Next-level Farming for Next-level Flavor

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in agriculture but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ahmad Zameli, founder, and CEO of untill, located in Hudson, MA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Have you ever wondered where your food actually comes from? The answer shocked us when we learned how complex, long, and wasteful the supply chain of fresh food is. The majority of fruits and vegetables that are consumed in the United States are grown in either California or Arizona. That means that a salad served in Boston was trucked over 3000 miles to reach a consumer's plate, a journey that takes 8 to 10 days. Throughout the journey from harvest to plate, the produce can pass through and be handled by up to 5 different entities for processing, sorting, washing, or packaging, making it a lengthy, wasteful, and potentially dangerous supply chain.

We've figured out a way to grow crops virtually anywhere, in a large-scale indoor enclosed environment, and sell our product through wholesale, profitably. Our autonomous farming technology can be placed virtually anywhere, regardless of climate, and fits into conventional warehouses allowing us to circumvent the traditional food supply and value chain to distribute directly to consumption points within 24 hours of harvest. The result is the freshest fruits and vegetables that are always pesticide-free, always local!

We are currently building our first commercial farm in Hudson, MA, where we will be producing salad greens for the New England market. We will continue to expand and serve the Northeast with more great products such as strawberries and a variety of herbs. To scale our operations nationally and internally, we plan on franchising our patented technology, brand, and know-how. Once our Hudson farm is up and running, you will be able to find our products sold in major grocery stores around Massachusetts and New England!

Tell us about yourself

I am a tinkerer and love to make processes more efficient. I studied Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University and later went on to consult for high-tech manufacturers and help them build and improve their factories and supply chains.

I grew up in Saudi Arabia, which is a great big desert where not much food grows! As a salad aficionado and a supply chain geek, I really understood how much effort and energy it takes and how wasteful it is to fly lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers halfway around the world so I could enjoy it. I knew I needed to act and change this because this problem is much larger than just Saudi Arabia; it happens all over!

I decided to quit my job, roll up my sleeves and get my hands into the dirt of the problem (pun intended) and create technology that can grow food in the desert all year round. Doing this wasn’t as easy as I thought, but with the amazing team that joined me, we discovered a lot about how plants work and how to manipulate them naturally without using GMOs.

After four years of research and development and many prototypes, we finally patented our autonomous farming platform. We were ready to build a full-scale commercial farm. The challenge was not only scientific but also operational since we had to develop a process. The equipment it runs on that, can scale easily and has very low running costs to make it financially capable of pricing its produce to work for bulk distribution.

Starting a business is a very long road that is more like a rollercoaster, but it’s a really fulfilling one because day by day, I get to build and see something great come to life that will hopefully change the world. That’s what keeps me going in the face of adversity, getting to solve big problems in the craziest way possible!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I feel like the answer to this will change all the time. At one point, my biggest accomplishment was growing our first head of lettuce. Then it was building our first research farm and getting it to work. It keeps building over time to bigger things (and hopefully won’t stop!). Asking me today, our biggest accomplishment is getting out the prototype to work to the point that made us comfortable in leasing a 17,000 sq. ft. production space and building it out to be a very large production farm. However, by far, my biggest accomplishment was finding and putting together the most amazing team and working together every day to bring our dream to reality.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

There are probably two really hard things with starting and running a business, specifically if you are operating in a difficult space or with a difficult business model.

The first is finding and convincing people to join you on the ride, specifically when nothing is built yet. Convincing people that it’s the right idea, it’s the right time, and you are the right person to lead them is quite a challenge in the early days. This goes for team members and for investors. As you find success and traction, this becomes a little easier, but as the business grows and faces more unknowns, you need to convince the people that are on and coming on board to help you that this is the right way to go.

The second is finding patience. As entrepreneurs, we are usually stepping into an unknown, not only what it is but also what it will take to figure it out. We also have an irrational expectation that it will happen quickly, but this is not the case most of the time. When I started the company, I thought we would be up and running in a commercial farm in a matter of months, but, like an onion, as we peeled back the layers, there was another right behind it. This was and continues to be my biggest life lesson in patience and trusting that smart and hard work eventually gets you to the center of the onion.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Go for it! Why not?! If you have an idea that drives you day in and day out, pursue it! But, before you jump with both feet in, I believe in doing some due diligence to check yourself and make sure this is the right move. Make sure the market exists, and you can realistically reach it, make sure it scales and can support your business. I believe that business plans they are a really underrated tool that can help you think through the business as it develops and forces you to answer hard questions.
Second, have patience. This is a tough and long road that pays off over a long time.
Third, always seek guidance (mentorship or otherwise) from people around you that have experience or a different perspective. Another set of eyes always helps, and be flexible to criticism and signals you get from your market.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://untill.ag/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/untill.ag/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azameli/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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