Plenty > News > News > Plenty® Appoints Agritech Veteran Arama Kukutai to Chief Executive Officer
Latest
Plenty® Appoints Agritech Veteran Arama Kukutai to Chief Executive Officer
By Plenty

Plenty® Appoints Agritech Veteran Arama Kukutai to Chief Executive Officer

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 19, 2022 –  Plenty Unlimited Inc., an indoor, vertical farming technology company that can grow clean produce year-round, anywhere in the world, today announced the appointment of Arama Kukutai as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Kukutai is a seasoned entrepreneur and visionary leader in the agritech industry, currently serving as co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures, a pioneering venture firm dedicated to identifying and nurturing promising agribusiness and food tech companies. He brings to his role over two decades of leadership within farming, agriculture investment and sustainability, and will oversee Plenty’s growth into a scaled vertical farming company. Matt Barnard, co-founder and former CEO, will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board. 

“Indoor agriculture has long promised a solution to the challenges facing traditional growing, including solving year round supply, supply chain disruption, high water use and widespread pesticide and chemical use,” said Kukutai. “It has taken Plenty a decade of work to solve the technology and operating challenges in order to build economically viable, scalable farms that can deliver clean, nutritious and delicious food here in America, and globally in years to come.  With our Compton Farm opening this year, Plenty will lay a huge marker in proving the viability of a new wave in food quality, security and sustainability. I’m excited  to be leading Plenty’s evolution from R&D to growing the business at scale.”

Kukutai has been an investor in Plenty and a part of Plenty’s Board of Directors since September 2016. Prior to his work with Plenty and Finistere, Kukutai served as executive chairman of PKW Farms, a successfully diversified investment entity involved in dairy farming and aquaculture activities in New Zealand, Asia and Australia. He also led the New Zealand government’s Trade & Investment agency in North America.

“I am delighted that Arama has agreed to lend his formidable experience to the role of CEO, and I look forward to supporting him as Plenty accelerates its growth,” said Barnard. “Arama has been part of our visionary team from the beginning, and with his own farming heritage of running large farming operations throughout his career, he is committed to the Plenty promise to build sustainable, intelligent farms that deliver healthy, safe produce with a focus on premium flavor.”

About Plenty

Plenty is rewriting the rules of agriculture through its technology platform that can grow clean produce anywhere in the world, year round, with unprecedented yield and peak season quality. Plenty’s proprietary approach preserves the world’s natural resources, makes nutritious produce available to all communities and creates resilience in our food systems against weather, location, pests and climate. Plenty’s headquarters are in South San Francisco, and the company operates the largest of its kind indoor plant science research facility in Laramie, Wyoming. Plenty is currently building the world’s highest-output, vertical, indoor farm in Compton, California. For more information, follow us on TwitterInstagramFacebook or LinkedIn, or visit www.plenty.ag

###

Media contacts Lizi Sprague [email protected] 

Blog
Stacked “Vertical” Farming Doesn’t Stack Up
Stacked “Vertical” Farming Doesn’t Stack Up
Indoor vertical farming must scale massively to impact the global food supply. As the vertical farming industry works to move from the startup to scale-up stage, we predict there will be a shakeout between “stacked tray” vertical farms and truly vertical farms. Why? The claimed benefits of stacked-tray vertical farming simply don’t stack up
11.29.2023
More Blog
News
Plenty® Hires VP of Plant Science and Architecture Firm to Advance Development of World’s Largest Vertical Farming Research Center
Plenty® Hires VP of Plant Science and Architecture Firm to Advance Development of World’s Largest Vertical Farming Research Center
Today, Plenty Unlimited Inc. announced significant updates supporting the development of its new R&D facility, which will be the largest and most technologically advanced indoor vertical farming research center in the world.
11.10.2023
More News
Press
TIME Magazine: America’s Top GreenTech Companies
TIME Magazine: America’s Top GreenTech Companies
A new statistical ranking by TIME and Statista ranks 250 of America’s top sustainability-­focused companies, based on their positive environmental impact, financial strength, and innovation, to see who is rising to the top of the field.
03.05.2024
More Press