Episode Summary:

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Matt Ryan, CEO of Soli Organic. Formerly known as Shenandoah Growers, a name inspired by their start in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Soli Organic is a controlled environment agriculture company that grows exceptional organic produce, at an affordable price, nationwide. Today, Harry and Matt do a deep dive into Matt’s incredible business background, from working at Disney and Starbucks to eventually pursuing an exciting opportunity at Soli Organic. Matt talks about the high growth in the indoor agriculture sector, what Soli Organic is doing to differentiate themselves in this market and the importance of fulfilling the vision of a brand.  

Episodes Sponsor:

Freight Farms – https://www.freightfarms.com/ 

Global Vertical Farming Show – https://verticalfarmingshow.com/ 

Cultivatd – https://cultivatd.com/

What We Covered:

03:41 – Harry welcomes to the show Matt Ryan, who joins the show to discuss his experience as a business leader going through Covid-19, what he learned from his time at Disney and Starbucks and the journey that brought him to Soli Organic 

13:02 – Understanding markets and fulfilling the vision of a brand 

19:27 – Matt’s vertical farming origin story and his first 90 days as CEO 

29:49 – Matt explains how Soli Organic is differentiating themselves in the world of controlled agriculture 

35:03 – From Shenandoah Growers to Soli Organic 

42:32 – A tough question Matt has had to ask himself recently and how he thinks about expansion and growing Soli Organic  

47:22 – Mentors who have inspired Matt along his journey and something that Matt has changed his mind about recently 

50:36 – Harry thanks Matt for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can learn more about Soli Organic and connect with Matt

Tweetable Quotes:

“There’s no such thing as a simple business I learned. And certainly that’s true at soli Organic as well. There’s complexity everywhere and understanding the nuances of business is really important. But, if you don’t understand what the consumer and the customer want, you’ll never get anywhere.” (12:27) (Matt) 

“I also knew, way back when, as soon as I started doing advertising that I felt like I understood markets. And I think that understanding markets is what business is all about.” (14:52) (Matt) 

“I’m starting to feel like I’m in that sweet spot where I have all of the perspective of somebody who’s joined from the outside who sees the opportunities, who sees the challenges, who knows the world from a different angle, plus real understanding of what the business is like and how it operates and how the technology and the science work and the people at the company and everything else.” (27:49) (Matt) 

“The problem with developing brands and marketing in a business like produce is you can’t have a brand if you don’t have consistency. And the way you get consistency is by having a standardized product. And the only way you can get a standardized product in agriculture is to grow stuff indoors.” (39:24) (Matt) 

Links Mentioned:

Matt’s...