What is the single most urgent shift the produce industry must make today to ensure it remains sustainable and profitable in 2030 and beyond?
“The current way we farm our food isn’t sustainable — not just environmentally, but from a production cost and affordability standpoint. As the population grows faster than available farming resources, the cost of growing food the traditional way is only going to keep rising. That means growers need to be thinking about fundamentally new ways to grow — either producing something valuable enough to command a higher price point, or investing in technology that changes the underlying cost structure of growing food altogether.”
Hiroki Koga is the co-founder and CEO of Oishii, the world’s first vertical farm to successfully grow crops beyond leafy greens at scale and the world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm.
With a deep background in vertical farming, including a career consulting for Japan’s nascent controlled agriculture industry, Koga recognized a significant quality gap between produce in Japan and the U.S.
This insight sparked the idea of growing Japanese quality fruits in vertical farms on U.S. soil, which became the foundation of Oishii.
Koga previously worked at Deloitte Consulting Japan, where he helped lead the company’s entry into AgTech and advised venture capital firms on vertical farm-related investments.
Since founding Oishii in 2016, Koga has been transforming how food is grown by blending Japanese farming techniques with leading-edge technology. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.
