FFF Podcast Episode 20: James Lloyd-Jones and the biggest vertical farm, in the world

Vertical Farm industry has the potential of mobile phone industry, says CEO of the world's biggest vertical farm

In the latest episode of the FFF podcast, we discuss one of the hottest topics in FoodTech at the moment: vertical farming.

We are joined by James Lloyd-Jones, the founder and CEO of the Jones Food Company, which is backed by Ocado and operates the world’s biggest vertical farm.

Situated in Gloucestershire, it boasts the equivalent of 70 tennis courts worth of growing space.

Lloyd-Jones discusses this new record-breaking vertical farm and a whole lot more, including the potential of the industry, which he likens to that of the mobile phone industry.

Lloyd-Jones says: “It is a bit like the early mobile phone industry. Only a few people had mobile phones and they were normally connected to suitcases. As more people adopted them, now we all have £1,000 phones sitting in our pockets. But that has taken 20 years and it’s the same with vertical farms.”

He adds that if vertical farming can “crack the easy stuff and make it commercial” then the industry can reinvest into the next challenge, such as producing harder crops.

The vertical farming industry has been hit by a spate of bad news, with industry players closing or implementing job cuts, amid spiralling energy costs and other troubles.

But Lloyd-Jones says that the Jones Food Company is progressing nicely, pointing to plans to open two further vertical farms.

On his ambitions and expectations for Jones Food Company, Lloyd-Jones said: “I think they have become more ambitious. The more the large sites kick out, the more you put in the packet, the more you sell, I see it that we need to build more farms, create more capacity.”