“The farm was provided to us in a basic format, and we adapted it to best suit our needs. We can grow more than 900 different crops, so we tried to adopt the technology in any way we could and find a need in the market,” says David Payne, co-founder of Beats Per Minute, a container farm operator in Kansas City, Missouri.
Beats Per Minute founders. David in the center.
“I was a little nervous because the deal was already done.”
Using a local consultant, Beets Per Minute brought in a buyer from a local grocery store that has 25 chain locations and buys locally, and showed him an empty farm when he came in. “We ended up showing him the technology he didn't believe, and showing him a menu of crops we could grow and asking, What is there that the local market is lacking, and can we grow in these containers at a capacity that would supply the local market? The first thing he asked was, We lost a great grower and we need to sell live basil plants, can you grow live herbs?”
After agreeing to this, David agreed to grow basil. It was by no means an easy task, but we got to basil because it was a real need in the local market. After David asked the Freight Farms team for help with what he agreed to, they helped him find the right basil variety that he could grow hydroponically and sell as a live plant.
“We were a little nervous at first because we already had a contract in place, but we were determined to be successful by selling live plants, and we ultimately were,” David says.
Learning on the go
“We learned things like how to combat mildew and moisture on the farm. We didn't want to spend labor hours picking leaves when we have to manage the rest of the produce. We solved some of it ourselves and got help from Freight Farm for others. We did a lot of calling and researching on our own, but knowing Freight Farm would support us was a great help.”
David started the business with four business partners over two years ago and now sells produce in over 51 grocery stores in the area, including Kansas City Market and Cosentino's Market. When he moved to Missouri and wanted to start a new business that leveraged his background as a military veteran, he fell in love with agriculture. After extensive research, he discovered container farming and purchased a cargo farm on traditional farmland currently owned by one of his partners. The company is veteran and woman-owned. Each has different obstacles, but all have adapted to container farming and play key roles in the business.
“We sell in bulk, so the plants are sold alive.” On average, about 2,000 plants are packaged per week. Now, Beat Per Minute is introducing new clamshell packaging and aims to package around 700 plants per week, but is currently reaching a total of 600 plants per week.
Basil seedlings
Funding Process
After reviewing available funding, David was able to close financing with a private loan from a local bank. Financing was completed, but finding a site for the farm wasn't easy, so he ended up using the traditional farm land of his current partners, Karen and Mike. “We created the business model ourselves and knew it would work, but Freight Farms helped us present the right business plan, understood our vision and were able to get financing.” Additionally, the Farm Service Agency ended up backing Beats Per Minute as well.
For more information, please see below.
Beats per minute
David Payne, Founder
+1 228-229-0072
(email address protected)
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