A Message from the Founder
Hi, my name is Oliver. Since 2018 I have become a big believer of nutrition and giving your body what it needs to maintain a healthier lifestyle. I started to educate myself extensively on the benefits of certain foods and the disadvantages of others. I am happy to say I have turned a corner and have changed the way I view food in general. I was introduced to Microgreens by my father in 2019 who already ran his own successful farm in Germany. Needless to say, I was blown away by the health benefits these Microgreens can provide. I started to incorporate them heavily into my diet, especially broccoli and wheatgrass and I am so glad I did.
I believe education is the key to development and I am enthusiastic in shining a brighter light on microgreens and their benefits. I would always recommend to eat your daily greens but I would also suggest adding microgreens to your diet, you will be surprised what effect they have.
Introduction to Microgreens
My father Georg ran his own successful farm in Germany. He shared his passion with me and needless to say, I was blown away. Not only did I incorporate them heavily into my diet, but I started to develop ideas on the many ways to bring microgreens to the people.
Started growing my own Microgreens
I was curious to see how easy it would be to grow my own microgreens. This was primarily for my own consumption, however there was already an element of business in the back of my mind. I created my own grow shelf with led batten lights, got myself trays, seeds, soil and started growing. I quickly realized how important temperature, humidity and air flow were after discovering some mold buildup.
Wanted to turn my passion into a business
I finally got the growing right, all the elements started to align. After many meals with delicious microgreens on them it was now time to do some leg work. I started approaching restaurants and cafes in Wellington City and surrounding suburbs talking to chefs directly. Keep in mind that I had to step outside my comfort zone to approach random people and I had absolutely no knowledge about the hospitality industry. After the first few venues and 98% positive responses it became easier as I went along.
Started my first Microgreen Urban Farm
After setting myself weekly targets for approaching venues around the city, I was able to secure a couple of establishments that were willing to sign up as customers. I could tell from the feedback that this could be an interesting and viable business. I launched The Microgreen Team in September 2021 and started growing in a more commercial manner.
From living room to larger indoor grow space
A dedicated grow space was needed, luckily "and yes luck does play a role in business" the private house landlord accepted my request to build a 3x3 meter shed in the backyard. At first I setup shelving units with lights, did all the wiring, installed an air conditioner, fans, dehumidifier and started growing. Summer was coming and at that time little did I know, the shed started to heat up immensely. I couldn't keep the temperature under control so decided to insulate the walls with polystyrene sheets. This made a huge difference, now I had the space to build on.
Daily operations of an urban farm
I watched a lot of videos on Youtube before and since I started with Microgreens. I wanted to learn as much as possible and do things right, I guess that's the German in me. There are a lot of urban farmers out there running their channels promoting the idea of how easy it is to make lots of money with microgreens. In part I agree with them, I don't think they share the honest truth of what's really involved to get ahead. Too much for me to write here, but happy to answer any questions for people interested. Anyway here are some of the daily operations of how me and my partner have been running the urban farm. Daily farm activities include watering, sanitizing seeds, soaking seeds, storing trays, reordering trays, washing trays, planting, harvesting, packaging, delivering, discarding of used medium, checking temperature/humidity levels, checking plant growth etc. My daily non farm activities include social media posts, approaching businesses with samples, web design, graphic design, looking for opportunities to expand, coming up with new ideas, accounting etc.
Farmers Markets & Private Customers
Some of these ideas to broaden the reach was through farmers markets and opening up the private customer market. With any entrepreneurial endeavor you need passion and the willingness to learn amongst many other important aspects. The farmers markets was something I learnt through researching what other farmers were doing. After several markets I found that a lot of time, effort and patience was required for an average payday. For a bit of extra cash, why not.
If you want to expand be bold & consistent
A mantra I have been living by with all my entrepreneurial approaches for more than 15 years. Obviously there are other parts to be considered and luck as well. Anyway that has been my constant approach since 2021, applying pressure on the competition, opening up the market, growing the product/variety portfolio, approaching new and old businesses with new microgreen samples, talking to the chefs & owners. There were positive weeks and some not so positive, some draining and some full of energy, but persistence was has been the key. If anyone tells you there is an easy way to success, they are lying to you!
The 2 Year Business Survival Hump
After a consistent run with bold choices, highs, lows, disappointments but also, I believe, great achievements considering this business was started during a pandemic, I have passed the 2 year business burn or succeed cycle and have been performing on a upwards trend since starting. The urban farm is sustainable and delivering consistent quality to restaurants and cafes across Wellington. Now also supermarkets stock our greens with already 7 varieties for customers to choose from.
Dont become stagnant, keep creating and pushing
This is where Micro Nutrition has flourished from and its part of the "never become stagnant and always create" portion of the journey. I am a highly creative person anyway so my mind always wonders to the next possible idea, additions and projects. Now, we run a successful urban farm expanding across the North Island and diving into Microgreen Nutrition opening a whole other sector. There are several projects in development and we continue to reinvent the wheel.
