Key Takeaways:
- Jesper Hansen explains YesHealth Group’s commitment to full-service vertical farming and global partner integration.
- The company is expanding from Taiwan into Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S., focusing on high-need regions.
- Education and consumer awareness remain central to the company’s business model.
- Jesper Hansen highlights the challenges of aligning cross-cultural teams in complex builds.
- A call for greater transparency and collaboration across the vertical farming industry.
Jesper Hansen: Building Long-Term Global Partnerships
In a detailed interview on the Vertical Farming Podcast, Jesper Hansen, International Lead at YesHealth Group, outlined the company’s unique model of vertical farming expansion. Rather than selling individual components or consulting services, YesHealth insists on delivering complete solutions and maintaining involvement throughout the farm's life cycle.
“Our goal has never been to simply ship LEDs or hardware,” Hansen said. “We build full farms, we sit on the board, and we invest alongside our partners. That’s the only way to ensure long-term success.”
Founded by Hansen’s father-in-law in Taiwan, YesHealth Group initially focused on delivering pesticide-free, ready-to-eat leafy greens. The company now integrates education, retail, and food service into its farm sites, hosting thousands of weekly visitors.
Jesper Hansen on Expansion to the U.S. and Risk Diversification
YesHealth’s upcoming project in Sioux City, South Dakota, marks its entry into the U.S. market. The decision reflects a strategy of targeting regions with climatic or logistical barriers to local food production. “South Dakota gets cold—really cold,” Hansen noted. “It’s the kind of environment where a local vertical farm makes both economic and environmental sense.”
Beyond farm development, Hansen revealed plans to shift part of the company’s manufacturing from Taiwan to the U.S. and Mexico, citing the need for supply chain resilience amid global tensions.
Call for Transparency and Industry Learning
As a family-owned and self-funded company, YesHealth has remained relatively low-profile compared to VC-backed peers. But Hansen believes the time has come for the vertical farming industry to open up.
“People often guard their designs, but the real difficulty isn’t in the drawings—it’s in the operations,” Jesper Hansen said. “We need to talk more openly about the day-to-day challenges. That’s where real learning happens.”
YesHealth’s integrated model has already proven successful in Taiwan, Copenhagen, and Lithuania. With projects underway in Saudi Arabia and South Dakota, Hansen believes careful, profitable growth is the key to industry longevity.
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