Food, Water, and Energy Nexus

The Future of Hydroponics is Here

Diana Potts - dpotts@alwaysfreshfoods.com cell phone 910-354-8037

OverviewTruly sustainable business requires not only closing resource loops, but also creating a replicable and adaptable model.

Our project consists of solar and natural gas energy cogeneration, hydroponics, specialized LED lighting, and air to water technology. The proposed site is located in NC, with other sites to follow in SC and VA. Phase I of its first, large-scale Growing Center in NC is a large acre site where the Company plans to develop proprietary growing systems for year-round greenhouse farming. The concept involves marrying greenhouses with environmental technologies like rainwater capture, Air to Water Generation, and renewable energy production.

These controlled-environment agriculture facilities can produce 10 times the amount of food in a given area, compared to conventional soil agriculture.

OverviewAlways Fresh Foods is a start up company with an experienced management team. The management team consists of experienced energy, food production, and business entrepreneurs.

The world's food production needs to double by 2050 to feed the world's growing population. But over this period, climate change, reduced access to water and changing land use are likely to make growing crops harder rather than easier

Always Fresh Food reduces costs associated with transportation, packaging, spoilage, pollution, water usage, soil erosion and contamination; and eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and preservatives.  

It is one of the new approaches that form part of a new direction in food and nutrition policy - one that focuses on health, ecological integrity, education, training, job creation and the development of complete communities.

Key Trends Driving Greenhouse Development

Concerns and ResponsesConcern Response

Drought conditions, unpredictable weather, rising temperatures.

We grow inside climate controlled greenhouses year round.

Polluted water and drain on existing water supply systems.

We make our own pure water with air to water technology, filter and reuse it.

Pesticide, insecticide and other contaminants in food.

We do not use pesticides, insecticides or other harmful chemicals and as we do not use soil there is no ground contamination.

Declining usable farmland and crop production.

Transportation costs and greenhouse gases.

In our greenhouses and buildings we grow year round in any location with higher production per acre than traditional farms.

With our systems we can utilize locations near metropolitan areas to provide fresh local produce with reduced transportation costs and greenhouse gases.

Components of the ProjectEnergy: We use natural gas and solar to reduce the cost of energy.

Water: We make our own pure water with air to water machines and recycle 85% of our water usage as well as using rainwater capture.

Food: Always Fresh Foods grows several types of vegetables to include salad mixes, Bibb lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries using hydroponic methods to include vertical farming methods. We do this in buildings using LED lights as well as the more traditional greenhouses.

Medical uses: The Tobacco Molecular “Pharming” Hydroponic Propagation Center will be set up on the site to grow a pure strain of Nicotiana benthamiana – a relative of the tobacco plant for use with medical vaccine research.

Economic: Because we can grow inside buildings, we can expand our project to sites within city areas that are food deserts. We bring sustainability and economic growth to the area. We’re cutting out cross-country transportation of highly perishable produce items and producing a fresher and longer-lasting product.

Always Fresh Foods Advantages Always Fresh Foods has a 5 year Signed contract with US Foods, the

Second largest Food Distributor

From a water perspective, rivers are drying up, groundwater is being depleted, and ‘water crisis’ is now a commonly used term. Agriculture now consumes 70-80 per cent of all human water withdrawals. We make our own pure water with air to water technology, filter and reuse 95%

In our greenhouses and buildings we grow year round in any location with 10 times higher production per acre than traditional farms

We use natural gas and solar to reduce the cost of energy which is one of the highest costs of hydroponics

We’re eliminating cross-country transportation of highly perishable produce items and producing a fresher and longer-lasting product.

Size of Produce MarketsAs a category, “local foods” is rapidly gaining market share in the produce industry, growing from an estimated $1Billion in 2005 to nearly $7 Billion last year with anticipated rapid category growth through 2017. The unmet need is large with 39 states in the nation growing fewer fruits and vegetables than they consume.

Produce Dollars Volume Packaged Salad $3,050,695,662 1,146,328,110Tomatoes $2,363,005,087 1,082,287,145Peppers $1,255,200,648 578,741,373Lettuce ` $1,238,608,892 672,461,929Cucumbers $662,703,831 682,796,460

Investor ConsiderationsDiverse Base of

Customers

Highly Experienced Management and Production Teams

Strong Consumer Demand for Local

Sustainable Produce

Latest Greenhouse Technology

Year Round Production Capabilities

Alternative Revenue Streams with Air to Water Technology

and Energy

Strong Track Record in Diverse Markets

Always Fresh Foods

Experienced Management TeamCEO-Diana Potts, President, Founder

• Ms. Potts, a veteran, a business woman and entrepreneur, has advised more than five thousand clients, identifying opportunities and providing assistance in the procurement of government contracts.

• She founded her own environmental product company and won her first $5 million contract in the first 30 days to a prime Contractor. Her company sold product in 28 military stores.

• Instrumental as an advisor in the clean up and rebuild of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. She

was asked to come to China to help with the clean up before the Olympics and was of intrinsic value to the government in their environmental efforts.

• Honorary Chairperson of the Business Advisory Council in Washington, DC and has served as Vice President on the Board of Braxton- Bragg AUSA, the largest chapter in the world.

• Ms. Potts was one of 20 environmental experts to help write the DOD Sustainability Plan. Ms. Potts has received numerous awards, including the Congressional Medal of Distinction for Environmental Efforts, the Congressional Order of Merit, and in 2009, both the National Leadership Award and the Business Woman of the Year for North Carolina.

CFO-David Worrell

• An award-winning entrepreneur, executive, and author, David specializes in helping small businesses grow rapidly to the next level by implementing powerful financial and business development strategies.

• Author of "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Financial Statements" and more than 300 other published articles and works on Entrepreneurship and Finance

• Four times recognized as a "Fast 50" award recipient for building fast growing new companies. In 2012 Business Leader magazine named him a "Top 50 Entrepreneur" in Charlotte.

Experienced Management TeamProduction and Food Advisor- Bill Panhoff

General Manager of Project- Joe H. Melvin, Jr.

• 27 years of Manufacturing & Management Experience

• Manage US manufacturing operation $50MM+

• ISO certification of both Quality Management & Environmental Systems

• Primary Operations-Thermoplastic Injection & Blow Molding,

• Thermoplastic & Thermoset Extrusion, Lamination & Encapsulation, Thermoset Injection, Compression & Transfer Molding, Precision Metal Stamping

• Statistical Process Control (SPC)

• Rated as 1 of the top 3 trainers in the Catering culinary people in America

• Sold over $15 million in catering and has catered for past Presidents and several Governors

• He has been an International Food Consultant for over 12 years and Provides advice to hundreds of caterers and restaurants across the country

• Has executed a 6 figure contract on Fort Bragg, NC

• A nationally recognized speaker, author, and forum moderator for Catersource

• All staff (56) are US Serve Safe Certified to play the role as food processors

Sales and MarketingOne of the largest commercial hydroponics growers in the nation, will partner

with Always Fresh Foods as our tomato and cucumber seed supplier and advisor. They currently have need of an East Coast supplier for their Costco contract.

Always Fresh Foods has US Foods, as the Premier Food Partner in the project. AFF has already secured a five partnership with US Foods, the second largest food distributor in the United States for all of our locations during our growth.

DOD Healthy Base Initiative and the military Commissary Headquarters is interested in partnering in a PPA on local bases.

The Tobacco Molecular “Pharming” Hydroponic Propagation Center will set up to grow pure strain of Nicotiana benthamiana – a relative of the tobacco plant to use with medical vaccine research. The tobacco will be grown using the latest technology. The use of plants to produce life-saving pharmaceuticals captured global attention when it was revealed that the Ebola drug Zmapp is produced in the leaves of tobacco plants.

Several Local Farmers Markets

Key Customer RelationsAlways Fresh Foods

DOD Healthy Base Initiative

Present Future

Local Supermarkets

CompetitionStrong growth in “local food” demand, the market which has expanded from $1 billion in 2005 to $7 billion in 2014 has meant a unique market entry point for indoor farms higher price point products.

Outdoor farms can not match indoor agriculture due to seasonality, soil conditions, erratic weather, and land availability.

Indoor agriculture is well positioned to satisfy the largely unmet need by growing year round quality vegetables and herbs. Most hydroponic farms are currently in the North or West and on a much smaller scale.

With the current advances in technology and using our own natural gas and solar for energy and Air to Water technology, we are able to keep our quality high with our pricing lower than the other “local food” companies. There are no major indoor agriculture farms in our area currently. Several small facilities have been added to local farms to enhance their seasonal crops.

Forecast

  Year 1 - 2 Acres Year 2 - 6 Acres Year 3 - 12 Acres Year 4 - 20 Acres Year 5 -26 Acres

# of CustomersUS Foods, Supermarket 1 and local

Add Supermarket 2 and Military

Add Supermarket 3

Add Supermarket 4

Add Supermarket 5

# of Employees 15 35 68 110 135

Sales $265,522 $796,566 $1,593,144 $2,655,220 $3,451,786

Expenses $237,411 $285,639 $374,807 $474,223 $537,378

Profits $28,111 $510,927 $1,218,337 $2,180,997 $2,914,408

**All dollar totals are monthly

**Demand already in place for 100 Acres per state

**Each Supermarket chain has 15 -32 stores

**Acreage per year depending on funding

FinancialsStart Up Funding- $5 million

• 1 Acre Greenhouse = $1.8 million with vertical grow systems. (2 Acres to be developed for start up phase)

• Nursery Greenhouse = $1 million• Site Development= $400,000

Break Even Point

• 2 Acres of greenhouses bring us to a profit standing each month. • 4 Acres of greenhouses will bring a $250,000 profit each month.

Future funding will be done through investors, crowdfunding, and grants.

SummaryStrong Industry Trends

• Innovative greenhouse technologies improve efficiencies in energy and water use

• Growing more specialty produce with superior quality, taste, appearance

• Improving safety systems ensure high quality and safety of produce Value-Add and Sustainability Story

• “Local source” produce supplier – market is short of US grown supply

• Small carbon and physical footprint almost eliminates transportation costs

• Highly productive compared to field farming (at least 10 times the produce and over 20 times the amount of produce when vertical farming is used in the same acreage)

Advanced Greenhouse Technology

Always Fresh Foods uses patented vertical growth systems designed for urban farms, rooftop gardens, and commercial growing operations. Because of its vertical design, the system is space, water and energy efficient.