Plantex Co., Ltd. President and CEO Kosuke Yamada

Realizing a new food supply system with "enclosed plant factories"

President and CEO of Plantex Co., Ltd.　Yamada Kosuke(Yamada Kosuke)

■ Profile
After graduating from the University of Tokyo Graduate School in 2007, he worked at Inx Co., Ltd., a company famous for reforming manufacturing production processes. Since 2010, he has participated in the founding of six ventures in Japan and the US. At the end of 2013, he encountered artificial light plant factories. Convinced that this technology would bring about innovation in food and agriculture around the world, he decided to start his own company. Together with members who have outstanding achievements and skills in the engineering field, he founded Plantex Co., Ltd. with the aim of creating a new industry.

PLANTX, which has developed an enclosed plant factory, has been attracting global attention in recent years. Founder Kosuke Yamada was convinced that "plant factories will be the future of agriculture" and began researching them. We spoke to Kosuke Yamada about his encounter with plant factories, the path he took to establish the current technology, and his future goals.

Ever since I was a student, I had dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. The reason I thought so was because many of my family members had started their own businesses. During my student days, I was searching for the theme of my business to start. In order to explore my interests, I participated in various activities whenever I had the chance. Even when I wasn't sure if I would be able to start a business, I took action and made choices that would increase the possibility of starting a business.

■Encounter with a plant factory

After graduating from graduate school, I joined a manufacturing company founded by my parents. I had always been interested in manufacturing, as it was at the heart of Japanese industry. The company was very dynamic at the time, so I decided to join the company, partly because I wanted to see it from the inside. Since then, I've been working in startup-related jobs. I've helped many people start their own companies, and I've ended up being involved in the founding of six companies. During that time, I had the opportunity to visit a plant factory. When I first saw it, I felt, "This is what will carry the future of agriculture."
Nowadays, plant factories are becoming more well-known, but at the time they weren't very well known, so it still made an impact when I saw one for the first time. I was amazed at how much indoor agriculture had evolved, and felt that it had great potential for the future. On the other hand, having been involved in manufacturing for many years, I also felt that plant factories were technologically immature. That's why I thought, "If we apply manufacturing technology here, we could achieve amazing results." I felt this with confidence.

■Key technology for solving food problems: "Enclosed plant factories"

While studying to develop the technology for plant factories, I became aware of the difficulty of achieving sustainable food production. There is currently an overwhelming shortage of food supply worldwide, and it is said that by 2050, 1.7 times more food will be needed. We face many problems, including water shortages, farmland shortages, labor shortages, and climate change. I thought that plant factories would be the key technology to solving these problems.
The plant factory we developed is the world's first enclosed plant factory. Conventional plant factories allow for closed indoor cultivation, but they rely on shelving and control of the entire cultivation room. We call this an open-type cultivation device. Open-type plant factories lack sufficient control over the plant growth environment, resulting in variations in temperature, light, and air quality. This, while perhaps contrary to the image of a plant factory, actually poses challenges in stable harvests, leading to inconsistent harvests. While plant factories offer many benefits, such as no pesticides, fewer bacteria, and the ability to eat crops without washing, as well as a long shelf life, the biggest reason for their failure is inconsistent production. So, when we considered how to precisely control these factors, we came up with the idea of ​​an enclosed system. By enclosing the entire cultivation device, we create a small space near the plants and control the environment in that small space. Compared to conventional open-type systems, this system offers significantly higher controllability and precise environmental control, enabling more stable plant growth. This allows for a stable harvest and supply of crops.

■Patience leads to the present

We had a lot of difficulties before we established our current technology. We started the company with no knowledge of plants or agriculture, and the first two years were mainly spent studying. We felt that in order to improve our plant factory technology, it was most important to have an accurate understanding of plants. Our manufacturing experts then studied plants diligently, becoming knowledgeable about both manufacturing and plants. It is thanks to these people at the core that we have our current plant factory. And I strongly believe that those first two years were a very important period.

I think what's important when starting a business is the determination to make it happen, rather than knowledge of the industry. I want to work with people who are interested in the idea and confident that it will work, and who can continue to think of ways to move it forward without hesitation.
My future goal is to successfully implement various crops in society. Currently, lettuce is the only crop that has been proven profitable and is being implemented in society globally. However, lettuce is not the only crop that can be grown in a plant factory. That is why I want to show that a variety of crops can be grown in a plant factory, and to raise awareness that this is a technology that can contribute to solving food problems.
Our goal for 2030 is to establish a business model called "cultivation recipes." A cultivation recipe is a combination of environmental conditions for growing plants. Our research equipment and mass production equipment are standardized, allowing us to control environmental conditions with high reproducibility. This means that plant cultivation recipes developed in the laboratory can be reproduced exactly as they are on mass production equipment. Using this system, the laboratory will be able to create new cultivation recipes one after another, and factories will be able to download and cultivate the plants, efficiently advancing social implementation. We believe that establishing this platform will lead to the spread of plant factories worldwide, leading to the resolution of food production issues.

■Message to university students

I encourage you to try new things. Taking on new challenges can be a lot of fun. I personally enjoy my current job, which I started on my own, and find it rewarding. The best thing is to find something you want to do in your work. I hope you find a job that is both fun and rewarding.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on October 13, 2024 by Maruyama Mitomo, a second-year student at International Christian University

International Christian University sophomore Maruyama Mitomo / Josai International University freshman Watanabe Yurie / Plantex CEO Yamada Kosuke / Senior Manager Takebe Teruhiko / Toyo University sophomore Koshiyama Rinno