S2E20: Marc Plinke - Rethinking Greenhouses and Our Approach to Growing Food

Episode Summary

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, Marc Plinke. Ceres designs and builds advanced, energy-efficient greenhouses that grow year-round while saving energy and water.

In this episode, Harry and Marc dissect Marc’s career trajectory, from his time at Synergistic Building Technologies to his current role with Ceres. Marc breaks down his passion for bringing about positive change in the world, the inspiring work he’s doing with Ceres and the state of food in our society.

Episode Sponsor

Ceres Greenhouse Solutions

Key Takeaways

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• 03:22 – Harry welcomes to the show Marc Plinke, who discusses his natural curiosity, growing up in a family of engineers and the inspiration to launch Ceres Greenhouse Solutions
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• 13:37 – Marc reflects on his early career, including his time at Synergistic Building Technologies
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• 16:17 – Challenges Marc had to overcome as the founder of Ceres
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• 24:04 – Marc expounds on what it means to design and reinvent greenhouses
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• 38:02 – Marc shares a unique perspective about food deserts and the state of our food
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• 46:25 – What excites Marc most about the future of AgTech
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• 53:29 – Marc recalls his first invention
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• 56:19 – Harry thanks Marc for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can learn more about Ceres
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Tweetable Quotes

“The world is waiting for you to change the world. That’s what I want to tell kids. You have the power and all you need to do is pay attention and ask yourself, ‘Why is that happening?’” (09:59)

“Every decision that we make we ask, ‘Is that better for everyone or is it just better for me?’ And that better for me is not the option that we often choose. We look for the win on the bigger scale.” (19:09)

“We’re an engineering and architecture office in essence. We’re not actually producing the steel itself. The beauty of this is we’re quite flexible to change according to customer demand.” (29:06)

“People that grow things generally have a certain amount of patience, because it takes time to go from a tiny seedling to the full plant and production.” (39:01)

“COVID has helped us and really everybody to think more about, ‘Where does my food come from and how do I stay healthy?’” (43:23)

“To see things grow is an enormously satisfying feeling. It is healing to grow.” (45:36)

“I just learned last week that a tomato that is stored under fifty degrees – meaning in your fridge – loses half of the nutritious value in less than a week.” (51:20)

Links Mentioned

Ceres Website

Marc’s LinkedIn

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Mentioned in this episode:

Indoor AgCon 2025

Indoor AgCon 2025