Patrick Albrecht will be the first to tell you that he doesn’t have green fingers. But his team’s AI-driven software uses thousands of data points to optimize growth conditions – saving time and reducing the energy and resources needed to produce great quality produce. We sat down with Patrick to find out more.

Hello. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Patrick Albrecht, Co-founder and CEO of Fruitful Farming AG. I’m passionate about building solutions to produce food in a circular and sustainable way through state of the art technology. I’m also a true tinkerer at heart.

Tell us about Fruitful.

We leverage data to improve the way we farm. Our technology allows growers to monitor and optimize their growth environment – so they can produce high quality produce, at scale, independent of the season and using minimal resources. The key differentiator here is that we don’t only listen to the growth environment but also we analyze optical data points of plants by leveraging computer vision. 

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

I’ve always loved anything to do with food – especially cooking and eating it! But as my former long-suffering terrace plants could confirm, growing was actually never my forte! That’s why I find working for Fruitful so motivating. We provide the tools that make growing great quality produce easy.  

What does your typical day look like?

Each day is totally different! After breakfast, I tend to work through my emails to check in and see if there’s anything important I’ll need to focus on that day. Then maybe I’ll have a meeting with clients or grab coffee with another startup founder to share ideas. I’ll often touch base with the tech team to discuss how we can improve the product and think through ideas for new features.

What key milestones have you hit so far?

In three years, we’ve taken Fruitful from an idea to a validated product with paying clients. We were very grateful to get coaching support from Innosuisse early on – this really accelerated our progress. We launched our initial product in May last year and have since been working alongside clients to test and improve it. 

We’ve also managed to grow an amazing team of individuals who are genuinely passionate about agriculture and sustainability and we’ll soon be announcing some really exciting funding news. Watch this space!

What are you working on at the moment?

We’re working on a number of projects across Europe. A reputable university in Italy is using our technology as part of a project on light spectral analysis. Our Austrian partners are exploring how our software can optimize the growth of medicinal plants by aiding visual inspection and helping to identify the best harvest times. We’re even collaborating with a partner in Norway who is using sheep wool as a byproduct and solar energy to run a small circular economy inspired vertical farm! I find these collaborations fascinating as they help us to see how our software can add value in ways we would have never thought of ourselves.

Can you support others in the food innovation ecosystem?

We’re big data and analytics geeks and our strengths lie in developing technological solutions. I’d love to work alongside companies who are operating farms or research facilities who might be looking for this type of expertise. There are so many tools available. If you’re not working in the sector you might not be aware of them but they could make a huge difference to the way you work. We’d love to help here.

How can other actors support your work ?

I think open and honest conversations are the best way to move things forward. Becoming a SFNV member has helped us to connect with others who are developing complementary solutions and have a similar mindset. Talking about what we’re struggling with has helped us to identify how we can use our respective expertise to better support each other. If you’re interested in finding out more about Fruitful, please do reach out. I’d love to chat.

Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley will soon be launching our fourth Impact Platform on the Future of Farming. What are your predictions in this space?

Recent international developments have reminded us why we need to change the way we farm. Consumers and retailers are now even more supportive of local and sustainable production. I think the future of farming will play into these trends, while using tech to drive better efficiency to ensure that we use our limited planetary resources as effectively as possible.

Tell us something we don’t know about your company.

When we first had the idea for Fruitful I built a small vertical farm in my apartment! I knew that I wasn’t great at looking after plants so I wanted to see if I could create a system that would keep even my plants alive! My makeshift automated system worked and soon I was giving my surplus tomatoes and radishes to friends and family members. Of course, it was just a bit of fun, but I also think that this project helped me understand the complexity of experiment design in modern agricultural systems and the importance of data in these fields.

Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn or find out more on the Fruitful Farming website. 

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Having grown up on a farm, Bernhard Baumgartner, Commercial Director at aeroponic growing system manufacturer CleanGreens Solutions, grew up surrounded by plants. Now he’s helping colleagues across the globe – from Europe to the Middle East – grow a feast of leafy greens thanks to the company’s unique Greenova system, which uses robotic aeroponic equipment to reduce water usage and bypass pesticides. 

Hello. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Bernhard, Commercial Director of CleanGreens Solutions. I grew up on a farm in France so I’ve been surrounded by plants for as long as I can remember. After studying business, I worked in the renewable energy sector before moving to consulting in business development roles. I joined CleanGreens Solutions last year when the company started to scale up their development internationally.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The correct answer is my alarm, but I imagine you’re looking for a more interesting answer! Above all, I’m driven by working with visionary people and companies, and seeing our joint projects progress. We work with pioneering clients who are changing the way we produce food.

Tell us more about how your system is changing food production?

Our top priority is sustainability. At CleanGreens we have developed a soil-free, mobile aeroponic solution for the production of lettuce, salad crops and herbs in industrial greenhouses. At the heart of our system is a smart irrigation robot, which travels beneath the supporting structure that houses the crop modules, spraying the roots from below with a nutrient solution. 

What are the key benefits of this system?

Our system, called Greenova, allows clients to produce leafy greens while using very little resources in terms of water, fertilisers and pesticides, regardless of location. It enables everyone to buy locally produced leafy greens and greatly reduces food miles. Our technology multiplies lettuce yield by a factor of 30 while reducing water consumption by 25 compared to traditional agriculture.

What does your typical work day look like?

We work on so many different projects that there’s no such thing as a typical day – which is a good thing. Still, every day often includes discussions with clients, following up on existing projects and chatting about Greenova with prospective clients. Lately we’ve been in conversation with governments from various countries about launching Greenova in their markets, which is very exciting.

What key milestones have you hit so far?

Firstly, there’s the large scale projects we’re delivering right now. We are installing our system in a 6,000m2 greenhouse in Kuwait and at a 7,000m2 one in France as well. Then there’s the fact that our clients can produce so many varieties of leafy vegetables much more cheaply by growing in their own locale, therefore avoiding import costs and transport emissions. Making that possible took a great deal of sweat and brain power from our agronomy and technical teams.

What exciting projects are you working on at the moment?

We just finished renovating our R&D centre at Agropôle in Molondin so we now have a state-of-the-art showroom to exhibit what we can do both on the technical and agronomic side. Now that is complete we can focus on other R&D topics like fully automating our system. And more good news is in the pipeline, so watch this space!

Tell us a bit about how you collaborate and support others in the ecosystem.

One of the keys for success is visibility: the more people know about new food production systems like ours, the more likely they will be widely adopted in future. So we engage a lot with schools, farmers, agricultural organisations and other political institutions to raise awareness.

What support could the SFNV community offer to further your work?.

We don’t yet have a solution for the plant roots so they end up as biodegradable waste, but we’d love to find someone willing to upcycle them to reduce our waste even further.  If anyone likes the sound of researching the beneficial properties of the roots of our leafy greens, we would be happy to assist. The cosmetics industry could be a good fit, but we’re open to ideas!

Tell us something we didn’t know about your company.

The key factor that sets our aeroponic system apart is the way it reduces the risk of plant disease. This means that we’re able to grow varieties that nobody else is able to grow – 100+ varieties of leafy greens from pak choi to kale and 100+ varieties of aromatic and medicinal herbs like stevia, coriander and lemongrass. 

Connect with Bernhard Baumgartner on LinkedIn or find out more on the CleanGreens website.  

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