Phood Farm aims to serve as a blueprint

After founding their restaurant Phood Kitchen in Eindhoven, Tim Elfring and Sabine Feron began producing their own ingredients. Phood Farm works with aquaponics, which combines growing fish in water and crops on water.

We want to start a movement toward more pure, locally grown and fresh food,' says Tim Elfring, board member of foundation Phood Farm in the North Brabant town of Eindhoven. 'A healthier diet allows you to have more energy and recharge yourself faster.'

Two years ago, Elfring and his friend Sabine Feron Phood Kitchen started a restaurant that collaborated with Jos Hakkennes of foundation Duurzame Kost. That had started growing leafy vegetables on water under LED lights in 2017 in an aquaponic system, where fish provided nutrients for the crops through their manure and required 90 percent less water than open-air vegetable farming.

From plant to plate

Because of the corona crisis Hakkennes had to stop his activities. 'Jos now works as a consultant to get other entrepreneurs interested in aquaponics,' says Elfring. And he is helping us with advice and assistance after we took over part of his system for a fifth of the new price. That fitted in perfectly with our 'from plant to plate' concept.

On the site of Campina's former milk factory, De Caai, where the restaurant is also located, Phood Farm could start growing its own vegetables in 200 square meters in the restaurant's basement in early 2021.

No agricultural background

The founders of Phood Farm have neither an agricultural background: Elfring studied business administration at Nyenrode, Feron did a marketing course. They met during a tai-chi course in the UK that they did after their studies. 'There I learned that you are responsible for your own state of mind,' says Elfring. 'Besides the business stuff, I try to integrate peace and positivity into our activities.'

As an example, the entrepreneur cites the way Phood Kitchen dealt with the first lockdown due to the corona crisis in 2020, a month after opening, by focusing on healthy takeout and delivery meals.

Koi carp

Four months after the start, the farm's production was already running at full capacity, supplying twenty restaurants and four farm stores in Eindhoven and surrounding areas. With aquaponics, for which Phood Farm uses koi carp, the company grows dill, coriander, purple basil and parsley and three types of lettuce on water, which grows from seed to head in six to seven weeks and is for sale as lettuce mix. In addition, the company produces microgreens of kale, broccoli, peas, red cabbage and sunflower, which are created by letting seeds sprout in soil for nine to 11 days.

Finally, Phood Farm has mushrooms in its range, oyster mushrooms grown on coffee grounds and shiitakes and king oyster mushrooms grown on organic substrate, and makes its own kombucha, fermented tea. 'We work in harmony with nature as much as possible and we also want to help others do that,' says Elfring.

An example of this is the approximately twenty people with a distance to the labor market, such as ex-addicts and young people with autism, who perform activities at Phood Farm with little stimuli and a lot of structure, such as putting plugs in the earth. They bring their own guidance and together we find out how they can best do their job. Because they notice that they really add value, they go through an inner growth.'

Dementia

Shortly ago, Phood Farm started 'consumer produced agriculture' (CPA), whereby people from the neighborhood perform hand-and-span services for two to three hours a week and, for a payment of 100 euros a month, can bring organic vegetables worth 160 euros and get recipes. According to the entrepreneur, twelve interested parties have already signed up so far. People are becoming more and more distant from nature, while working with your hands is good for body and mind and can, for example, help to combat dementia. Moreover, working in this way is financially attractive for them and for us.'

In the future, Elfring expects to need many more people for CPA, as Phood Farm will begin a 1.5-hectare permaculture farm in 2022 for the crops that are not so easy to grow with aquaponics, such as nuts and fruits. In addition, the company has advanced plans for an aquaponics plant 3.0: a 2,000-square-foot vertical farm with five tiers, scheduled to start in a year and a half.

Further in the future, Elfring would like the concept to serve as a blueprint for other entrepreneurs at home and abroad, for example in a franchise model. 'My dream is an online platform for a 'glocal community.'

Source: New Harvest