Tool Sprawl Risk Audit — Vertical Farming

Signs of tool sprawl in Vertical Farming

• Energy cost is the dominant operating-cost variable — lighting and HVAC can be 40-60% of operating cost, and electricity-rate exposure can flip a profitable facility to a loss-making one.
• Capex per square foot of growing area is brutal — fully built-out facilities cost $200-500 per square foot, and depreciation alone is a large fraction of unit cost.
• Most facilities are still optimizing yield curves and crop quality — promised yields rarely match early operating reality, and the gap shows up directly in unit economics.
• Crop mix is too narrow — leafy greens and herbs are saturating fast, and the unit economics of strawberries, tomatoes, and other higher-value crops are still being proven.