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Top Quality Greens, Grown Locally, Year Round

 

Local food matters

A strong local food shed is important to a community’s resilience, security,

and sustainability. Unfortunately, centralized agricultural practices have

dramatically weakened these systems in Colorado, to the detriment of both

our communities and our economy. Currently, less than 2% of Colorado’s

annual food consumption is purchased in-state. If that number were to

increase to 25%, it would create more than 31,000 jobs, $1.3B in wages,

$2.2B in GDP, and $198M per year in additional tax revenues. And when

done right, locally sourced foods can be fresher, healthier, and more

flavorful. Local food matters.

And it’s in high demand

The good news is that Colorado consumers are increasingly devoting more

time and money toward procuring local foods. So much so that our local

farms and urban agriculture have been unable to keep up with the new

demand. This gap is most clearly illustrated by the shortfall of locally

sourced alternatives in the $2.6 billion produce market. In Colorado, 97%

of leafy green are imported from out of state. Short growing seasons, a dry

climate, and a lack of greenhouses have rendered local producers incapable

of competing with big agriculture … until now.

We have the solution

Altius Farms uses Tower Gardens, a patented vertical growing system, to

produce top quality greens, grown locally, year round. Our towers can pack

44 to 52 plants into just 6.25 square feet, and our aeroponic hydration

ensures faster grow cycles while using just 1/10th the water of traditional

agriculture. This technology is a true game changer for locally grown

greens and Altius Farms is poised to be the first large scale tower garden

installation in the Rockies. Because our first facility is located just outside of

Denver, we’re tapping into not only the largest market in the region, but

also the hottest restaurant scene. The demand for high-end locally sourced

greens far exceeds the capacity of our initial build, so this is a solution with

significant opportunity for growth.

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Our flagship location

Altius is seeking the optimal location for our flagship operation. The plan is

to build a 17,640 ft2 custom, controlled environment agriculture [CEA],

greenhouse optimized for year round production of leafy greens. Compared

to conventional farming, the Tower Garden technology uses 10% of the

water, 10% of the space and delivers 10 times the yield (in one harvest).

● 926 Tower Gardens, 11 ft. tall, with 44 plant pods each for 41,000

plants growing concurrently

● Approximately 15 to 18 growing cycles per year

● Capacity to grow 45,000 seedlings at any given time

● 160,000 pounds of living or fresh-cut produce per year

● Approx. 15,000 ft2 of growing space can produce as much as ~5

acres of conventional farmland in the same year

● Natural gas and radiant floor heat

● No need for supplemental lighting as we will fully utilize

Colorado’s sunshine

Getting to market

Altius Farms consistently produces arugula, kale, salad greens, and herbs

year round. Compared to traditionally grown California greens, our

produce is fresher, healthier, and better for the environment because it is

sold locally, grown in a state-of-the-art controlled environment greenhouse,

and delivered live or immediately after harvest.

Our primary customers are Denver’s 500+ restaurants. By working closely

with our chefs, we are able to build custom crop plans designed to give

them what they want, when they want it. Restaurants receive our produce

live or freshly cut. This means our chefs are using the freshest, most

nutritious produce possible. Additionally, we’ll be able sell to small format

groceries, packaged food producers, and through a CSA model.

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Business model

Approximately 95% of revenue for our flagship greenhouse will come from

direct restaurant sales. Produce will be sold by the live plant, and less

frequently, fresh cut by the pound. Distribution will be a combination of

direct store delivery by Altius’ truck, and the use of local distribution

services (e.g. LoCo Food Distribution, Shamrock, Growers Organic).

The business model is based on seed to harvest growing cycles of 17 to 24

days. With 927 towers, breakeven is at approximately 700 towers, 460k

plants, or 74% of operational capacity. We anticipate this will be in year

one. Years two and three show a progressively lower breakeven point.

At full capacity, revenue from leafy green sales will range from $650K to

$800K per annum, and we anticipate this happening at the beginning of

year two. Seedling sales, agrotourism, and training will supplement

revenue at all locations.

Agrotourism and community engagement

Taking advantage of our wealth of knowledge to share and the vibrant

community we will offer a series of hands-on community classes,

workshops, and tours throughout the year.

Partnership with Operation Victory Gardens

Operation Victory Gardens (“OpVG”), a not-for-profit, recognizes the

therapeutic role agriculture work can play in helping veterans relieve the

stress that often follows release from duty. With this in mind, Altius Farms

has formed a partnership with OpVG. Together, our mission is to help a new

generation of farmers prepare for and enter a career in sustainable, local

food production. There will be a specific focus on veterans. This

partnership will recruit and train a workforce of controlled environment

agriculture technicians to grow, harvest, and distribute produce. Our two

organizations will work together to produce and sell high volumes of fresh,

greenhouse grown produce in Colorado communities.

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Meet our team We founded Altius Farms with the fundamental belief that now is the right

time to combine the technology of greenhouse agriculture with the

increased demand for local food. Our team has deep experience in supply

chain management, health and wellness, horticulture, start-ups, sales and

marketing, and community development. Collectively, we aim to transform

the way local produce is grown and distributed.

Sally Herbert (Co-founder and CEO) most recently served as President and

CEO within GS1, the largest supply chain standards organization in the

world. Sally served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve for over 12 years to include

service during Desert Shield and Desert Storm Gulf War operations. She

serves on the Boards of Executive Connect/Connect Denver Foundation,

and Operation Victory Gardens, and is a member of the Denver Southeast

Rotary Club.

Jeff Olson (Co-founder and VP Business Development) co-founded Well

Nourished Worldwide, a health food company. He chairs the Jimmie Heuga

Center Endowment, and serves on the Boards of the Turn the Tide

Foundation and Operation Victory Gardens. He is also a two-time Olympic

skier, three time national champion, and Pan American gold medalist.

Don Dwyer (Lead Horticulturalist) has 35 years of experience as a

horticulturist, specializing in commercial and institutional greenhouse

facility design, development, and management. Don most recently spent 5

years in Afghanistan working for the U.S. government on agricultural

restoration projects.

Tim Blank (Consultant/Collaborator), has 20 years of horticulture

experience, is Founder and CEO of Future Growing, and the creator of

Tower Garden commercial and residential versions.. He was lead

horticulturalist at Disney’s EPCOT center for 12 years.

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Potential for growth

Altius Farms’ plans to build a distributed network of greenhouses around

Denver, allowing us to offer the best possible produce and shared

operations. The experience from our first site will serve as a model for

follow-on greenhouse footprints, growing technology configurations, crop

management controls and metrics, and greenhouse management and

operations. Our next sites are planned for communities North and West of

Denver providing access to Denver, Boulder, and Ft. Collins, as well.

43,560 ft2 = 1 acre

We grow an acre of kale in just 5,000 ft2

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