Kentucky-based indoor farming startup AppHarvest is shipping out its first sustainably-grown batch of tomatoes to some of the biggest grocery chains in America this week.
The news sent shares of the company ($NOVS) soaring on Tuesday as it closed nearly 13 percent higher.
Earlier this month, the stock initially popped when it was announced that Impossible Foods CFO David Lee was joining the company as AppHarvest's newly-formed role of President. Lee explained to Cheddar how AppHarvest's eccentric founder and CEO Jonathan Webb pulled him away from the exciting plant-based meat juggernaut.
"There's no more powerful entrepreneur than Jonathan," Lee said. "He's quite persuasive."
Before helping launch Impossible Foods in 2015, Lee's career included stops at Zynga, Best Buy, and at Del Monte Foods for nearly nine years as senior vice president of consumer products. Lee pointed to his time at Del Monte and Impossible Foods as critical to the role he will assume at AppHarvest.
"I've long believed that if you combine technology, a consumer brand, and access to the best investors, you can change the world," Lee said. "That consumers will determine the future for the better."
That's exactly what AppHarvest is trying to do, according to Jonathan Webb.
"We're building some of the world's largest controlled environment agriculture facilities to grow fruits and vegetables," he explained.
AppHarvest's new facility in Kentucky operates entirely on recycled rainwater, and its controlled environment results in predictable yields that Webb said are 30 times what the typical farm could grow with the same acreage. He added that this tremendous multiple is also accomplished with 90 percent less water.
The company is hoping to be operating 12 different facilities in the region, which is experiencing record rainfall, by 2025.
AppHarvest is shipping its first batch of tomatoes to massive grocery chains like Walmart, Kroger, and Publix.
"Over the next decade there's a long conversation to be had on how we're gonna feed this world and what are the best ways to do it," Webb said. "We hope we're one example of many on what agriculture can be over the next decade."
While AppHarvest is starting out with tomatoes, the company's leadership holds no secrets about its international ambitions.
"I'm here to help [Webb] take his incredible mission and company and turn it into a real at-scale global force for good," Lee said. "That's the goal."
Beyond the opportunities for growth, AppHarvest is pushing for a reckoning with how farmworkers are treated on a humanitarian level, advocating for a living wage and full healthcare coverage.
"There's a lot of work to rebuild and reshape American agriculture. It's absolutely important that our regulators in DC be mindful of policies that put people and planet first," Webb explained. "But right now… we're focused on growing the tastiest tomatoes in the world."
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
