Oishii, a Jersey City, N.J.-based vertical strawberry farmer, has acquired Tortuga AgTech’s IP, assets and members of the Tortuga engineering team. The company says the deal will “turbocharge” the output and efficiency of Oishii’s robotic harvesting capabilities.
“The acquisition of Tortuga AgTech’s team, intellectual property and assets represents a strategic opportunity for Oishii to further enhance its technological capabilities in robotic harvesting,” Oishii co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Brendan Somerville told The Packer. “In an industry faced with the very real and incredibly timely challenges of climate uncertainty and labor shortages, Oishii has established an identity of stability and continued growth.
“We’re focused on solving these issues with even greater efficiency and precision,” Somerville continued. “In terms of timing, this acquisition aligns with our growth trajectory and the market’s readiness for scalable, innovation-driven agricultural solutions for the future of indoor farming and beyond.”
He added the acquisition will “bolster [Oishii’s] operation without compromising [its] financial stability.”
Through the deal, Oishii acquires Tortuga AgTech’s advanced robotics technologies, including AI-driven models, frontier robotics software and custom hardware. Oishii says it will integrate these technologies with its proprietary robotic systems and ongoing strategic partnership with Yaskawa Robotics, creating the potential to make the company’s harvesting capability fully autonomous.
Harvesting solutions
The vertical strawberry smart farm is currently home to 50 robots that Oishii says have revolutionized the harvesting of strawberries and grapes, two of the most delicate and labor-intensive crops to pick.
“To put this in context, by the end of the year we expect robots to surpass human performance with 98% harvesting accuracy 24/7, 365 [days a year],” Somerville said. “In terms of varietals, by the end of the year robots will pick more of our premium Koyo strawberries than humans and reduce harvesting expenses by 50%. Our robots already pick over 40,000-man hours per month, and this number will continue to grow.”
Oishii says Tortuga AgTech’s advanced automated harvesting and autonomous robot technology — designed for both indoor and outdoor farming — allows for improvements in harvesting and forecasting to assist farms in becoming more resilient, sustainable and successful.
A different kind of vertical farm
In recent years, vertical farming has seen continued consolidation and a slew of bankruptcies. How has Oishii succeeded in an industry where others have struggled?
“The first major key to Oishii’s success in the space is our differentiation — namely, the fact that we grow and harvest berries, while leafy greens have been the universal industry standard product since the inception of vertical farming,” Somerville said. “Of course, this differentiation is only made possible thanks to our implementation of premier technology and AI — implementation that we are excited to super charge through this acquisition.”
Oishii’s Omakase berry was inspired by strawberries that grow in the foothills of the Japanese Alps, where fruit only grows for a short period of the year. Oishii says it recreated this specific climate year-round in its indoor vertical strawberry farm.
Another point of differentiation, at least initially, was the price point of Oishii’s Omakase berries, which made headlines as “the most expensive strawberries in the world.” Somerville says technology like that which Tortuga AgTech brings to the equation will help drive more accessible price points.
“Pricing for our berries is anywhere between $10 to $15 a tray,” said Somerville. “We’re proud to have scaled back the cost of our Omakase Berry from $50 per tray when we first launched, to $12 to $15 a tray today, making them an easily attainable luxury for consumers who wish to experience Japanese quality and flavor. Our second product was the Koyo Berry, which we launched at $14.99 and is now $9.99. From here, our plan is to continue to launch new varietals of berries at both higher and lower price points, so there’s something delicious at any budget.
“Ultimately, scale, new farms and new technology are what allow us to continue to bring these prices down,” Somerville added.
The company’s newest product, the Nikko Berry, currently in a beta launch phase available through Fresh Direct at a price point of $7.99, is poised to be its most affordable berry yet.
“The incredible early success of this beta launch certainly did lead us to consider how we might go about accelerating our robotics agenda,” Somerville said.
Growing pains in agtech
Oishii says Tortuga AgTech has raised $55 million since its founding in 2016 to advance its automated harvesting and autonomous robots. But the agtech sector has struggled of late; most recently, FarmWise announced it was restructuring.
“There has been no shortage of failure in agritech over the past 10 years, but what remains true is that agriculture needs significant advances in the face of global challenges like climate change, labor shortages, and many other risk and margin pressures,” Somerville said. “The fundamental vision and mission of Tortuga and Oishii are the same, and we share this vision with many pioneers, past and present.
“Despite the odds, both Oishii and Tortuga have become leaders in fields where many others have failed, and the melding of our teams gives our broader, shared vision the best possible chance of success,” he said.
Your next read: FarmWise prepares for next chapter in ag robotics
