savings and a reduction of 92% of carbon generation in contrast to imported produce. Growing indoors has allowed Sustenir to control the environment, which makes water usage recycling possible and reduction of carbon dioxide through logistics, whilst maintaining air pollution and toxins outside, leaving their products clean.

When products are imported there is 30-40% of food waste just through logistics, meaning being able to produce it locally, and get it to the shelf the same day, reduces the amount of food waste via transportation. They have tailored an innovative way of farming and implemented a complement to conventional farming methods, to become environmentally friendly with novel technologies and farming methods.

Not only does it contribute to the environment, but Sustenir also provides the consumers an organic healthy way of getting their vegetables. Sustenir's products are sold without a premium; when they first started, they were 30% cheaper than competitors in the market to reach the broad public. Sustenir does not compete with local farmers, as their produce is not regionally native to Singapore. The vertical farm has proven to have a positive impact not just environmentally, but as well as socially.

Interview

Benjamin Swan, Founder