Beanstalk sees the future—and it’s vertical
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Jack and Michael Ross, founders of Beanstalk, a vertical farming company based in Springfield, VA
By Susan Able | from the Edible DC Spring Issue
Brothers Jack and Michael Ross, natives of Alexandria, are engineers by training but entrepreneurship runs in their blood. The brothers were always brainstorming about applying engineering concepts to solve societal issues, but became focused on how to feed a growing world sustainably. In 2017, they launched Beanstalk, a vertical farming company in Springfield, VA, and now the two brothers are farmers growing thousands of plants. But their fields are indoors, with produce grown in trays in vertical layers.
Other ag innovators have worked with similar concepts to grow everything from tender lettuces to microgreens. But at Beanstalk, the Ross brothers have combined cutting-edge greenhouse know-how with engineering expertise to create a trademarked growing system, and then built their own robots and machines to handle labor-intensive tasks. Jack Ross explains, “We have spent the past two years inventing the technology needed to grow natural produce in high volumes and at competitive costs. This has created new efficiencies that have allowed us to grow a wide variety of crops in the same farm and with the same machinery.”
Using a reverse osmosis system, Beanstalk uses 95% less water than field crops and can skip pesticides, since it is a controlled indoors environment. Their vertical farm is a year-round operation currently producing kale, romaine, arugula and spinach in baby greens format. A start-up that has gained investor interest, the Ross brothers’ farm company was chosen for acceptance at Y Combinator, the prestigious Silicon Valley–based accelerator behind companies like Airbnb and Reddit.
Beanstalk’s future looks to be growing as well, and Jack Ross says, “We are working to expand our product offering and open new farms. With our pilot farm, Farm #1, in Springfield, we’ve proved that our new type of farm can sustainably grow delicious food at volumes and price points to feed millions of people. As a result, we will be opening a larger Farm #2 in Northern Virginia to that will allow us to serve more food service and grocery customers and we’ll be able to add more varieties of fresh produce. Farm #2 will also be open to the public. Our tours will include tastings of exotic plants and displays of the robotic farming towers.”
Currently customers can pick up fresh greens from Beanstalk’s Farm #1 near the Springfield Mall or in select Harris Teeter stores.
