Ekō Solutions, Anu partner to use shipping containers for indoor farming
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Ekō Solutions, a subsidiary of Fishers-based Land Betterment Corp. is partnering with Evansville-based agriculture technology startup Anu to build autonomous fresh produce growing systems inside refurbished shipping containers.
The 20-foot containers will feature a modified version of Anu’s smart garden appliance that utilizes rotary aeroponics technology to grow crops year-round without traditional farming challenges.
Land Betterment CEO Kirk Taylor said the company had been looking for ways to utilize the containers for controlled-environment agriculture for over two years before learning about Anu’s work.
“We’re like, ‘Well, why should we try to create something that these incredibly smart people have already created?'” Taylor told Inside INdiana Business. “So for the past 12 months, we’ve been working on R&D in a pilot shipping container to house their technology, and that culminated in a prototype being delivered to their facility about three weeks ago.”
Anu, created by Purdue University alumni Scott Massey and Ivan Ball, has created a dishwasher-sized appliance that allows users to grow various types of produce using 100% compostable aeroponic seed pods that are similar to coffee pods.
The technology reduces water usage by 90%, eliminates the need for pesticides and preservatives, and significantly cuts carbon emissions, Land Betterment said in a news release.
Anu’s technology recently took the top prize in the 2024 HungerTech Innovation Challenge from AgriNovus Indiana. The company has also received nearly $2 million in federal and state grants to further development.
The two companies have developed what’s being called Pure Produce Container Farms. The up-cycled shipping containers contain the same types of pod towers used in Anu’s home appliances, but scaled up to about seven feet tall, which Taylor said increases the efficiency of the device exponentially.
“We can fit 12 rotating towers in a 20 foot shipping container,” Taylor said. “With the backbone of [Anu’s] IP, you can literally grow any type of fruit or flowering plant or leafy green that you want in any geographic or climate condition, which is a complete game changer. If you’re in the restaurant business, if you’re in a food desert and you want to have a variety of fresh produce year round…you can do that in our container year-round because of the tightness of the climate control of the container.”
Ivan Ball cites data from the United Nations that global food insecurity is on the rise, with approximately 13% of the food produced for humans being lost between harvest and retail.
“Food loss is often a result of fresh crops spoilage that never makes it off the farm,” Ball said in written remarks. “Other issues might arise due to poor-quality crops, inefficient supply chains or harvest disruption which leaves fresh produce to spoil. This doesn’t even consider populations who are unable to consistently access fresh, nutritionally dense food at markets or stores.”
Ekō Solutions said replacing traditional produce supply chains with the Pure Produce Container Farms can not only help address food insecurity in local areas, but it also reduces energy consumption and scope 3 emissions.
Taylor said the two companies have executed a commercialization agreement for the containers and are currently accepting preorders. He said they are also working to bolster the technology beyond their prototype.
“We’re actively talking with regional grocery stores, with nonprofits who are committed to solving food desert issues, as well as educational institutions looking to put together production of Pure Produce at their site, as well as bringing educational components of next generation farming to their institutions,” he said.
You can learn more about the Pure Produce Container Farms by clicking here.