S11E144 Juan Gabriel Succar/Verde Compacto - The Secrets of Container Farming Success

Harry Duran

0:00 - 0:05

So, Juan Sucar, co founder of Verdi Compacto, thank you for round two on the vertical farming podcast.

Juan Gabriel Succar

0:06 - 0:09

Thank you, Harry. Thanks for the invitation.

Harry Duran

0:10 - 0:34

We got to catch up a couple of weeks ago very quickly, and it was clear that there was a lot happening with Verde since we last spoke. I looked back at the calendar, it was 2022, when we had the first conversation. And I guess we can agree that things have changed and a lot has happened since then for redo the compacto. So, overall, you know, how have things been for you?

Juan Gabriel Succar

0:34 - 1:19

That's right. No, that long time. I didn't know it was long ago, but things have been great. Of course, we have been part of the venture. We have been having some big wins, some other, not other big wins, but from at the end, we have learned a lot in these past two years. We have improved our technology. We have increased our client base or tech portfolio. So it's been two interesting years for us. And overall, I can summarize it as two profitable or efficient years that allow us to increase our company and keep pushing our growth.

Harry Duran

1:20 - 1:35

If you had to think back, I know a lot happens in two years, but if you think back in 2022, when we had that conversation, how would you describe Verde compacte? Where were you as a company, and what were you thinking at that time maybe needed to change?

Juan Gabriel Succar

1:36 - 3:47

Well, in 2022, we were planning an international expansion, and at that moment, of course, we were selling our container farms and a lot of customized projects. So we had, like, these two type of two type of products, customized projects on the container farms. And I think we were more flexible, and we were more like, we were working a lot of engineering to work with multiple clients at the same time with multiple necessities. And that, for us, was a challenge because we worked a lot of engineering for a lot of customized projects, but at the end, most of them didn't go through that had a lot of cost on the team and a lot of a long sales process. And from that, we learned and we started to work on how to standardize our methodology on our product lines and our service to our clients. So that has been a big change for us and a big understanding on how to offer better things out there that can be more valuable for the client, but also for us as a company to deliver a high value proposition for these clients. Right. So what we've done is we standardized our container farm catalog, and we put it internal policy to work for customized project, over $500,000. Projects that can be larger scale and with a certain. Certain steps during the process. So the client is confident of what they are asking for. We can move along step by step and also us that we can move along with confidence that the project is moving along. Right. So that's something I think a big thing we learned in these past years, to standardize or product catalog and to make still keep the customized project lines, but with a minimum ticket to start and with established process of development that can be beneficial for both parties. Right.

Harry Duran

3:47 - 4:22

So that's, yeah, the quick summary, I'm curious, obviously in, you know, here in the states they have a saying that hindsight is 2020. You know, it's easy to look back, everything is very clear and you can see the decisions you made and the good ones and the bad ones. If you think about it as lessons learned, you know, if you look back, you know, are there things maybe you would have thought about differently or the strategy that you would have thought about differently? Knowing what you know now, what do you think you might have done differently back then if you had better information?

Juan Gabriel Succar

4:22 - 5:48

Definitely. Well, this is one of them. This is one of those things like try to standardize a little bit more or process to work with more established projects and have standardized products for people that might fit for their needs, but also have this capacity of working with clients that are more advanced and they have a more clear picture of what they're looking for. So that way we can invest time and development on certain type of projects. I would say selecting our opportunities better. And the big learned from that was that of course, part of those opportunities we had the opportunity to establish an american company, making a merger with another produce sellers in the states. And part of that trying to bring solutions for everyone. That I think we learned that we need to know what type of game are we playing and what game are we not playing. So that would be a big, also, that's a big learning from us in the past years, like selecting the opportunities better and be aligned with your vision and with your strategy and focus on that. And instead of trying to take a lot of opportunities that probably are not aligned on your core business, how has.

Harry Duran

5:48 - 6:08

Your decision making process improved? Because obviously, as the business owner, as an entrepreneur, as you grow, as you learn, as you make mistakes and figure out what's best, do you have guidance or do you just learn from experience or how do you put yourself in a position to try to make better decisions?

Juan Gabriel Succar

6:09 - 7:40

Well, of course, experience is the best teacher there is, right? Well, of course the best way to learn is from our mistakes. So I would say that's the most important teacher we've had in these eight years that we started. I'm honest, we've made a lot of mistakes in this road. But these mistakes has helped us improve our quality controls, improved our selling terms, improve our sales strategy, improve our partnerships, so increase our performance in the company, make better marketing strategy. So the best, the most important teacher we've had, of course, is our own mistakes. But also we've developed, we've increased or board of advisors. We have surrounded our decision making team with experts in different fields that have given us other visions, separately from or different from ours, that complement our decision making process. So we even changed the board meetings, how we were taking our board meetings in a more active way. And certain type of decisions, we decided to make them as a group, instead of as a person, individually. So also that has helped us a lot to be surrounded with very professional and very talented and experts on the different fields. That allows us to see a bigger picture that we alone is more difficult to see.

Harry Duran

7:41 - 7:50

And you've also recently restructured the organization and you've stepped down from CEO and handed that role over to someone else on your team. Can you talk about those decisions as well?

Juan Gabriel Succar

7:50 - 9:13

Yeah. So Jorge and me, both co founders, we were co CEO's, and that helped a lot in the early stage of the company because that helped us separate some responsibilities and be more agile in executing certain type of things. He was more focused on operations and commercial, but from EO standpoint, that helped us make faster decisions and be more agile. But now that the company has grown, the team has grown, everything has changed. And now we saw the necessity of having a different type of structure. And we decided Jorge is a great executor, he's great on operations. And so we decided for him to jump in as a CEO. And I changed my position as president of the board. And in a daily basis, I'm heading all the sales and commercial team. So I'm more focused on strategy, growth plans, all of this strategy making process, decision making process leader, all of the board, and executing it through the commercial team of the company. Jorge is 100% focused on how to make that happen. The product line, the R and D, the team, and be behind and support all of the things we are trying to push through the strategy making process.

Harry Duran

9:14 - 9:34

So obviously, it seems like some of the offerings have changed or the structuring of the offerings have changed since we last spoke. So, for those of the listeners or viewers who may be finding you for the very first time, can you talk a little bit about, you know, what Verde Compacto offers and you know where you're currently focusing your time now?

Juan Gabriel Succar

9:34 - 12:43

Of course. Yeah. So, Verde Compacto, we started in 2016 as the first indoor vertical farming manufacturer in Latin America. So we started from scratch and we really got to the market in 2019. So we were three years focused 100% on r and DA. And in 2019, we launched our first product that we call the Hofstra Container farm. That is with the aim of bringing a high quality and highly productive container farm to the market, but making it more accessible so people can join this industry with better return of investment, with lower capex needed. And that's how we started. Part of what we've learned and what we've been building up in the company is, well, besides just manufacturing the container farms, we've seen that our client's success is our own success. And most of the success of the client is the daily operations and the management of the farms. So we also. So then we added to our container farm product all of the training process and all of the support behind the machine. So that's part of what we've been building since then. So now we are selling a plug and play container farm that has a very specialized training program behind it and a very detailed support program for first year opera operations where we've seen where is. It's the most important period where clients probably need advice on optimizing their operations. So we've constructed this log and play solution machine. Loss, training and support. Part of this development, we have developed a whole technology portfolio. We have, we started with the lithium rain container farm, but in the years we have also developed and made some projects with other farms. Also lately we've been working a lot with some specific projects for strawberries. We have been part of this portfolio. We have been developing mushrooms, container farms, etcetera. But part of the strategy right now is focusing on promoting the leafy green container farm. That's our champion, that's our product. And part of what this lessons we've learned in the past is for some specific clients that we. That have certain specific needs. We have the additional technology portfolio, but it's not for everyone. And we know this technology is still for a smaller type of niche of clients. But if clients that are qualified for this type of technology are needing strawberries, container farm, etcetera, so only then we can sell it to them. But our champion and our focus is to keep increasing and pushing sales of our defeating container farms. And that's part of what we offer.

Harry Duran

12:44 - 12:54

How has the environment or the market shifted or changed in Mexico and maybe even if you can speak to broader, like Central and Latin America.

Juan Gabriel Succar

12:55 - 14:12

No, it has increased a lot. Every year we see an exponential increase. When we launched everything in 2019, you said vertical farming. And here people were saying, okay, what's that then? Probably in 2021, some people were saying, I saw that in a documentary, in a documentary or in a movie or I read an article. So now people were starting to, some people cared something somewhere. And for example, last year or this year, now people are saying, I was thinking about bringing a vertical farming project into my portfolio. Now people are looking to do projects with vertical farming. So shifted from, I don't know anything from what you're talking about to now I'm thinking on bringing this technology into my portfolio. And a lot of people here, for example, in Mexico. Now the thing is, I didn't hear, I didn't know we have that in Mexico. I knew that was in Europe or us or people were now looking for manufacturers or suppliers elsewhere, but now they know we are a supplier in the country. Well, it has created a lot of confidence behind the industry. So that's an interesting shift.

Harry Duran

14:13 - 14:31

Yeah. And it seems like you had early mover advantage specifically in Mexico, because when you started that early, I don't know who else was doing it. And maybe people were importing solutions from the United States, but it must have helped to have that early mover advantage to make a name for yourself in Mexico.

Juan Gabriel Succar

14:31 - 15:28

Definitely. And now we're saying that we're seeing an interesting ecosystem being developed in north city. So as early players that we had to create everything from scratch. Well, now the area, we have three universities working with our container farms. We have two brands of different farmers that are supplying restaurants. We have now other people that are bringing new startups, developing interesting stuff. We have created now, for example, for all of the software and hardware, we have created relationship with big companies that are being established in the region. So what is happening right now is that I think this has created an ecosystem of vertical farming, a vertical farming ecosystem around where we are located. So that has been a very interesting phenomenon we've seen in the years.

Harry Duran

15:28 - 15:34

Have you seen a shift in terms of the interest from investors in the space as well?

Juan Gabriel Succar

15:34 - 17:22

Yes, totally. Well, last year was tough because of the news around the industry of many companies going to chapter eleven, a lot of investors were giving second thoughts on vertical farming. But as the news passed by and people started analyzing what happened, now investors are looking for. Now investors know that as any industry, you need to be careful of certain risks, you need to plan certain type of stuff and we are seeing, instead of going with massive investments in massive production sites, now we shifted to secure the market, the produce market, secure prices, analyze the financials, and invest in a more scalable way. So we've seen that with different clients as well. It makes sense. I think it's normal in any new technology or new market. There's aggressive players that want to come in, and that's important when the industry is in the process of developing the technology. But now we are in, I think the industry has shifted into, now there's good technology out there, different suppliers out there, all of them. Well, some of them good and better than some other. Better than others. But now the technology is in a point where it can make a profit, it can make business for somebody, it can help solve certain necessities that other ways wouldn't allow it. So now I think it's not in that R and D phase. Now it's in a commercial type of phase. So investments need to be looked different from a different perspective. So that's what we. A little bit of our vision there.

Harry Duran

17:22 - 17:27

So talk a little bit about the new projects you have in motion and what you're working on currently.

Juan Gabriel Succar

17:28 - 19:06

Yeah. So part of this standardization, of course. Let's say your first priority is keep on increasing our container farm, or leafy green container farm, making it more profitable, more productive, better quality, and lower capex. So better service. So we are always improving that. We're working a lot. We are working in improving this additional portfolio. The folder technology, the strawberry technology, the motion technology. We're working on improving it. And we're working with specific clients with this technology. And these specific clients allow us also to improve it. And in the near future, we can probably add it as a more commercial type of system out there. Also. This is only happening in Mexico right now, but we are launching a micro farming catalog, which is, we call it the Hofter hall, which is a small vertical farm for your house. So now you don't need to have a business around it or a whole infrastructure behind vertical farming. But with this, we are aiming to bring vertical farming to every house in the world. Of course, we are in an early stage, nearly commercial stage. We are in pre sale right now in Mexico only. The aim is bringing a product less than $1,500 out there. But that can help you have fresh produce at home grown the easiest way possible. So.

Harry Duran

19:06 - 19:11

And what would be the form factor for that? Is it a tower or what's the design look like?

Juan Gabriel Succar

19:12 - 20:34

It's like a small vertical garden, probably half the size of a bridge, but. Well, you can see the design on our website, invertecompacto.com, in the spanish site, because it's only available in Mexico right now, but it's smaller than a refrigerator. But we are. The design that we're bringing is an interesting design, that it doesn't only work. It's not only a machine that works good, but that also looks good at home. So that it's an interesting piece at home to look at, to show and to create a whole family and friends experience around it. We're saying it's like the Weber barbecue, but for veggies. So it's creating the same experience that a barbecue creates behind it. You know, family, friends, good food. So we are trying to bring that same experience around that. But we have a special team working in this product. We are now delivering the first units in Mexico. And for the first, I think for 2025, we will only have it available in Mexico. And we are looking for large scale distributors in other parts of the world, so we can establish the logistics with the customer. So that's something that is happening, and then probably you will hear more about it in the following years to come.

Harry Duran

20:35 - 20:44

And so where are you seeing other opportunities for growth? You mentioned revisiting your expansion into the states as well.

Juan Gabriel Succar

20:44 - 21:31

Exactly. So right now we are seeing three lines of growth. One is expanding our container or vegetable lobster container farm into the US. Sales have been more organic sales in the last years. Right now we are working on a formal go to market plan for the states, and that will be happening in the following months. So that's one. The second line is improving software. Software improvement for data analysis, AI, etcetera. That's also the second line of growth. And the third line of growth we are working on is on the micro farming systems. So those are like the three things we are working on.

Harry Duran

21:31 - 21:34

And who are you partnering with on the technology side?

Juan Gabriel Succar

21:35 - 22:03

Well, for the software, we have a partnership with Siemens in Mexico, and with them we've been. We added our software into their heart and we are including it in their hardware so we can have better data analysis and data performance. And that's part of what we're doing in the software development. That's part, those are the type of partnerships we've been doing lately to increase the container farming performance.

Harry Duran

22:04 - 22:18

And have you noticed a shift in support from local government or even like, countrywide? You know, in terms of. I don't know if there's opportunities for just actual support or financial support or even helping you spread the word about what's happening.

Juan Gabriel Succar

22:19 - 24:18

There is more than government. I think. For example, these two years we had in Mexico, there was a. Well, I think also in the states, we suffered a very severe drought season, season that lasted two years, and that helped for people to get to be more aware of the importance of water resources. And it was a very severe drought. And I think a lot of media, a lot of big companies were starting to create forums, books, interviews, papers were doing articles around it. And a lot of these type of media looked for interviews or writing articles about verde compacto and the importance of vertical farming on water or reducing water waste on agriculture. So besides more than government, I think media, local media or national media is starting to look more at this type of projects that are helping the environment and are doing things differently. So that has helped a lot on the ship that I talked about earlier. And yeah, we're local governments. What can I say? Well, there's, in Mexico, there is a fund that comes from the international bank that is helping or covering part of the interest rate when investing in this type of technology. So that's a good tool that is out there for people that are financing farms. So these type of funds give you up to 2%. Let's say you get back 2% of the interest you're paying when investing. Exactly. A rebate, that's the word, a rebate on the interest you're paying when investing in these type of systems. So those are the type of funds that we are getting, and we are still trying to make something with government here to increase the help they can give on this type of investments.

Harry Duran

24:18 - 24:25

I'm sure this answer has changed since last time we spoke. But what is a tough question you've had to ask yourself recently?

Juan Gabriel Succar

24:27 - 25:41

The political tough question is a political environment. You know, this year we have. Well, in Mexico we had election year and in the US, so we had both countries we had election years and with tough people on front. So an interesting thing that we're thinking is how the political environment is going to look like at the end of the year and between North America. Honestly, we see that again. Politicians are politicians, and they like to talk a lot, say a lot, and do not a lot. And we hope the good relationship that we have between Canada, Mexico and the US keeps the same. This is a very powerful, the NAFTA agreement is a very powerful agreement that allows us to be a very competitive solution in North America and also allows north american products to be competitive down here. So it's a big tool to make to strengthen the market in North America. Market and trade in North America. So we need to pay attention how the political environment is going to look like by the end of the year. But I'm positive, I'm positive about this.

Harry Duran

25:42 - 26:06

So with all that, it sounds like there's been a lot that's been happening, a lot of lessons learned since over the past couple of years, a shift in priorities in terms of product lines and who you're offering the new products and services to. So as you think forward in terms of a roadmap, if we're having this conversation now in another two years, what do you have in place now so that you can look back and say, yeah, I think we succeeded on our plan.

Juan Gabriel Succar

26:07 - 28:04

Yeah. So to meet our goals within our growth strategy. So I would say be a known player and a trustable player in North America that people, when they think about container farming, they think about the hobster and how successful they've been by buying a hobster. So that for me would be like our dream, that people that invest in the hobster, that invests in very compact and invest their trust in our company, that we see success stories happening in North America, not only in Mexico, but have increased our success stories in North America. So that would be one thing that I will be very encouraged to talk about in our next interview about these success stories we're having in the US and Canada. Also, the second thing, it would be how the data and AI is helping and revolutionizing the industry because there's a lot of things to do there in theoretical farming that we can take advantage of by using these type of tools correctly, and we can drastically increase performance, yields, playbacks, investments. So that would be another topic I would like to talk about in our next interview, how things are developing there, how the laws are developing there. Because right now we don't know. There's a lot of blindside around that. So we need to be careful of that as well. But I think we will have a lot of the industry will be revolutionized by this. And the third thing is now having thousands of people using and consuming hydroponic products at home with our small units. So I hope we can have this conversation earlier than in the following years. Yeah, I think the sooner than later.

Harry Duran

28:04 - 28:44

I think the approach of educating consumers at the home level is really important because like you said, for many people, it'll be the first time they've actually been able to taste outside of maybe going to a market and buying something that's been grown in a greenhouse or an indoor farm. There's a big difference between actually doing that one level, but then there's nothing better than to have it in your kitchen and to see that it's grown and noticing, maybe for the first time ever, the difference in flavor, the difference in quality, in terms of buying something that's been in a bag and traveled thousands of miles to get to your plate.

Juan Gabriel Succar

28:45 - 29:33

Correct. 100% correct. And also the awareness that you are giving your family around health, nutrition and food supply right now. I think there's also a lack of awareness. What's behind the food we're eating every day, the effort and the chain that has to happen for us to have a beautiful tomato or beautiful salad on our plates. We don't realize all the work, all the energy, everything that is, all the resources that is behind for you to have that salad in your plate. So I think complementing your comment would be, how can we increase that awareness in families around the world using this? So that would be a big win if we could have that awareness even to small kids in the future generations.

Harry Duran

29:34 - 29:52

What we're seeing here in the States is, you know, over the years, with a lot of the vertical farming companies moving into packaged salads, moving into dressings, you know, moving into these other revenue generating products, I'm wondering what the market looks like in Mexico and what your thoughts are about that as a possible strategy.

Juan Gabriel Succar

29:53 - 31:20

I think that's a great strategy because at the end, you need, at the end, the products grown in vertical farming are premium quality crops. Sometimes it's of course, cost, the production cost, it's higher than traditional farming. So you need to generate high value, high valuable products for the consumer to generate interesting payback of their investment. So I think what companies are doing in the US, I think they're finding these type of ways to making technology be more efficient or pay itself faster and have better payment payback periods. That, of course, is helping have more technology development, reducing cost and keeping the industry evolving. And at some point, vertical farming cost probably would be the same or lower than traditional farming. But here in Mexico, what is happening is people are building the value they are giving to the products is by building an interesting brand behind, well in front of the product. So a different brand that talks about trashability, talks about sustainability, talks about health. So clients that are using these type of systems here are most of them that aren't using it for commercial purposes. They are building a brand that allows them to have a different product to sell. That is what happened.

Harry Duran

31:20 - 31:52

So as you think about like the, you know, what else is in terms of the environment and the industry in vertical farming in Mexico, there's obviously a bigger presence. You see conferences like Greentech now having an event in Mexico, indoor Agtech as well. So it seems like there's more of a visibility in terms of conferences and bringing the industry together. Are you seeing that? Bringing more awareness and allowing you to have conversations with colleagues and peers in the space in Mexico?

Juan Gabriel Succar

31:52 - 32:54

Definitely. Here we have a big, Mexico is a large produce producer and we have a lot of controlled environment agriculture in greenhouses. So controlled environment agriculture in Mexico today, it's the industry around greenhouse. But since it's a big industry, it's giving a space now to open the conversation for indoor vertical farming. So these big players, so this is a big platform for indirect farming to come up. So that's why we have a green tech. That's why we are having a big conference happening on October as well. We have one of the largest agriculture fairs in Latin America, happens 1 hour away from home. So we receive over 100,000 people every day during that conference. So we've been there before. So there's a lot of, there's a big industry around. And since greenhouse and CEA, talking about greenhouse is a big player, this is giving a platform for vertical farming to jump in and kick off.

Harry Duran

32:54 - 33:17

As we get close to the end here, I want to also talk a little bit about the experiences you've had when you're working with people who are considering a container farm. What are some guidance for those people so that they would be a good fit for a Hofstra? What are some of the questions they need to be thinking about? What are some of the pre qualifications to ensure that they have the best chance of success?

Juan Gabriel Succar

33:18 - 38:02

Correct. That's a very interesting question. So we say there are four types of clients. We see they have a potential on using vertical farming, because container farming is not for everyone and there's aspects to consider. So we see a great market in universities for research and development or educational and educate the students with the future practices and technologies are going to be used for farming. So for universities, I think the most important thing is that they are betting and they are investing on the future and innovation on the new practices. So that's for universities. If that's the case, that will be a successful project. Also we are working or we're seeing a lot of increase in real estate developments. So in Mexico we've had a boom of Zen type of communities development, high end, but Zen communities that this means that they have their own prows grown in the community. They have a beautiful beach. They have interesting amenities and they create a very harmonious lifestyle. But this is happening a lot in the beaches of Mexico, in the tropical areas where farming, it's really very, very hard. But these concepts are selling, having your own products being grown in the community and delivered to your house every day. Since they have a big challenge of producing it. Or they have to invest a lot of land just to comply with that value proposition. While they are seeing a great value on using container funds, for example. So an interesting, a qualified client, the real estate business would be somebody like this. That is, they're trying to bring a differentiated amenity to complement the lifetime they're selling. The third type of clients we're seeing that is qualifying for this is also hotels, resorts or people that depend on importing fresh produce. And they have a long chain behind their logistics and they have to store it, they have to pull it down. They are having a lot of waste. So we are seeing these type of people that they have a challenge to solve on supply. But they already have clients that pay premium for these type of products. So that's also a qualified lead, for example, and the fourth and the most popular, it would be investors that are looking to create a new business related on farming and by this, and people that probably are interested in probably launching their vertical farming business. We say there's two things that are very, very important for your success. One is having a potential market that will pay a premium price and appreciate a fresh product, clean product, a healthy product and a recently harvested product. So that's very important. We've had a lot of people that they want to get in, but they don't have a clear market or a clear selling point of the product. So that's key for the project success. And the second key for the project success is having a good operation on your file. That's why we've increased our support or training to increase the success rate of our clients. But at the end, it's very important that the operation, it's well made. I think around the industry, marketing has been saying a lot of that is for everyone. And everyone can use a container farm and it's like really easy to use and it is, but you need to. But it's not just like you plug the cable and you just turn off the switch and everything is perfect. At the end, you are growing plants and you need to take care of them properly and you need to make things properly. That's why we bring in the support. But that's part of the success, having a good operation behind your farm that can give you enough product to sell it to your potential clients. So that's the two things people should consider for this. Of course, a lot of people stop their project because of financing. But for example, if you're listening in the US now, there's a lot of others financing, good financing options to start this type of projects. We have a partnership with a company called Contain AG where they lease the hobsters. So if you're planning to acquire a hobster, you can automatically qualify for a leasing for your equipment as long as you have these two things covered. So yeah, I think these are the most important things to consider. And of course, if people want to learn more about this, we can happily talk to them and advice.

Harry Duran

38:02 - 38:34

Yeah, it seems like it's important that they do their homework and prepare for all the things they need to consider. You know, all the things you just mentioned, figuring out what's the product market Fitzhe if they have an audience for their crop, if they have a plan, if they've got a team that they got location, if they're considering all the capex, the energy expenditures and all that stuff. And I think that's very helpful for them to have that conversation before starting with your team to figure out if it's the right investment vehicle for them.

Juan Gabriel Succar

38:34 - 39:03

Correct? Exactly. And that's part of the advice we normally give the client first week. We normally talk to them like a prequalification conversation to know if the actual client matches with these type of solutions, if they are aware of the operation and the commercial part of the project they want to execute. And from there, we normally advise them on this type of stuff and we try to help them establish their project correctly so they can successfully execute it.

Harry Duran

39:04 - 39:33

So as we come to a close, I'm still, what I've been doing is leaving some time, a few minutes at the end of each conversation for any feedback or comments or thoughts that you have for the indoor farming industry. You know, a lot of your colleagues, fellow CEO's and owners listen to the show. So I always try to maintain and continue this dialogue in this conversation with everyone in the industry. So, any thoughts for you, from you about, you know, for the industry?

Juan Gabriel Succar

39:34 - 40:48

Well, my thoughts are the industry, it's picking up. Of course, the industry has had its up and downs as normal, but as long as leaders in the industry are working together, as long as. Because I think if we are in the same industry together, as long as we have success case stories using different technologies, the industry is going to grow and the confidence in investments in buyers and everyone behind it will increase and that will generate and accelerate the technology development to take it to new scales, new decreased capex, which is one of the biggest challenges on how to reduce capex, needed for an opex, needed for these type of arms. But as long as we work together and we are willing to cooperate, to make partnerships and to talk about success stories and more than seeing us as competitors and seeing more as partners, because we need to create this confidence behind the industry, I think that's the way we can actually turn it to keep this positive cure still going. So, yeah, that's my thought.

Harry Duran

40:49 - 41:20

Well, Juan, thanks again for making some time to come back and sharing the inspiring pivot for your company. Some of the changes, some lessons learned, some bumps along the way. But the good news is that you've come out stronger. It seems like you've now got a clear, focused mission and that you've got an updated and improved product line and product offering. And it seems like from where you're headed, that everything's improving in the right direction. So I'm glad to see that we were able to get that update from you.

Juan Gabriel Succar

41:21 - 41:43

No? Yeah, I'm very happy. I'm very happy to be here for a second time. I'm always very passionate to share our experience. If we can, if this can add value to one person, at least I think we made the objective of today's chat. So thank you, Harry, for your confidence and allowing me to learn from you. And I hope people can learn from what we chatted today.

Harry Duran

41:43 - 41:57

Yeah. So we'll direct people to the website, verdecompacto.com. it seems like you had a refresh of the site because it looks. It's a bit more modern, but the design looks a little new, too. So kudos to the design team. It looks really nice.

Juan Gabriel Succar

41:57 - 42:16

Thanks. And actually, people can visit a container farm. If people haven't visited a container farm, they can go to the website, they can take a virtual tour on a container farm. So if people are looking to visit or to know what a container farm looks like, well, they can in the website, they can jump in whenever they want.

Harry Duran

42:16 - 42:17

Sounds good.

Juan Gabriel Succar

42:17 - 42:20

Okay, so thank you, Harry, for having me here. It's an honor.

Harry Duran

42:20 - 42:24

Yeah. Thanks again, Juan. We'll have all the contact links in the show notes as well.

Juan Gabriel Succar

42:24 - 42:24

Thank you.