Hyper-Local, Nutrient-Rich Food Poised for Huge Growth
Sensei Ag is currently piloting its high-tech indoor-farming techniques at Sensei Farms Lāna’i, in Hawaii, with the capacity to produce over 1 million pounds of food per year, all in less than an acre of space and with 90% less water than traditional farming. Now the Ag Tech company is ready for even more growth.
Formed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and physician and scientist Dr. David Agus, Sensei Ag has now appointed Sonia Lo CEO. Lo isn't new to the space, having formerly been CEO of another ag tech company leading a joint venture in Dubai to develop one of the world’s largest vertical farms.
“It’s an aspiration and an honor to join the Sensei Ag team and work with such visionary founders,” said Lo. “There has never been a better time to rebuild our global food and agriculture supply chains. We are incredibly well positioned with Larry and David’s guidance, knowledge and networks to become the leader in our space. Although our goals are substantial, our plan is simple. To start, we will be good farmers and aim to only grow food people want to eat. We will then use data and innovative growing processes to cultivate food just in time and with peak nutritional value in every bite. Sensei Ag is the future of farming and the answer to nourishing our planet – effectively and deliciously.”
Sensei Ag's operational strategy involves three main pillars to make controlled- environment agriculture accessible and affordable to all:
- The company uses modular components in its production process to quickly and efficiently deploy the highest-performing technologies.
- Sensei Ag implements each of its technologies in a form-factor-agnostic manner, growing plants in the environment best suited for each crop.
- Through a combination of partnership, collaboration and acquisition, Sensei Ag significantly reduces the time needed to build a large-scale indoor farm, ensuring the relevance and freshness of all of its technology.
“To feed a planet of nearly 8 billion people and growing, food production and nutrition must be reimagined,” said Agus. “Employing science along with human health and consumer-driven data, we will right global inconsistencies in nutrition, promote food security, and develop technologies capable of cultivating produce that is unmistakably better-tasting and healthier than anything grown today.”
The greenhouses on Lāna’i currently supply a variety of nutritious and flavorful fruits, vegetables and herbs grown on site to Sensei Retreats (Sensei Holdings' leisure travel units), local chefs, hoteliers, and retailers within hours of harvest. Once complete, this location will have six greenhouses, each of them 20,000 square feet in size.
