Vertical Farming World Congress 2026
Event Programme
Bringing together vertical farming operators, investors, suppliers and customers, the 7th annual Vertical Farming World Congress is designed to help develop and advance the sector’s future. It is the most substantial dedicated event of the year, featuring two days of conference sessions, networking with key industry figures.
Discover this years speakers
Thursday
Wednesday
10:00 am
CROP DEVELOPMENTS
Sweet strawberry success
Dr Kashif Riaz, Agronomy Director for Production Lareault, Canada
10:15 am
CROP DEVELOPMENTS
Scaling strawberry production to become an active energy asset
Ahmad Mohseni, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of FlexFarming, United
Kingdom
10:30 am
CROP DEVELOPMENTS
Growing saplings in containers
Aigars Jacuks, Chief Operating Officer of Carbon Less Future, Latvia
10:45 am
CROP DEVELOPMENTS
Precision breeding of dwarf tomatoes
Matt Chlebek, Founder and Chief Agronomist of Harvest London, United Kingdom
11:00 am
CROP DEVELOPMENTS
Questions and discussion
11:20 am
NETWORKING BREAK
Refreshments and networking
11:50 am
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS
Transitioning from lettuce to cosmetics and nutraceuticals
Andreas Wilhelmsson, Co-founder and CEO of Supernormal Greens, Sweden
12:05 pm
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS
Opportunities for AI deployment
Elliot Webb, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Urban Farm-Group and Primordia Intelligence, United Kingdom
12:20 pm
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS
Sharing data to improve performance
Rebekka Boekhout, Founder of Phyto by RCB and Co-founder of Vertical Farm Daily, Netherlands
12:35 pm
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS
Questions and discussion
1:00 pm
WHAT'S NEW? WHAT'S COMING?
Panel discussion with Rebekka Boekhout
Derek Pitts, Chief Executive Officer of Farm.One, United States
Omer Çapkinoğlu, Co-founder of Farmicca and SkyCrops, Turkey
1:30 pm
NETWORKING BREAK
Lunch and networking
2:30 pm
Close
2:30 pm
CRATE TO PLATE VISIT
Coach departs from Bloomsbury Ballroom
3:30 pm
CRATE TO PLATE VISIT
Arrive, introduction, farm tour, produce sample tasting
5:30 pm
CRATE TO PLATE VISIT
Coach leaves for return journey
7:00 pm
CRATE TO PLATE VISIT
Arrive at Bloomsbury Ballroom
Tuesday
10:00 am
MARKET INSIGHTS AND OUTLOOK
Welcome address: roadmap to future growth
Andrew Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of Intelligent Growth Solutions, United Kingdom
10:15 am
MARKET INSIGHTS AND OUTLOOK
Lessons from experience of plant factories
Dr Eri Hayashi, President of Japan Plant Factory Association
10:30 am
MARKET INSIGHTS AND OUTLOOK
Back to the future for the North American market
Interview with Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of CEA Alliance, United States
10:45 am
MARKET INSIGHTS AND OUTLOOK
Shift from supply led to demand led
Daniele Benatoff, Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Planet Farms, Italy
11:00 am
MARKET INSIGHTS AND OUTLOOK
Discussion panel joined by
Rebekka Boekhout, Founder of Phyto by RCB and Co-founder of Vertical Farm Daily, Netherlands
11:30 am
NETWORKING BREAK
Refreshments and networking
12:15 pm
STRATEGIC CHOICES
Navigating the potential with the investment community
Peter Bachmann, Managing Director – Sustainable Infrastructure for Gresham House, United Kingdom
12:30 pm
STRATEGIC CHOICES
Serving retail efficiently and profitably
Laura van de Kreeke, Co-founder and Farmer at Growy, Netherlands
12:45 pm
STRATEGIC CHOICES
Premium ingredients for fine dining
Roman Ulyanov, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Greeneration, United Arab Emirates
1:00 pm
STRATEGIC CHOICES
Promise and prospects for in-store farming
Sepehr Mousavi, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Swegreen, Sweden
1:15 pm
STRATEGIC CHOICES
How best to measure and communicate vertical farming sustainability
Professor Francesco Orsini, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences at University
of Bologna, Italy
1:30 pm
STRATEGIC CHOICES
Questions and discussion
2:00 pm
NETWORKING BREAK
Lunch and networking
3:00 pm
HYBRID OPPORTUNITIES
1+1=3: 16 days vertical, 14 days greenhouse
Karl Martin Viken, Chief Executive Officer of Viken Gartneri Frosta, Norway
3:15 pm
HYBRID OPPORTUNITIES
Reducing imports, improving value
James Yin, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of V+ Agritech, Singapore
3:30 pm
HYBRID OPPORTUNITIES
Panel discussion joined by
Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of CEA Alliance, United States
4:00 pm
HYBRID OPPORTUNITIES
Refreshments and networking
4:30 pm
NETWORKING BREAK
Unit economics and lessons learned from Chile
Cristián Sjögrens, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AgroUrbana, Chile
4:45 pm
WORLD TOUR
Satisfying hospitality and retail demands
Jessica Gómez, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Origeen Transforma Verde, Mexico
5:00 pm
WORLD TOUR
Repositioning agriculture for the next generation
Dr Babafemi Oyewole, Chief Executive Officer of Pan African Farmers Organisation, Rwanda
5:15 pm
WORLD TOUR
From construction to stable commercial operation
Stella Tsai, General Manager of Global Business for YesHealth Group, Taiwan
5:30 pm
WORLD TOUR
Questions and discussion
6:00 pm
Close
8:00 pm
GALA INDUSTRY DINNER
Cocktail drinks reception
8:30 pm
GALA INDUSTRY DINNER
Gala industry dinner
11:00 pm
Close