Hobby to harvest: BlueAcres’ journey in sustainable farming
IT professionals looking to retire find a scalable niche in aquaponics
THE farm was supposed to be a hobby as they transitioned into retirement, but IT professionals Kee Boon Hian and Ng Boon Ching ended up with a large-scale, high-tech venture.
Kee and Ng started out in 2016 making aquaponics kits for use at home. Today, their company BlueAcres operates 17,000 square feet (sq ft) of space on the rooftop of St Andrew’s Autism Centre. Besides growing produce, it also provides vocational training for students with autism.
Their pioneering efforts in the use of aquaponics in Singapore and the positive impact created through their engagement with St Andrew’s won BlueAcres the Impact Enterprise of the Year award in the small and medium enterprise category at the 2024 Sustainability Impact Awards.
The Awards are jointly organised by The Business Times and UOB, with the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School as the knowledge partner.
Kee said he and Ng came together over an interest in two sides of the same coin: “Boon Ching has always enjoyed growing things and was interested in farming, especially aquaponics.”
However, Ng found herself confronted with several difficulties while setting up existing home-based aquaponics systems. For instance, maintaining a “balanced ecosystem” where both fish and plants could thrive proved challenging, Kee said.
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This presented an enticing gap for him to fill. “I like building things and solving problems, so it was a perfect fit,” he said.
Aquaponics combines aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in water), and is meant to be a more sustainable approach to farming. Fish waste provides nutrients for the plants; and the plants, in turn, filter the water for the fish.
“Aquaponics is not a new farming technique (but) it is something we feel is more sustainable, more circular, and it is what we enjoy doing,” Kee said.
The controlled environment of an aquaponics set-up – where LED lights can replace sunlight – also allows for year-round cultivation of various plants, regardless of outdoor weather conditions.
After a few months of tinkering, Kee and Ng developed a home-based aquaponics kit of their own – and discovered a niche market of hobbyists eager for their product.
Over the course of three years, they developed five different models, giving hobbyists the flexibility to choose the kit that best suited their set-up. Encouraged by its success, Kee and Ng soon considered the idea of starting their own farm.
Said Kee: “Between 2016 (and) 2019, the orders got bigger and the (aquaponics) systems got larger. Eventually, we thought: ‘Hey, we’ve learnt so much, why don’t we just build a farm ourselves?’”
What is aquaponics?
Aquaponics involves, first, the raising of fish whose waste provides essential nutrients for plants growing in water. This eliminates the need for most fertilisers.
The plants, in turn, filter the water, which is recirculated back to the fish tanks, creating a closed-loop.
This method also uses significantly less water than traditional farming, making it a highly sustainable option in Singapore’s water-scarce environment.
In a typical aquaponics system, the water used would be 10 per cent of what is required in traditional soil farm settings.
At BlueAcres, tanks holding around 300 tilapia each supply the nutrient-rich effluent used as fertiliser.
Tilapia was selected for its hardiness and ability to thrive in Singapore’s hot climate.
The fish, which spend approximately three years in the tanks, can be harvested for human consumption once they reach around 800 g in weight.
BlueAcres does not sell the fish, as this would require a separate licence. Instead, the fish are shared with friends and family, or used for staff meals.
BlueAcres grows a wide variety of crops, including leafy greens such as lettuce, kai lan and xiao bai cai, which are staples in local cuisine.
Teething pains
In 2019, they set out to establish BlueAcres – a journey that was not without some early setbacks.
Securing the required licences and approvals for their aquaponics system proved to be a lengthy process, particularly as urban farming was a relatively novel concept at the time.
Navigating the regulatory landscape added further complexity, Kee said, as ensuring compliance with environmental and safety standards took longer than expected.
By late 2019, BlueAcres had obtained its licence from the Singapore Food Agency and secured a 2,000 sq ft space in a light industrial facility in Tampines.
Then, Covid-19 struck. “We received our licence and placed orders for all the materials in January 2020. Just before we could begin construction, Covid hit,” Kee said.
The circuit breaker measures implemented by the government in the following months made it nearly impossible to find workers to set up the space.
However, there was a silver lining: By taking on the work themselves, Kee and Ng managed to save significantly on labour costs.
The farm was successfully set up by mid-2020, and the first customer they secured was a local restaurant.
Kee said this was a pivotal moment, giving the two co-founders a glimpse of the potential in catering specifically to restaurateurs. “We recognised an opportunity to customise our offerings to suit their needs,” Kee said.
BlueAcres began adapting its production to meet the requirements of the restaurant industry. By cultivating younger, tender shoots and offering tailored harvesting schedules, it carved out a niche that differentiated it from other suppliers.
This flexibility has since become a central part of the founders’ business model, helping them expand their customer base within Singapore’s restaurant scene.
Social impact
In 2021, BlueAcres partnered St Andrew’s to offer horticultural programmes for students with autism on a 5,000 sq ft rooftop space at its autism school.
The initiative allows students to take on a variety of agricultural responsibilities, ranging from planting and harvesting, to cleaning and packaging produce.
Aimed at equipping students with practical skills, the programme also contributes to the farm’s daily operations. It has since expanded to six classes, with around 70 to 80 students and adults with autism involved at various stages.
They manage approximately 10 per cent of the farm’s workload, with plans to increase their participation over time.
Operating on a revenue-sharing model, the programme directs 50 per cent of the proceeds from the produce sales back to the school – money that effectively serves as rent. The space expanded by 5,000 sq ft in 2022 and an additional 7,000 sq ft this year.
Operating on the rooftop, rather than just indoors, also helps BlueAcres save on electricity costs. The company can rely on sunlight instead of solely using LED lights for plant growth, Kee said.
Expansion plans
BlueAcres has ambitions to expand both its farming operations and its community impact. A key initiative is a “farm-to-fridge” project.
Vending machines stocked with fresh produce from the farm will be placed in local condominiums. This will provide residents with convenient access to locally grown vegetables and promote sustainable, farm-to-table consumption.
The initiative was piloted earlier this year at a condominium near St Andrew’s Autism Centre. “We specifically looked for condominiums close to the farm,” Kee said. “We didn’t want to use excessive fuel transporting the vegetables over long distances.”
BlueAcres plans to scale this initiative by installing more fridges in nearby condominiums, further raising awareness of urban farming practices.
“The fridge, to us, is not just a channel to sell,” he added. “It is also an avenue to drive awareness about our farm that is operated with the St Andrew’s Autism Centre.”
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