"It's all about the consumer price. Ask yourself, can consumers pay the price you need to charge for your business case to work?," says Gonneke Gros Gerkema with Grodan, as a response to what challenges vertical farmers face in the supply chain.

On 21 April, the community Indoor Farming NL, GreenTech, and Farm Tech Society organized an event in the World Horti Center. The panel's topic was: Learn from the icons of indoor farming. Joining the panel were Guz van der Feltz as panel leader, Ellis Janssen (Signify), Susanne Mosmans (Future Crops), Gonneke Gros Gerkema (Grodan), and Jan Westra (Priva). 

EU is missing out on organic pricing

Adding onto that, Susanne pointed out that in the EU, it's a different case when it comes to product pricing. The US can charge a higher price as vertical farming products are certified organic. This gives European vertical farms a huge setback they have to overcome yet.

"We have to communicate the benefits of vertical farming to consumers in order for them to realize that imported products should be replaced by locally produced ones. It starts with the consumer, and we have a long way to go. We should educate the consumer as well as the retailer and customer to open that door of opportunities."