Growing a new model for agriculture: the Orlar story

It is early 2026 and at Orlar’s Da Sar Farm in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, rows of thriving strawberry plants are starting to flower. While most of these will mature just in time for the upcoming holiday season, a few early fruits hint at the sweet-smelling bounty to come. The neighbouring greenhouses are full of Orlar’s other signature products—leafy greens, grown without pesticides, that thrive in the company’s patented growing system. The staff is delighted to show guests around. They are used to curious visitors and proud of the farm and the community Orlar has built here. The yellow shipping container where the CEO sleeps when she’s on-site draws the widest smiles of all.

While Orlar built its reputation in these highlands, its future is not limited by altitude. The system has also been tested in the challenging conditions of the Mekong Delta, where daytime temperatures soar as high as 40 degrees Celsius.

The company’s growing system uses cultivation modules, known as pods, that contain an organic-certified mineral substrate (the patented Orlarock), that provides a happy home for millions of microbes.

As Orlar co-founder and CEO Dr Lyndal Hugo likes to say, the concept was built through years of persistence and experimentation as the founding team worked to bring an ambitious idea to life. The approach gradually evolved through continued research and development (R&D), reflecting Dr Hugo’s background as an environmental chemist and agricultural scientist. What started as a project to clean-up horticulture in one community is now being explored as a model that can influence vegetable production across tropical regions—and potentially in other temperate climates as well.

When the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) first started working with Orlar, the company had 0.35 hectares (3,500 sqm) under management and five employees. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, it is ten times the size, with 3.5 hectares and 50 employees working in its Vietnam operations, many of which are working in ongoing R&D and technology validation. Via Orlar International, the enterprise is also scaling outside of Vietnam. After weathering the COVID-19 shutdowns, when the company donated all its produce to local communities as Vietnam’s logistics shut down, and with all the ongoing investments in development and testing, this represents an important milestone for the business.

And yet, there is so much still to do. Orlar produce represents only a tiny fraction of what’s grown across Asia. Hundreds of millions of people in this part of the world still rely on food produced in environmentally destructive ways. These include the wasteful use of precious water and energy; irresponsible conversion of land for greenhouse development; and the carbon emissions embedded in food miles. At the same time, much of the produce in local markets across the region is contaminated by chemical residues, is of poor quality, or unaffordable.

Finding the solution is too big a burden for one company. Innovative licensing could see farms using Orlar tech across the region, but this is also a corporate development story with wide application. The company’s evolution holds many lessons for others working to advance progress in food systems, development and climate change.

Equity investors, NGOs, government agencies and development funds have all been drawn to Orlar. Its journey has featured partnerships, collaborations and grants and it’s still perfecting the optimum structure to finance and scale its innovation and to change the status quo. At times, it has been difficult to strike the right balance between planning a tomorrow that realises the potential of its technology, and a today where there are farms to run.

But before we look at what’s to come, let’s go back to where it all began.

Orlar represents a paradigm shift in agriculture and its relationship to the surrounding landscape, one that does not put food, water, energy or job security at risk.

Orlar started operations in 2018. SNV, the global development partner that manages the DFCD on behalf of the Dutch government, has worked on projects in this part of the world for decades. With its deep understanding of the local context, SNV was was quick to express interest in Orlar.

In recent years, Vietnam’s Central Highlands has become a “boom town” for horticulture and greenhouses. High altitude and cooler weather create ideal conditions for many vegetables, which otherwise cannot survive in tropical climates. In part a victim of its own success, this region now confronts a range of environmental issues, including depletion of freshwater reserves and land and soil degradation. The improper use and governance of agrochemicals have caused high levels of contamination in food and the environment. The region is also vulnerable to climate change. Crops are affected by increasingly unpredictable weather events such as droughts and flash floods. These can ruin entire crops when they occur during harvesting times.

The uncontrolled expansion of greenhouses to grow fruits and vegetables close to the region’s urban centres and transport networks has displaced lower value crops into forested areas and incentivised the destructive terracing of steep slopes to put in greenhouses. These greenhouses, with their poor environmental standards, have added to the overuse of chemicals and run-off during heavy rain.

The region’s environmental and climatic challenges have been exacerbated by poor human stewardship. What’s needed is a paradigm shift in agriculture and its relationship to the surrounding landscape, one that does not put food, water, energy or job security at risk.

DFCD Investment Officer, Alex Downs, recalls how Orlar stood out as a pioneer. “Orlar’s unique farming system has created a profitable and sustainable model for producing vegetables and creating jobs in the cleanest ways in climate-vulnerable ecosystems."

“With its zero waste, zero emissions, and zero pesticide usage, and extremely efficient use of inputs such as water and fertilizers, Orlar’s system typifies the ideals of sustainable intensification and offers a climate-smart solution for food production in a landscape under severe environmental pressures.”

SNV’s local experts were convinced of the relevance and suitability of Orlar’s approach to the local climate and environmental issues, Mr Downs recalls. “We wanted to help Orlar develop into a viable, strong business that could demonstrate to the world its potential for exponential growth.”

DFCD’s Origination Facility approved the Orlar project in December 2020. The partnership aimed to support the company to expand its production with a new greenhouse; to develop detailed data on the performance of the technology; and to demonstrate the reliability of its systems to investors and customers alike. During this time, Orlar doubled production volume and grew the yield per pod by 300%. As a result, the company improved its operating margins, creating a sustainable platform from which to raise capital and scale production. It continued to lock in demand from key domestic retail partners including supermarket chains Tops Market, Vinmart and Annam Gourmet.

SNV supported verification of these operations and key financial metrics at scale, conducted environmental and social impact assessments, and ensured that the project is fully attuned with local socio-economic needs and government plans. During the implementation of the DFCD project, independent consultants calculated that Orlar was producing 10x the product per m2 compared to local operators. And it was doing so without polluting the environment using just a fraction of the water and energy, while creating jobs both on the farm and across the value chain.

Orlar-grown produce came to be stocked in supermarket shelves across the country. Up-market restaurants queued to obtain the company’s edible flowers and herbs. Distribution was always a challenge—every day appeared to bring a new obstacle. Creative thinking was as essential an ingredient in the whole operation as Orlarock, enabling the produce to reach their customers.

So far, so good. But Orlar needed other options. Pre-existing issues in the Central Highlands associated with the greenhouse industry, and unsustainable land use planning, resulted in constrained and costly access to land. The original DFCD plan included a provision to test the systems at lower altitude within the same province—around 700m above-sea-level rather than the 1500m at Da Sar. However, the data and results being generated by Orlar’s greenhouses led the team in another direction; one closer to the ground. Very close, in fact.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is the nation’s rice bowl, fruit basket and a key link in international food supply chains. It’s also an agricultural landscape that faces existential pressures from human activity compounded by climate risks such as seal level rise, changing precipitation and freshwater flows, and heat stress. This is where Orlar decided to go next. First, it had to see if its growing system could be adapted for low-altitude areas. The Mekong Delta contributes the bulk of Vietnam’s rice exports but is not generally regarded as a good place to grow leafy greens and other high-value temperate crops. Could it be done? And could Orlar be the one to do it?

Some of the remaining DFCD project funds were used to investigate the thermodynamics and energy use required to chill the root zone in the Orlar substrate. A small chiller, pumps, and tank were built to test the process using lettuce varieties from renowned Dutch vegetable breeder Rijk Zwaan. However, energy use was far too high. The pods had high air exchange, requiring lots of pipes and pumps to cool things down. However, the pods could be modified to change this. These tests proved that the Orlar system worked. At temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius, it could grow temperate species.

The company had also secured a grant from the Australian government via its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Business Partnerships Platform to demonstrate it could produce in the lowlands and deliver safe, affordable vegetables for Vietnamese consumers. So, with more imaginative thinking, there were sufficient funds to bootstrap the expansion, and with ongoing R&D there was confidence the growing system could perform amid much higher ambient temperatures at sea level. The next step was securing land.

This proved to be quite a process. The challenges innovative businesses have in securing sites in Vietnam have been well documented. This is particularly the case in agricultural areas. Eventually, Orlar found a site at Long An thanks to the generous support of Mrs Pham Thi Ngoc Ha and her company, San Ha. From humble beginnings in 1988, Mrs Ha has built San Ha into one of Vietnam’s biggest chicken producers and is also in the retail business, with San Ha food stores selling vegetables, chicken and imported goods. Mrs Ha knows ambition when she sees it, and in Dr Hugo, she saw the same drive that enabled her to create a business empire.

Other partnerships were also crucial in getting the company to this point. Orlar worked with Haskoning and the University of Sydney on computational fluid dynamics and Western Sydney University (WSU) on laboratory climate chamber testing. Through the Dutch Business Association Vietnam, Orlar was introduced to NL Works. In 2021, it began the application process for an Invest International facility to bring Dutch horticulture exports into the system. It was successful, and that $750,000 investment was used to obtain validation for the Orlar system for lowland production by Haskoning, and to construct a facility of up to one hectare in size.

Construction of Orlar’s pilot site greenhouse in the Mekong Delta began in September 2023 and was completed by the end of October. The first seeds were planted on November 7 and transplanted into the pods on the December 1. The first produce was harvested on December 29, 2023.

It was quite a milestone. “People have to fly in to see it before they believe it,” Dr Hugo says.” We are growing vegetables at temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius that could previously only grow at between 20 and 30 degrees.”

Orlar had demonstrated with world-leading design, engineering, irrigation, microbiology—alongside plenty of human grit and endurance—that it could grow temperate vegetables in a Mekong Delta greenhouse using 1% of the energy of its competitors. It also requires 90% less land than traditional agriculture, creating high value production in ecologically stressed and marginal landscapes.

Orlar’s proprietary system enables:

• Innate disease resistance eliminating reliance on synthetic chemicals and improving productivity.

• Natural thermal storage through efficient root zone temperature management, eliminating the need for energy-intensive ambient climate control.

• The static substrate optimises microbial populations leading to zero land fill and fast crop cycles.

Orlar’s physical footprint has expanded substantially and so have the company’s plans. The success of the site at Long An has implications beyond the Mekong Delta, and Vietnam. It opens up licensing and other possibilities for Orlar’s growing system to be implemented in other countries that need to address affordability and environmental impact issues affecting food production.

Orlar’s ecosystem of suppliers includes several Dutch companies, from seeds to greenhouse technology, including Rijk Zwaan, Ridder, Hoogendoorn, Sercom, and Vostermans.

This year the company plans to further expand its operations in Vietnam and get its first sites operational outside of the country. Many are interested. Orlar has always known the value ofdata. It has quantified the hard yards involved in those early prototypes, at Da Sar and at Long An. It is growing more than 500,000 plants each month, meaning there are millions of data points from recent years that can be mined to further enhance processes and products. This is underpinned by the ever-stronger technical team through R&D, data and staff capacity and skills.

Further ahead, there is also excitement about the application of Orlar’s system in colder countries where existing vertical and high-tech farming systems require significant energy in winter months to heat their greenhouses. Rising energy prices have made many of these operations unsustainable. Orlar’s technology, with its much lower energy requirements, could prove a viable alternative. This is already being tested. The company has undertaken preliminary engineering to understand the potential for energy savings achievable through application of its technology in the Netherlands.

“The use of gas for heating in winter can be a considerable cost for producers. Our preliminary engineering shows we can reduce or even eliminate the use of gas in winter. We understand all the plant stress mechanisms and how we can invert the control from chilling in hot climates to warming the root zone in cold climates”,” Dr Hugo said.

Europe offers some different challenges to Southeast Asia. “We will need to automate the transplanting and harvesting of produce in order to reduce or eliminate the cost of labour in advanced economies,” she said.

“We have been working on full automation solutions for the technology and we have seen promising results and preliminary success via detailed design, engineering and testing”.

The Orlar journey has not gone in a straight line. When you are forging a new path, sometimes you backtrack. In 2025, with the excitement of the first Long An harvest in the rearview mirror, the company doubled down on its Dasar farm in the Central Highlands. There was a technology transfer from Long An, where the team had transitioned away from vertical pods because the overall productivity, consistency and resource efficiency of flat beds was superior.

There was also an expansion at Dasar. Two new greenhouses have opened as surrounding land became available. The packing shed was upgraded and now delivers to supermarkets directly, reducing distribution headaches.

The last year was one of consolidation, of increasing scale and yield and improving cost-effectiveness. That effort has paid off. In the last quarter of calendar 2025, revenues jumped 11% as the company pushed through the efficiency drive at Dasar.

There’s also been a corporate restructure, to re-allocate R&D assets between Orlar Vietnam and Orlar International, which is leading the licensing and joint venture efforts out of Singapore. Virtually everything Orlar has done has been bespoke, and now it's developing a financing platform that sources both impact and private capital to drive its expansion.

It is complex work with legal, regulatory, and equity considerations. All this corporate structuring is necessary but so is the perpetual need for those driving this enterprise to go back to basics. To spend some time on the farms, in the packing sheds. To celebrate with staff, many of whom have been on board since the very early days. To remind themselves that while the road ahead is daunting, they have already come a long, long way.

“The Orlar story has become so big—from Singapore to Berlin, from Ho Chi Minh City to Canberra—we have proved ourselves. We have hard-earned credibility. Now business is business, but there is an

understanding here that we are breaking new ground and we are doing it collaboratively,” Dr Hugo says.