S11E146 Jacob Savageau/FarmBox Foods - FarmBox’s Mission-Driven Growth is Empowering Communities

Harry Durran

0:00 - 0:02

So much for joining me on the vertical farming podcast.

Jacob Savageau

0:02 - 0:04

Thanks for having me, Harry.

Harry Durran

0:05 - 0:13

So we've had a couple back and forth with the team, so I'm happy we were able to get everything coordinated. Have you been doing a lot of these in the past? Any podcast interviews?

Jacob Savageau

0:14 - 0:26

I did one with Bo Gertz years and years ago. He's a contact that I've known in a different industry. He does mushrooms, so that's probably the only one I remember doing.

Harry Durran

0:26 - 0:28

And do you listen to any yourself?

Jacob Savageau

0:29 - 0:40

Do I listen to podcasts? Yeah, I listen to a few. You know, obviously Rogan is great. He's kind of father of podcasts. So, like some of some of his podcasts. Yes.

Harry Durran

0:41 - 0:46

So the. You're located in Littleton, Colorado. Has that always been home for you?

Jacob Savageau

0:46 - 0:55

Yeah, born and raised in Denver in Cherry Creek, and then we moved to Littleton when I was young and born and raised in Colorado.

Harry Durran

0:55 - 0:58

What's the best kept secret about Littleton that most people wouldn't know?

Jacob Savageau

0:59 - 1:16

I don't know if there's any secrets about Little now. There's too many people that live in Littleton, but in Colorado in general. But yeah, I lived in Breckenridge for about four years. I was a firefighter up there and moved back down here and started, you know, building companies.

Harry Durran

1:16 - 1:25

So have you always had a passion coming out of school? Like, did you have a feel that you'd be headed down this route, the building companies route?

Jacob Savageau

1:26 - 1:49

Yeah, I don't know if I had a feeling, but I was an entrepreneur early. We had, you know, the first company we had, we were cleaning windows. We were in middle school and we grew up rock climbing, so we would get on people's roofs with harnesses and clean their windows. And I don't know how we did that with no insurance. Did that. So, yeah.

Harry Durran

1:50 - 1:52

What made you want to get into firefighting for a bit?

Jacob Savageau

1:52 - 2:12

I always wanted to do it. So, you know, Breckenridge was the first place that I could get into. I got into a resident program and at the time they were most of their department was a volunteer. So it was easy for me to live there, get paid to be a firefighter and learn and go to school. And so that's what I did.

Harry Durran

2:12 - 2:24

I imagine there's tons of stories from the time you spent there as a firefighter, but anything stand out in terms of, like, lessons that you learned from being on that team and working in those types of, like, really high pressure environments?

Jacob Savageau

2:25 - 2:48

Yeah, there's really good leadership and not good leadership, so you learn good takeaways from both. And I grew up a little bit, you know, during that time. And obviously as a firefighter, you see a lot of traumatic things and death, and so you deal with that. So. But I really enjoyed it. And Breckenridge at the time was an awesome place to live.

Harry Durran

2:48 - 2:55

Yeah, I saw that prior to getting started with farmbox, you had some time in solar as well. How did you get involved there?

Jacob Savageau

2:55 - 3:16

So we have a couple different companies and our business partners all own different businesses. So Vanguard's a company that we currently own. It's a commercial epc, so midsize EPC in Colorado. So we do a lot of commercial work, new commercial installs and O and M. So we service assets. We've owned that company for about seven years.

Harry Durran

3:16 - 3:29

Okay. Where do you feel like if people were to ask you where you cut your teeth on building businesses? Are there people that you've worked with in the past, mentors, or anyone who's had, like, a significant, like, influence in your life as you went down this path?

Jacob Savageau

3:29 - 3:59

Yeah, I mean, I grew up playing sports, so coaches were always a big influence. And my current business partner, who is with Farmbox, he's our CEO, Rusty. He's about 20 years older than me and owns a logistics company. So it's different industry, but I've learned a lot from him. So where I cut my teeth, pretty much every business, you know, because not everything is a success. You know, I've made tons of mistakes, so I think every company that I've been a part of, I've cut my teeth on.

Harry Durran

3:59 - 4:16

So naturally, if you've got a lot of experience building businesses, I'm curious about your thought process when you came across the opportunity for what is farmbox, what your relationship was with, like, the indoor farming space and what you saw there in those early days as the opportunity.

Jacob Savageau

4:16 - 5:34

Yeah. So we started FarmBox in late 2017, I think is when we first started. Originally, we weren't going to do shipping container farms. So the original founder, Tony English, his idea was to do a development of shipping container houses. Colorado is very expensive to live in, and even seven years ago, it was really expensive. So the younger generation, you know, people in their 20s, 30s, it's hard for them to buy houses. So we looked at buying some land. We ended up purchasing some land. And because international building code was the way it was seven years ago, it would have taken us three or four years to get permitting to build this small development of shipping container homes. So we ended up touring a farm, a shipping container farm, and within a week, we Had a warehouse and a container. We bought a reefer container and we hired Jason. So Jason's still with us. Jason Brown, and he's the one that built our first container. So when we first got into it, we didn't know. We didn't know anything about the industry, we didn't know anything about what we were doing. We just kind of jumped into it and figured it out. Yeah.

Harry Durran

5:34 - 5:40

Is that the approach you've taken in the past? Just kind of like figuring things, building the plane on the way up, just.

Jacob Savageau

5:40 - 6:33

Jumping off, you know, without a parachute? There's always a little bit of that. But it worked out. I mean, you know, we're scaling and things, you know, are starting to move in the right direction. But we've had a lot of like steps to climb and a lot of lessons that we've learned because originally we were building these one at a time in a warehouse big enough to fit one container. Then we moved to another location where we're currently at in Sedalia. We started building two or three at a time. Then we started working with our manufacturer, rk. You know, they're a billion dollar company, they're privately held in Colorado. So that was whole different level of how do we work with this company and going through first of a kinds and Kaizens and all the engineering. And that was totally new. So everything is just like a learning process along the way.

Harry Durran

6:34 - 6:57

How did the business have to shift or what was the impact? Because obviously starting pre Covid and there was a period of time, you know, there's two years, and it really either forced a lot of companies out of business or really strengthened them because it really had you double down and figure out if you can make it through a crisis like that and come out on top, at the end of the day, it's going to strengthen you as a company and as a leadership team, I imagine.

Jacob Savageau

6:57 - 7:35

Yeah, when Covid hit, we were, let's see, we were just starting to work with rk, so we were relying on their supply chain quite a bit. And I think that helped the our company farmbox is also self funded, so that there's good things about that. You know, we're not held hostage to someone else's money and grow at the pace that we need to grow. So I think that actually has kept us alive up until the point where now we're at a different kind of a different place now.

Harry Durran

7:35 - 8:03

So as you were thinking about getting involved in terms of the relationship you have with these other companies, and I imagine you serve different roles in those Other companies. How did you decide what the team structure would be as you're getting started? Because we speak to a lot of founders who are just getting started in the indoor farming space building teams, coming from other industries. So I'm curious for you, having had experience building teams before, how you thought about building out the leadership team and what were the key roles in those early days for you?

Jacob Savageau

8:04 - 9:21

Everybody that started with us, I think 95% of the people are still here, so we have a really good retention rate. Rusty, he came on as an investor initially, so one of the partners, and then we coerced him to, you know, leading as a CEO. So he kind of. We twisted his arm a little bit and put him in that position. But I think just things take time and finding the right people take time and the right people will stay with you for the right reasons. So it's a lot of it's happened, but it's like organically happened. There's a little bit of timing and a little bit of luck. But as far as strategy, we did go through a strategy session that took about a year. It was very in depth. We went through that about a year and a half ago and it took a long time to go through that. And again, that's. That was a whole stepping stone on how do we grow the company and what really, what do we need? Because before we did that, we were flying blind a little bit about what we needed as far as human capital and management capital and resources and all the pieces that we needed to fill.

Harry Durran

9:22 - 10:09

So as you think about where you are going forward, for folks that are new to FarmBox, they understand container shipping. They understand like some, maybe some of the basics from what they've seen before, maybe like the freight farms of the world when they have a conversation with you. And I had a brief chat with Joseph at Indoor Ag Tech in Chicago. So, you know, he gave me some insights about the different models of containers you have and the different business lines you have. So can you talk a little bit about the product offerings that you currently have? I know you have focused, you know, containers that are focused specifically on mushrooms, for example. But I'm curious about a, like the business decision and the thought process to go into these different types when it came to the container farms and just maybe describing what the difference different offerings are and who they would be suitable for?

Jacob Savageau

10:09 - 12:54

Sure, yeah. The first product that we developed was the vhf, the Vertical Hydroponic Farm. And I think we're on our maybe fifth or sixth iteration of that. So some big things change. Some Little things changed. And so that's set up. It's a true vertical hydroponic farm. There's tubes, individual, you know, places to put the plants. Most of our clients are growing leafy greens. You know, you can do cherry tomatoes and strawberries and all these different things. So there's a seedling tray area in the front and then the walls. The walls move. The second product which we developed was the gmf. And we've gone through, I think, two or three iterations of that. And so that set up really for gourmet mushrooms. It's set up as a lab. So it's totally different product. So when you walk in, there's actually three compartmentalized rooms that have their own H vac system. It's a really cool product. So you're basically mixing substrate, your sterilization is in the container or your pasteurization. Then you're growing the mushrooms. You know, you have the inoculation room and the fruiting chamber. And that product will do, depending on the produce that you're growing or the type of mushroom, around £400 a week. We have another product that is a addition to that called the GMF plus or the Sidekick or I think it's a GMF plus that's just a fruiting chamber. And so that'll another additional. Not sure the pounds. I think it's like five to seven hundred pounds a week. So you can scale it and one GMF can run, depending on what you're growing, they can run multiple, you know, additional fruiting chambers. The third product, which we developed a few years ago, is the Fodder system. And it's set up it kind of in between the two, the VHF and the gmf. But there's two rooms. The first room is, you know, you're mixing everything. Usually you're using barley seeds, but there's all different types of seeds you can use. And then we have a tray system, the Trace Flood and the fodder grows. And so that'll do about 900 pounds a day. And it's, you know, I think a six or seven day cycle. So 900 pounds a day, every day. And that one is not in production at scale yet. We have it and there we do have orders and we're fulfilling, but those are the main three products. We have a couple other additional products that we build. We have a Sidekick, which is essentially cold storage and a work room or a sterile room. So some different offerings.

Harry Durran

12:55 - 13:00

And you've also created your own proprietary software, tech as well, tech stack.

Jacob Savageau

13:01 - 13:28

We don't have our own software. There's been talks about doing different things. So currently we use. Agrotech is pretty well known, and other companies use that. The proprietary things that we have, you know, we do have some patents on design. Patents and different things. The tubes that we design, the layout of the farm. So we do have some ip, but nothing is software as of yet.

Harry Durran

13:29 - 13:49

What were the challenges you were finding as you were moving? Because I imagine the logistics required, specific challenges required that are relative to that specific crop. So when you move from leafy greens to mushrooms, for example, you know, I imagine there's some retrofitting and some revisiting of design as you look to make it a container specifically for that purpose.

Jacob Savageau

13:50 - 16:29

Yeah. So with the vertical hydroponic farm, we learned all of that internally, and Jason was a part of that. When we went to do the gmf, we hired somebody that was running a gourmet mushroom farm for a nonprofit in Denver, since I believe they went out of business. But he grew mushrooms for a long time and knew mushrooms. So we started finding people that knew what they were doing. And based on our manufacturing and engineering, we started developing the product. And then the first of a kind for us was, you know, in our own warehouse. So we just started building it. We designed it, built it. But then when we started working with rk, it was kind of at a different level. Like, you know, they're interested in how are they going to build a thousand of these? And we're just trying to figure out one. But at that time, when we started working with rk, we had already built several. And so then we start working on engineering plans and drawings. And so I don't know if that's the best answer, but again, we kind of just figured it out, you know, and there's a lot of things that we've changed. So, for instance, like with the vhf, we went through, and probably not exaggerating, but I could ask Jason probably a dozen different lights in that farm. Some of it would be the full farm. We would try this light, and then it didn't work, or we were having issues with moisture. And then we would try this wall with this light. And so we did that with a lot of different things. The gmf, we didn't have as many issues. There's not crazy problems with airflow because everything's compartmentalized. I think the biggest thing with the GMF would have been figuring out the H VAC system, because it's a really bus. It's like an industrial, robust H VAC system that runs through the whole container are some lights, but it's mushrooms. So, you know, there's really no lights unless you're growing certain different types of species. We did run into some issues with the first of a kind that we built our own sterilization chamber and now we're actually using something that's off the shelf for pasteurization. Does the same thing, but there's a better warranty and we don't have to fabricate these huge boxes and it's more cost effective to the client. And of some breaks, the pieces and parts can easily be sourced. So I think part of the manufacturing too was to figure out having things that had redundancy. So if something went wrong, they weren't losing a crop or wasn't a major, you know, problem.

Harry Durran

16:30 - 17:10

I'm curious about the entry into fodder because obviously you don't see a lot of that here in the States. I was at Agra me a couple years ago and obviously there it's not horses, it's camels. And it's huge, huge, like herds and stables, I think into the thousands. I think when you deal with some of these sheiks and princes, you know, the amount of camels that they have on site that they have to take care of and feed is pretty crazy when you think about it. So obviously because of the climate over there, the fact that they import, you know, 95% of their food, indoor fodder is probably a big deal for them. I'm curious because I haven't been tracking as much here in the States, but when did you see that as an opportunity start to surface? Just. Was that in conversations with folks?

Jacob Savageau

17:10 - 18:31

Yeah. So we again, we found somebody that knew how to do this and we hired Joaquin and he's Chilean and he actually built these fodder farms in Chile. And the reason why is because they were having it's. I don't know what years it was, but significant droughts to the point where they were going to slaughter animals or find out how to move all these animals from one side of the country to the other. And part of this was the government and was involved in how do we grow fodder so these animals don't die. So we hired him because he moved to the United States and so he helped us build our first of a kind. It wasn't us finding the market and then identifying that there was a need. We just built it and I think the need is there. So I think the main thing with fodder, I think, is water. It's not as much of an ROI or how much money can I make as a business? It's more of having security water big problem, not only here in Colorado, but pretty much everywhere. And so if you have livestock that is worth a lot of money and time, want to have security for that livestock. And I think fodder is part of the piece of having that security.

Harry Durran

18:32 - 19:13

Yeah, that makes sense. I'm curious now, moving into the business side of things, on the leafy greens and on the mushroom side, when you start to have conversations with people who could be potential clients, how do you, you know, what type of questions are you asking them to make sure that they understand the commitment and what it takes to succeed? Because we've seen a lot of, you know, first time farmers getting started maybe and not coming at it from a business perspective, not understanding their market, maybe not even thinking about having takeoffs in place, agreements with potential buyers. And this is really where a lot of first timers struggle. So I'm curious, you know, how you help the clients that you work with who are maybe just getting started or maybe need to be thinking about this from a different perspective so they have the best opportunity for success.

Jacob Savageau

19:14 - 23:21

Yeah. So we, it's a long sales cycle and when we first started this, most of our clients were. Let me backtrack. Actually our first client was Centura, which is a hospital network in Colorado and I believe Kansas. And so we placed containers at these hospitals and they grew at the hospital to feed the patients and the staff and the visitors. And the first container we had, I believe was in Pueblo, Colorado. The second client we had was Natural Grocers, which is a, I think the regional or national grocery store, organic grocery store chain. So purchased the container and put it at their store. And then we started understanding how to market this product. And so a lot of our clients then became business to consumer. Hey, I live in this small town. I want to supply greens, microgreens or mushrooms to these four small grocers in my community. How do I do that? So, and then, you know, fast forward a little bit. Now our company is more business to business. So we're working with the federal government, we're working with, you know, maybe a dozen vertical markets in the private sector, but it's large scale business. But we do have business consumer still. So when working with a business to consumer, I think understanding where they live and the demographics. Have they owned a business before? Do they understand, you know, how this is going to work and they're going to run it themselves or are they going to hire somebody to run the farm, because it's a full time job to run. You can do it for less than 40 hours a week, but it's really kind of a full time job. And so most of our clients, I would say about half on the business to consumer run the farms themselves and then the other half they hire somebody to run it. But you know, we've made mistakes and we're not perfect. We try to make sure that customers are taken care of and we set the right expectations. I think we've gotten a lot better about doing that. So when we have a client and they identify that we're the right company for them to work with and it makes sense for them and we start that sales process, we have a long process, an onboarding process that we onboard them, they meet the team, so we help them with the logistics of getting the container to where it needs to go. We have construction companies that we own and that we've been a part of. So permitting these containers, like for instance in the city of Denver, they're very strict. And we did a container that was next to a restaurant, it's a vegan restaurant that's owned by a restaurant group. And the city wanted us to paint the metal container, a fireproof paint. So we had to do that. And there was specific permitting. And so we have to jump through these hoops and that's part of what we do to help the client make this happen. And then we do an online training. So they're trained before the product is built and it gets there. Then when it does ship out, we send our deployment team, they set it up and they go through everything and then we send our training team out, usually at the same time and they train whoever's going to be running the farm. So it's a long term relationship. And if they're not successful, then we're not going to be successful either. I think that in a vertical hydroponic space there, there's been so much money that's gone into it and I think it needs to be a little bit more conservative in how quickly you can make your money back. The mushroom side I think is going to be fine. I think it's going to be where it needs to be and fodder that's for us, that's yet to be seen. We're not quite yet.

Harry Durran

23:22 - 24:10

So it's interesting and really commendable that you really look at it from a like a whole life cycle perspective and a lot of handholding because probably all those different steps that you've mentioned are places where in the past. And I'm sure people that have had experience with other companies that they haven't had that handholding and they haven't had that guidance along the way or the prep or the onboarding and all those little things, they add up. And I'm sure it's a testament to what you're doing and how long people stay with you and they work with you. But it ensures that they have the best chance for success. Because we've just been saying there's so many moving parts with farms and so many things that you have to think about that you may not have known when you got started, but I think because of your experience and you're able to hold their hands, I imagine they're having a better chance of success by working with you.

Jacob Savageau

24:10 - 24:30

Yeah, I would hope so. And you know, there's a lot of problems that happen when you're growing things inside and there's a lot of problems that happen when you manufacture things at scale and ship them across the country. We had a container on a truck that burned to the ground. The truck did. The container.

Harry Durran

24:31 - 24:33

The container survived.

Jacob Savageau

24:33 - 25:29

Yeah, we had a container that went out to a school and they had a huge press release with the local government and mayor and you know, pretty well known school. And when it got there, this was a GMF unit, I believe something had worked its way loose and crashed on the floor. And so rk, our manufacturer, you know, we got the piece in part and they flew somebody out there and they got it fixed I believe that day so they could release the next day. So yeah, I mean there's always problems and nothing is ever perfect. But I think for the most part our customers are happy. You know, if there's a problem, we try and fix it right away. We're constantly trying to make the product better and service side better again. It goes back to the relationship, it's a long term relationship with the client.

Harry Durran

25:30 - 26:00

So, you know, you've got the main unit with leafy greens and the unit with mushrooms. It sounds like you're staying in your lane in terms of the crops that you specialize in and that you've proven can grow well in your containers. Have you ever given thought to some other crops? I know people are growing everything from cucumbers to tomatoes. People are starting off seedlings, indoor farms. People are experimenting with a wide variety of crops nowadays, strawberries as well. So I'm curious how you think about it from a business perspective, if any of those make sense for you to look into.

Jacob Savageau

26:00 - 27:19

Yeah, I think we tried to Do a test with saffron. So I know that was a big thing a couple of years ago and there was a universities involved with that. We have done strawberries and they're. The gestation period takes a very long time and they're very thin. So if you're not on top of it, you might have a problem. So, yeah, we're always looking at different things and really, it's really what the market is asking for, what our clients are asking for. We do have a container with a company that is just right down the street from us in Sedalia, their utility company. And so we're in a joint venture with them for trees. So reforestation, because I think our farms, their vertical hydroponic farm, and don't quote me, but I think it's like 30 some thousand trees a year, might be more. And so this is going to be used to do reforestation in some of the areas that, you know, we have a lot of fires in Colorado and utility companies are cutting down trees to put wire and their infrastructure. So they're looking at how do they replant trees. And so right now we're testing. We've done it off and on for the last few years, but now it's actually getting done and we're documenting that so we can do it at scale.

Harry Durran

27:20 - 27:33

It's interesting for you to have that experience firsthand of what it's like to be in the forest and then seeing these, you know, these huge fires that happen and the impact that it has and the devastation that it has and the need especially there for like, reforestation.

Jacob Savageau

27:33 - 27:51

Yeah, I mean, forest fires are crazy. They're very crazy. But then you also have all the beetle kill and all the other things going on. Like Summit is a good example. So all those trees are dying and it's tender, you know, really dry summer. There's going to be some massive fires in Summit County.

Harry Durran

27:52 - 28:04

So I'm curious for you as the coo, like, what's a typical day look like for you in terms of what you have to keep top of mind with all the things that are happening across all the different business lines?

Jacob Savageau

28:04 - 28:39

Yeah, So, I mean, I try to be organized, so I plan my day, you know, a week ahead of time, and a lot of stuff comes up that isn't on my schedule. And just like my business partners have multiple businesses, I have a handful of companies. So good thing is that our office in the Tech center where FarmBox is, I have a couple other companies that are not too far from that office in now. So my Day is usually putting out fires and dealing with other people's problems.

Harry Durran

28:39 - 28:43

Different kind of fires, but probably sometimes just as intense, I imagine.

Jacob Savageau

28:43 - 28:44

Yeah.

Harry Durran

28:44 - 29:27

So when you think about people and bringing people on the team, I imagine that's a conversation that you have with the leadership team. But because you've had experience building companies and it sounds like you've developed this ecosystem so like these other companies support some of the needs, you know, for that. You mentioned for example, that you have at farmbox. What do you look for when you look to bring in a team member into this type of what sounds like a very dynamic, a very forward thinking but also like get down to work and you know, there's a lot to get done and so you need like self starters. So I'm curious as a business owner and on the leadership team, what you look for in order to hire to find that right type of talent for, you know, what seems to be like a moving target now know, day to day.

Jacob Savageau

29:28 - 30:26

Yeah, I think finding somebody who has humility is really important. And fortunately with FarmBox we have an amazing culture. I think it's. I can't really compare it to any other company that I've been a part of. It's pretty unique and I think that happened because of all the people here. Like it wasn't me, it was what we were doing. You know, the company, although we're not a nonprofit company, you know, it's a mission driven company. There's a mission behind what we're doing and I think that everybody that's here is here for that mission. So. And obviously finding people that can come up with their own plans and you know, be self starters, I think that's awesome. So. And usually if you're in an environment like this, people are usually doing that. They've got the right and you know, you don't have to ask for much.

Harry Durran

30:26 - 30:32

Yeah, they already come in with a proven track record, I imagine so they can hit the ground running.

Jacob Savageau

30:32 - 30:33

Yeah.

Harry Durran

30:33 - 30:36

What's a tough question you've had to ask yourself recently?

Jacob Savageau

30:37 - 30:58

I think what I've been asking myself recently is where do I want to be in five years? You know, because there's a lot of things happening right now and especially with Box, there's some really, really cool things happening. So where do I want to be in five years with farmbox? So that's a tough question. I don't have that answer yet, but I'm trying to figure it out.

Harry Durran

30:59 - 31:06

You mentioned mission. I'm curious, why is that something that's important for you to have to be working in a mission led company.

Jacob Savageau

31:07 - 33:25

There's a lot of problems in the world and I think there's a lot of smart people that can solve those problems, but they need to solve them. So if we can be part of the solution, which we're not the solution, you know, we're just this little piece of it, I think that's powerful. You know, I wasn't part of this conversation, but Rusty went out to. We have, I have a container that got delivered to a school, it's in Fulton. And you know, the teachers, they're amazing. They're totally our biggest advocates. They. There was a teenager that was going to school and she's a high risk youth teen and you know she was going to quit and when the container got delivered, she said, hey, I'm going to stay, I'm going to stay in school. Life's like totally different. So Rusty and I talk about this all the time. It's hard to put a price on stuff like that. You know, if we're doing stuff with, you know, we have some contacts in Chicago and some of these inner cities and Rusty has some ties in with these organizations in Chicago. If we're doing things at that ground level and keeping kids from joining gangs or going down that road, that's pretty powerful. Talking about doing some stuff in some other countries and in some countries that a lot of money has gone to and nothing's really happened over the last three or four decades. And some of these things are, I believe, going to happen. So if we can do that and help these people, that's powerful stuff. So that's. That was why we started the company. You know, it wasn't, hey, let's go make, let's go raise $75 million. And let you know that's not why we started this company. And I think although we have to make money to keep the mission going, I think that mission is still, it's just as prevalent as when we started, you know, seven years ago, if not more. And it's grown and I think changed a little bit. But now our reach is bigger and we can do more things.

Harry Durran

33:26 - 33:31

Yeah. When you're. Yeah. I think the saying is when your why is big enough, you'll move mountains.

Jacob Savageau

33:32 - 33:32

Yeah.

Harry Durran

33:32 - 33:56

I'm curious what your thoughts are on where we are in this industry. And I usually like to leave a little time towards the end of these conversations because the podcast is listened to by your peers, your colleagues in the space, other CEOs, other founders. So with the experience you've had, haven't Been around a while. I'm curious if you have any messages or thoughts for the indoor farming industry from your perspective.

Jacob Savageau

33:57 - 34:59

I don't know if I understand the industry as well as everybody else listening. You know, I'm kind of, I understand our little circle and what we're trying to do from, you know, just looking at it from the outside, I think there's a ton of money that's gone into this industry and where did that money go and what are they doing with it and is it going to, is it going to work out? You know, so I would say maybe we should be more careful about where money is going and how we're doing things and are we really trying to do it the right way? You know, but again, I'm looking at it from the outside. I'm kind of in my little bubble of farm box. So I, you know, I'm not at these big ad shows and I'm not following all these big companies and I don't know exactly what's going on in the industry.

Harry Durran

35:00 - 35:18

I think you clearly have like your, you know, using the horse race analogy, you've got your blinders on and just running your own race. And obviously I think that's help been helpful for you as and your leadership team because you're clear about your objectives and where you want to go and not letting any of the outside noise distract you. And the fact that you've been self funded from the beginning is certainly helpful.

Jacob Savageau

35:18 - 35:33

Yeah. And look, that doesn't mean we don't want to collaborate. We work with all kinds of, you know, other companies and we don't hold everything tight to our chest because they benefit us. Usually it's going to benefit the industry and vice versa.

Harry Durran

35:33 - 36:33

So the consistent message I've been hearing when I asked this question is the fact that this is sort of an all hands on deck moment. And to, you know, some, with some of the sort of examples you were mentioning and some of the experiences people have had with your product. I mean this is something that can change lives and it changes it in a bunch of different ways that sometimes you may not even be able to see when you're first starting the project. But the more I hear folks like you, the more we understand that this is something that's needed globally and just even within our own country. Just this access to fresh food and then educating people about where food actually comes from. Because you know, having grown up in the city and now I live in Minneapolis, you know, my perspective has changed for sure. And like normally you think you just go to the supermarket and everything just magically appears there. But it's got to come from somewhere and it's got to travel sometimes a large distance to get there. And I think educating folks is really like, where I see, you know, these conversations have been helpful and the work that you're doing has been helpful as well.

Jacob Savageau

36:33 - 37:32

Yeah, I think education is a big part of it. I think our food system is broken. Yeah. Personally. And I think that it's our own fault that it's broken and people need to start understanding, you know, if we don't change it, like if we don't start changing what we're putting in our bodies, it's going to be really bad, you know, so. And I feel like you said there's a bunch of different things that we're doing that can benefit people. You have the education, you have getting clean, natural food that's not full of poison to people that may not have access to it. You can create jobs, you can put people on the right path, you can teach entrepreneurship, which they do at schools. There's all these things that you can do with it. And again, we're just part of that solution, you know, the whole solution.

Harry Durran

37:33 - 37:42

So as we wrap up, Jake, what's on the roadmap for farmbox? Anything that I probably, I imagine some of it might be under wraps, but anything you can talk about from a bigger perspective.

Jacob Savageau

37:42 - 38:23

Yeah, so we, we're working with a company called New Age and they are, we have a licensing agreement with them and they're buying, I believe it's public, but they're buying. You know, X amount of farms every year goes up, you know, X amount of farms every year for X amount of years. And so that's one of maybe five or six things that are happening right now to where we can scale. So like I said, you know, for the last seven years, the company has been self funded and we've done things, I believe at the right pace to get to where we are. And now I think we're about to go big. So we're excited.

Harry Durran

38:24 - 39:14

So we caught you at just the right time before you get the. So it's been. Well, I want to thank you for coming on and spending some time with our listeners and sharing your story. I think there's so many different ways people get into this industry. So having your perspective and even coming through it and your time as a firefighter and all the experience you've had building businesses, it clearly shows in terms of, like, what you've now been able to build with the farm box. Team team and how you've been resilient and been working through adversity and getting to where you're getting. The fact that you've been doing it self funded is a testament to the leadership team as well. So I just want to give kudos to everyone for everything you've been accomplishing to this point. And the fact that you're making an impact in these communities is also a testament to what you're doing. So I appreciate you sharing that inspiring story. And we'll direct folks to Farmbachfoods.com anywhere else you want to have folks connect with you or learn more.

Jacob Savageau

39:14 - 39:20

I think farmbox is fine because our social media is on there and they can see us on there.

Harry Durran

39:20 - 39:28

Okay, well, thanks again for your time, Jake. It's really inspiring to hear your story, and I think it'll be inspiring for some of the folks and some of the future farmers as well. Thank you.