S’pore vertical farm Growy winding up after official launch in Nov 2024

SINGAPORE - Less than a year

after its official opening

, agri-tech farm Growy Singapore is winding up and is in liquidation, The Straits Times has learnt.

This is the latest casualty in a series of farm closures and delays that have been plaguing the local farming sector since 2023 or so.

The Dutch firm – which produces baby leaves, salad mixes and microgreens – officially opened its 8,000 sq m indoor vertical farm in Changi in mid-November 2024.

According to a notice published in the Government Gazette on Nov 4, Growy is in provisional liquidation, and the firm’s director Ramasamy Chockalingam wrote: “The company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business.”

ST’s checks on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) portal show that the firm has been incurring losses since at least the 2022 financial year, and its losses more than doubled from $2.17 million in 2023 to $5.5 million in 2024. The firm was incorporated in 2019.

Growy has appointed staff from audit and advisory firm KPMG Services as its provisional liquidators, according to another gazette posting on Nov 4.

Provisional liquidators typically preserve the company’s assets and maintain its operations until a decision on the company’s future is made.

News of the farm’s closure comes as Singapore

announced on Nov 4 that it will be scrapping its original farming target

to locally produce 30 per cent of food consumed here.

Revised targets were set instead, one of which is for Singapore to produce 20 per cent of the country’s consumed fibre – a category that comprises leafy and fruited vegetables, bean sprouts and mushrooms – by 2035.

Another goal is for local production of protein – comprising both eggs and seafood – to meet 30 per cent of total domestic consumption within the same timeline.

Financial statements for the 2023 financial year on Acra show that the firm’s independent auditor had noted that the company’s liabilities and loss cast significant doubt on its ability to operate for the foreseeable future.

Growy’s vertical farm in Changi Logistics Centre is partially funded by the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) 30x30 Express grant.

The grant was established in 2020 to support the quick ramp-up of local production, as the country wanted to locally produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs by 2030.

ST has contacted the KPMG team for comment.

On the evening of Nov 5, SFA told ST that the grant was to help farms ramp up and overcome delays during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

“The project was completed in 2024 and there are no further grant obligations,” added the agency.

SFA and the Economic Development Board (EDB) are also in touch with Growy Singapore.

“EDB, Workforce Singapore and NTUC’s Employment & Employability Institute are working closely with the company to support affected employees, including facilitating job placements,” said SFA and EDB.

As at its official opening on Nov 15, 2024, the farm had about 20 employees.

“SFA will continue to actively support the growth of our nascent farming industry through various initiatives such as availing space and infrastructure for farming and facilitating access to funding. Similar to the agri-food sector in other countries, farmers in Singapore face various challenges such as inflationary pressures on energy and manpower costs,” said the agencies.

They added that local farms’ overall productivity had increased between 2019 and 2024, with the productivity of vegetables, seafood and eggs rising by 10 per cent, 17 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.

SFA has continued to make available land to local farms and, in June 2025, it launched three land parcels for vegetable and fish farming at Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Tengah. The agency said all tender proposals by potential farms are assessed based on their merits, with proposals that can achieve sustainably high production levels having a higher chance of being awarded the land spaces. 

It was reported previously that Growy also owns vertical farms in the Netherlands, Germany and Kuwait.

Growy’s last Instagram post on Oct 22 stated that its produce – from kale mix to wasabi mustard packs – is sold at some FairPrice outlets, including FairPrice Xtra and Finest stores.

When it opened, the vertical farm – occupying space slightly larger than a football field – had a fully automated system to transport seedlings from the preparation room to 16 levels of growing space, and finally to the harvesting area.

It was then reported that Growy had plans to build a second vertical farm in Singapore with better technology and lower energy consumption to grow produce such as strawberries, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Singapore’s vegetable and seafood production has been on the decline year on year since 2021.

In 2024, about 8 per cent of fibre consumed in the Republic was produced domestically. The figure for protein stood at 26 per cent.

In announcing the revised farming targets on Nov 4, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said that the agri-food sector – including those overseas – has faced headwinds due to supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures on energy and manpower costs, and a tougher financing environment.

ST had in 2024 reported on a few local farms closing down or scaling back on expansion plans.

For example, VertiVegies abandoned its plans to build an indoor vertical farm in Lim Chu Kang and returned the land to SFA in April 2022.

In April 2024, indoor farm I.F.F.I closed the doors to its 38,000 sq m facility in Tuas.

In 2023, sea-based farm Barramundi Group was hit by a fish virus outbreak that grounded its commercial operations. It was also revealed that the group was making plans to exit Singapore.