Plenty Unlimited Inc.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on March 23, 2025, was a significant moment for vertical farming, not just due to the scale of its collapse but also because of what it revealed about the broader controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry.
As one of the most well-capitalized players in the history of vertical farming, backed by around $940 million in funding, Plenty's decision to restructure under court supervision has drawn sharp commentary and reflective insights from industry leaders.
Despite varying opinions, their collective message is clear: Plenty's stumble is not the collapse of an industry but a cautionary tale of the importance of scalable strategy and smart growth within a rapidly evolving industry.
© Plenty
Industry leaders point to scale, not technology, as the issue
"Plenty is one of many wrong examples in CEA," wrote Ruud van der Vliet, CEO of Van der Vliet & Van der Oost BV. "Controlled Environmental Agriculture (CEA) consists of all forms of indoor farming: low, mid, high-tech greenhouses and vertical farming. In total, the size of CEA worldwide is estimated by Rabobank, WUR and AVAG at 3.7 million hectares. Of this, most is low-tech, meaning limited weather protection, and most of that low-tech acreage is in China. Growing fruits and vegetables can be done most sustainably in high-tech greenhouses, according to recent research by WUR."
"Worldwide, the area of high-tech is estimated at 70,000 hectares, of which 10,000 hectares are in the Netherlands. Vertical farming covers a maximum of 1,000 hectares worldwide. All types of greenhouses are expected to continue to grow substantially because of the need for planable and more sustainable food. The area of high-tech greenhouses is expected to grow over the next 5 to 10 years to 120,000 hectares." According to van der Vliet, high-tech greenhouses are the most sustainable method of cultivation not only for ornamental plants but also for greenhouse vegetables and soft fruit. "With the USD 400 million from Plenty, 100 hectares of high-tech greenhouses could easily be built – enough for about 70 to 80 million kilograms of vine tomatoes per year," he wrote.
Vertical farming still has a place in a hybrid future
Charlie Guy, CEO of UK-based vertical farming firm LettUs Grow, said: "The CEA industry is much broader and much bigger than just vertical farming. These high-profile casualties are less than ideal for anyone impacted, but sadly, they are a fundamental part of the industry growing up. Vertical farming will continue to grow (likely slower than many had hoped/forecast a few years ago...) as a subsector, but it will remain a relatively small proportion (for now) of the much larger global CEA movement that's bringing more and more crop production under cover and under greater environmental control."
"There are many different structures and systems that achieve this protection and improve yield and environmental outcomes substantially vs traditional field growing. At LettUs Grow, we've been focused on developing Advanced Aeroponics for both greenhouses and vertical farms for almost 10 years now. We understand and appreciate the benefits and the limitations of these two different CEA production environments and are happy to advise on this in the different geographies we work in."
The future will be hybrid, a mix of vertical, horizontal, polytunnel, greenhouse, and fully indoor. Alongside traditional, seasonal field growing, of course. The CEA sector as a whole is growing; don't be disheartened by the struggles of inspirational industry pioneers like Plenty. Doing things differently is never easy."
Plenty's go-to-market strategy drew sharp criticism
Other opinions were more direct. Rien Kamman, CEO of Source.ag, said: "Could this money have been spent differently to make more impact on food availability and affordability? I think yes. In the last 2 years investors such as SoftBank Group Corp., Walmart, and Jeff Bezos lost $2.7B due to bankruptcies of just 4 farming companies: Plenty ($1B), AppHarvest ($700M), Bowery Farming ($700M), and AeroFarms ($300M)."
"In my view, that kind of money could have been put to much more valuable use, truly contributing to the affordability and availability of fresh fruit and vegetables: building large-scale food clusters, inspired by Agriport A7 (NL) or Leamington (CA). Agriport A7 is a 1000ha (2500 acre) industrial cluster in the Netherlands, where 3 kinds of companies work together:
- Tech giants such as Microsoft and Google operate large-scale data centers
- Greenhouse companies such as Agro Care, Royal Pride Holland, Red Harvest, and Harvest House grow fresh vegetables in high-tech greenhouses
- Energy companies such as Liander, ECW Energy, and TenneT produce electricity and operate sustainable energy sources, such as geothermal
It's an ecosystem that strengthens each other. The greenhouses can use excess heat from industrial facilities and act as an 'energy buffer' for (intermittent) renewable energy sources, using the surplus electricity from the net when there is overcapacity and providing electricity back to the net when there is a shortage. In doing so, the greenhouse industry in the Netherlands supplies almost 10% of all domestic electricity demand."
"The combined ~600 hectares (1500 acres) of greenhouses in this cluster produce sufficient fresh tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers for approximately 20-30M(!) consumers. For reference, that means one such cluster could provide affordable, sustainable, clean, safe, healthy fresh produce for ~10% of the entire US population."
"Developing such clusters is complex and requires collaboration between governments, infrastructure investors, experienced greenhouse operators, energy companies, tech companies, and other stakeholders. But such a cluster could likely have been built for less than the $2.7B now lost on reinventing the farming wheel."
Community-focused models offer an alternative path
Nona Yehia, CEO of Vertical Harvest Farms, a Wyoming-based vertical farming company known for its social-impact model, said, "Another one. Another vertical farm files for bankruptcy - this time, Plenty. And while I'm not surprised, I am tired. Tired of seeing headlines that suggest vertical farming doesn't work when what's really broken is the business model. Tired of hype getting more attention than hard-earned progress. Tired of stories like this making it harder for those of us showing up every day, doing the work."
"At Vertical Harvest Farms, we've taken a different path. We've spent nearly a decade operating a commercial vertical farm. We've made mistakes, learned hard lessons, and used them to build a model rooted in community, efficiency, inclusion, and long-term viability. But headlines like these? They make our job harder - harder to raise capital, harder to gain trust, harder to scale."
Founded in 2016, Vertical Harvest Farms grows leafy greens in urban environments and employs individuals with disabilities as part of its inclusive hiring strategy. Unlike Plenty, which pursued a national scale through massive capital infusions, Vertical Harvest Farms' approach has been deeply local.
The next chapter begins with smarter scaling and sharper strategy
These divergent views converge around a shared theme: Vertical farming is not inherently flawed, but its commercial success depends on context, scale, and execution. While opinions differ on its role within global food systems, vertical farming continues to show promise for specific crops, climates, and use cases, as other operators demonstrate through diverse, locally adapted models. For now, Plenty's Chapter 11 may serve as a pause point and a real moment for the industry to evaluate what kind of innovation is fundable, scalable, and truly sustainable.
For more information:
Van der Vliet & Van der Oost BV
Ruud van der Vliet, CEO
www.linkedin.com/in/ruud-van-der-vliet-21766831
www.vandervlietenvanderoost.nl
LettUs Grow
Charlie Guy, Co-founder & CEO
www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-guy-084a6910a
www.lettusgrow.com
Source.ag
Rien Kamman, Co-founder & CEO
www.linkedin.com/in/rienkamman
www.source.ag
Vertical Harvest Farm
Nona Yehia, Co-founder & CEO
www.linkedin.com/in/nona-yehia-3b2266a
www.verticalharvestfarms.com