Take a stroll through the historic district of Wilmington, North Carolina, and you’ll come across cozy coffee shops, quaint gift stores, lively restaurants, and a wonderfully curated boutique wine shop. What you may not expect to see is an indoor farm growing lush lettuce and harvests of herbs, but that’s what you will discover at CraftGrown Farms, a 2600 square foot hydroponic ZipFarm, operated by founder and farmer Randall (Randy) Rhyne. He has been in the indoor farming business for almost two years, and from seed to harvest the entire production happens at his bricks and mortar store.
Randy was a US army reservist for 15 years, with two deployments overseas. On a deployment to Syria, he noticed truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables being delivered to small towns in the middle of a desert, and it sparked a desire to grow his own food. Randy knew that he didn’t have enough space to grow horizontally. When he began researching true vertical farming solutions, he discovered ZipGrow Towers. “It has been a real business saver in terms of my ability to produce a variety of crops.”
When he returned to the US, he settled in Wilmington NC (pop 117,643), and set up CraftGrown Farms with an introduction to commercial bundle, which includes everything a farmer needs to be a successful commercial grower. The 90 hydroponic Towers are the centerpiece of his farm. To complement the growing area and extend crop offerings, he also has a variety of other hydroponic systems, including deep water culture troughs (DWC), an Nutrient Film Technique system (NFT), and microgreen stations.
In the summer of 2022, his marketing guru turned business partner David Rishel saw an opportunity to develop the front of the store into a supporting business. “It’s modeled on a New York City bodega… We’ve turned the term Farmer Market around; I call us a Market Farm, with a grocery store in the front and a farm at the back.”
Randy’s business serves other local entrepreneurs and businesses, predominantly restaurants and chefs and, more recently, independent living retirement communities. His prime location also allows customers to purchase directly from the farm for a personal shopping experience like no other in the city.
“The smiles I get to put on people’s faces are amazing. They are not used to food that’s so fresh! People are always astonished by how much we grow in a small space.”
As customers approach the storefront, they get a teaser of what’s in store from the ZipGarden in the window. “It’s the easiest thing in the world to operate, and it looks great!” From there, the fine foods store offers a selection of local foods and European delights, including cured meats, cookie trays, olives, and unique cheeses selections.
And then, just like in OZ (but without the yellow brick road), they see the curtain, behind which is an activity that leads to curiosity.
Bright lights and edible wallpaper?
“What, wait, there is a farm back there!”
Randy finds that including customers in the process really drives purchases “I allow my customers to come in and cut their own.” He gives them gloves, scissors, and a bowl and charges by the weight of what is cut; this can be time-consuming, but it’s all part of the adventure, generates repeat business, and gets more customers in the door through word of mouth. He’s even been recognized at the airport as “that indoor farm guy” on a recent trip. “I guess I am famous now,” he jokes.
He explains that his partnership with David has benefited his business growth. “It’s a great match and a lot of fun. I would recommend anyone working alone in the farm to get somebody that can help. Working 90 Towers alone is doable, but as you get bigger, you will want people sooner than later.”
Randy grows Lettuce (various), kale, swiss chard, arugula, oregano, chives, and several varieties of basil and microgreens.
“The herbs grow fast (in the Towers). I seeded cilantro, and 13 days later, I was harvesting the entire row and getting a third of a pound.”
The Journey
Before learning hydroponics, Randy grew microgreens for several years, which has remained a mainstay of his crop offerings. He is growing and selling over 60 trays per week in the peak summer months.
“Microgreens are a gateway product for me,” says Randy, “It gets customers into the shop, and then they discover the lettuce, herbs, and other greens. We can pull a beautiful head of lettuce out of the (ZipGrow) Towers and pair that with some really nice microgreens; it expands the revenue options enormously”.
“It’s a foodie town, so when chefs get a taste of my food, my lettuce, and microgreens. They are interested to know what else I can grow for them.”
He also gives time to support community outreach, speaking at local non-profit organizations and garden clubs in the region. Over the summer, he led a four-day program with fifteen children under 15 years, where they talked about sustainability and were involved in hands-on activities in the farm. “It’s fun to get those projects going.”
There are two things that I love getting out of bed for. One is the interaction with my customers within the farm context, explaining to them that this is how the lettuce they will buy from me is different from the lettuce at the big box stores and explaining the biology behind it. The other side is coming into the farm and seeing a Tower of lettuce or a Tower of cilantro or chives that grew an inch and a half overnight. Those relationships between growth and resource utilization are a big kick. Watching food grow is a big happiness to my soul.”
Sound advice from a ZipFarmer
Randy is a pretty humble guy, he’s making this all look easy, but he has worked hard to make his business the success it is today. He had no business degree or experience in running an independent business, so when he first started, he admits, “I just jumped in and started growing- I was naive.”
He’s also a big advocate for mentorship programs and has helped other entrepreneurs and new farmers, including Zack Wilson of Future Fresh Hydro, with advice and recommendations. “If I can teach somebody else to do what I am doing, that’s fine too.”
“With a ZipFarm, it’s a great problem to have, but you can grow so much crop that there is no downtime which is great because you always have a lot of produce available, but the flip side is you don’t ever have time to do the administrative side of the business. Get help with the farm sooner than later.”
Tips from Randy to new ZipGrow startups and CEA farmers:
- Learn as fast as possible, but be ready to pay for expertise.
- Don't open your doors until you have gone to your state and department of revenue or taxation. Figure out who will want a piece of the pie.
- Find a new business mentor, whether that be your local chamber or a small business advisory center. It does not have to be specific to farming.
- Start with a good accountant who can run your business and your personal taxes together.
- If you are using a Zip system in a controlled environment, the more control you have, the easier it will be.
- Manage your farm with costs in mind and measure your kilowatt usage as much as possible.
- Let people into your farm, but make it clear it's a sanitary space and not to touch the produce. It's not just pretty; it's somebody's food.
- Whoever the person is writing the cheques for your produce, give them a taste test!
- Start small, start slow, be open minded about your failures because you are going to make mistakes.
Randy says there are many places to learn about hydroponics and the business side of operating a farm and recommends using as many resources as possible. He signed up for UpStart University in the early days to fast-track his hydroponic knowledge.
“There is no substitute for the education from Upstart University. It is tailored almost entirely to the Zip Farm; complex theories and ideas are broken down into smaller bite-sized content to make it easier to digest the information.”
Track, Perform, Repeat…
One of Randys’ best pieces of advice (and we champion this at ZipGrow, too) is to keep a log book and track all the details of day-to-day operations.
- Nutrients
- Ph levels
- Temperature
- When your dosing- time of day, number of hours
- Number of hours of light
“We all want to maximize what we are doing, and knowing how things are being impacted is a way to glean out the details. You’ll see little differences you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed.”
So what are the next steps for CraftGrown farms?
Since developing the business into a farm and retail food store Randy has boosted revenue and sees more opportunities to increase revenue in the downtown space. He is sourcing a second location for 2023. His goal is to expand the square footage of the market storefront, which is prime retail space, and move some of the growing equipment to an alternative location with a more dedicated controlled environment. The store and the farm will eventually be under the bigger umbrella of CraftGrown Inc.
As with all ZipGrow modern-day farmers, we wish Randy and his business partner David every success as they continue to grow up with hydroponics.
Stay tuned for updates on CraftGrown Farms and follow them online:
Watch our previous video on CraftGrown Farms
