An American entrepreneur is hoping to bring her trademarked technology, which turns vegetable waste into fertilizer for hydroponic farming, to the Middle East and Africa. Tinia Pina’s innovation is part of an ongoing effort to find ways to grow food sustainably in the face of growing populations and harsh farming conditions.
Based in New York City, Pina has long been interested in sustainable and urban farming. She risked her own savings and credit by investing $140,000, some of it in personal loans and credit cards, to start Re-Nuble in 2015. She knew that New York City was exporting food waste to other states and countries, including Virginia and China, at a cost of millions of dollars and wanted to use the nutrients in the waste, which would otherwise be dumped in a landfill, to create a natural fertilizer for hydroponic growers.
However, Pina initially was not an expert in the field. She has a background in finance, which may have helped her secure her first round of funding from Food-X, a business accelerator. Altogether, venture capitalists initially invested about $1.1 million in seed money, according to AgFunder News in 2020. Pina then taught herself about the field and invested time with farmers to learn how she could assist them. “I’m not a biologist or agriculturally trained,” she told Essence magazine in August. “A lot of what I know now has been self-taught. I also networked my tail off.”
Re-Nuble’s product and process have come on the market at a time when nations around the world are facing food scarcity, in part because conditions aren’t favorable to growing crops in many regions. In places where the ground is rocky, the weather is too hot, or rain is scarce, innovators are helping farmers find new ways to grow food. According to researchers, the world’s food production needs to increase by 70 percent by 2050 to keep up with demand, and to meet that goal, farmers and scientists must figure out how to move beyond traditional farming. Hydroponic growing, which allows farmers to grow plants in a liquid solution of nutrients rather than soil, is one solution.
Innovators worldwide are finding ways to market hydroponic growing for all levels of growers, whether it’s a hydroponic setup on a kitchen counter that produces food for one family or a 100-meter-tall vertical farm that can supply produce to thousands of people. This style of farming can be insulated from extreme weather conditions in a greenhouse or other indoor facility, and farmers can control the indoor environment to achieve optimal growing conditions. Experiments in hydroponic farming already have shown the technique uses less water than traditional farming and can significantly improve the yield, flavor, and texture of produce – all while growing plants without pesticides. Crops can include everything from arugula to tomatoes, and researchers continue to experiment with hydroponic techniques for other types of fruits and vegetables.
Re-Nuble hopes to enhance hydroponic farming by offering growing solution to farms of all sizes, from the kitchen grower to the commercial farmer. Using its trademark Organic Cycling Science, Re-Nuble “hyper-concentrate[s] vegetative waste to pull out the most essential ingredients,” according to the company’s website. The substance is mixed with plant extracts and Chilean nitrate, a natural material found in a desert in northern Chile, to create a concentrated fertilizer solution. Keeping with its priority on sustainability, the company also uses collapsible, clear liquid packaging and provides shipping for customers to return the packaging to the company to be sterilized and reused. As part of its ongoing efforts to make its processes and products sustainable, Re-Nuble is looking for packaging that would be 100 percent compostable.
Re-Nuble also can set up its sustainable hydroponic process for farmers, which can help them recycle their production waste and create a “self-sustaining nutrient system” that can reduce their costs and increase efficiency. The company already is focusing on how to use its innovations to help low-income communities have access to fruits and vegetables, and Pina has stated that the company wants to bring more hydroponic farming technology to the Middle East and Africa, where it can help stabilize food supplies and make the farming industry in those areas more resilient and sustainable.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created some setbacks for Pina. After a half-million dollar bank loan was rescinded, the company redesigned its products and manufacturing process and held fundraisers to sustain its operations. Pina told Essence that she overcame impending depression over the situation, and her faith reminded her that growth can come from difficulties. “You have to keep that mindset at the forefront when you experience challenges,” Pina said.