WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - August 14th, 2021 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:05.400 This is Bloomberg Business Week inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.200 global business, finance and tech news. As it happened. Sloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.400 Stenovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, Am Carol Masser. My co 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.159 host Tim Stenovic is off this week. Well, it was 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:28.520 another infrastructure week where something actually got done. It was 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.280 also a week of mixed markets records for some equity 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.920 indexes and a consistent flurry of stories on companies that 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.839 are figuring out what work looks like in the fall 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.280 and for a growing number got to say it means 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.360 a delay in getting back to the office. We'll talk 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.800 more about how work is shifting because of the pandemic. 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:48.320 Will do that in our second hour. Coming up though 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.040 this hour, we've got the CEO of Truly on more 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.560 Americans than ever being able to access cannabis. Also an 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.680 up close look at real estate with the co founder 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.960 of rom Or Dubos. They're based in New York. They'll 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:02.960 about why first time homebuyers are feeling the squeeze as 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:06.000 they wait into a red hot housing market. Plus the 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:09.760 CEO of Freight Farms on advancements in agricultural technology that 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:13.600 are helping farmers deal with increasingly extreme climates. All of 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:15.960 that to come, We begin with a story from Business 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.199 Week about why Silicon Valleys many Asian Americans still feel 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.000 like minority. I caught up with Bloomberg business Week editor 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.920 Joe Weber and Bloomberg Venture Capital reporter pre An. So 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:28.759 we've known for a while that Silicon Valley is not 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.920 great with diversity. And you would assume these companies, you know, 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.440 um companies crop up every day here. These a lot 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:38.440 of these companies are are not that many decades old. 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.160 You would assume that they weren't sattled with some of 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.920 the historical issues that other institutions that have been around 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.200 for maybe hundreds of years might be saddled with. But 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.120 one one key thing that we realized was, you know, 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.640 in the demographic reports that these companies put out Alphabet, 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.760 Google's parent companies, Facebook, etcetera, one bright spot always appears 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.720 to be that Asians account for almost as much of 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.360 the company as white folks and sometimes more of the 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.400 population at a company in the US, at least Facebook, 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.639 for example, Asian people outnumber they're white peers. UM ever 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:18.600 so slightly in the US, And so we looked at 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:20.280 that a little deeper and we realized, you know, there 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.919 is a gap as you move up the ranks at 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.560 tech companies, and the data shows this, um, there are 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:31.160 far fewer Asian folks in leadership compared to their overall 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.320 representation at the company. UM. So we noticed that gap, 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.920 and we thought, you know, what is behind that gap. 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.680 Let's start asking the questions and talking to people. Yeah, 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.280 and you know, Joel, I think it is a surprise. 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.120 You know, we do often cover how tech companies are. 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.080 We talk with tech company executives. They love to say 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.079 we've got a lot of diversity and inclusion, and yes, 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.360 sometimes that is the case, but it's not such a 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.000 clear picture. It's a lot more complicated. Yeah, and I 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.360 think that, you know, that was really the thrust of 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.960 the story. And what Prea did um I think remarkably well, 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:04.640 is like there's the data set of the story, ben't 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.360 then there's the human one. And so I just wanted 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.120 to actually like take a moment like these are people 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.960 who haven't often spoken on the record about sort of 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.360 the environment that the work environment that they're in and 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.520 and there were several themes that UMU stuck out I 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:22.640 think in the reporting, and and why don't you just 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.280 talk to us about what some of those were and 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.200 what people felt. So one of the things that is 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.840 most frustrating for Asians in the tech industry is that 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.840 the racism against them is barely acknowledged. There's this idea. 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:37.400 I spoke with someone yesterday who said, thank you for 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.480 writing this story, because there's been this idea that we 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:43.400 shouldn't talk about this because at least we're well represented 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:47.320 at these companies. But there are a lot of challenges 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.200 that come along the ways you're progressing at a tech company. 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:54.120 We spoke with folks who are fairly young in their twenties. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:58.160 As an intern um a woman who moved to San 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.200 Francisco for an intern ship was told, you know, um, 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:04.680 white men here will love to date you. And so 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:07.600 for women in the tech industry, there's this double whammy, 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.960 right of receiving the gendered feedback and also this sort 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:15.760 of feedback that that fetishizes Asian women. The same woman 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:20.919 has been told by a manager or by a colleague that, um, 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.200 you know, you only have succeeded here because someone in 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:27.159 leadership has an Asian fetish, and this is someone in 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.720 their twenties. And this person, you know, has also been 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.640 told that they lack executive presence, which for someone in 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.360 their twenties, you know, is this vague kind of coded 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.200 feedback on what does that even mean? You've never managed 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.920 anyone in the first place, um, And when you combine 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.599 all those things together, it's quite a discouraging outlook. And 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.960 then when folks reach middle management stage, this vague feedback 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.920 continues right related to executive presence. And also people are 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.920 often told, you know, you don't fit the profile of 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.160 what we're looking for in this role. And they look 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.919 at their credential, they look at um, their successes that 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.800 they've had in their career, they look at their peers 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:10.800 and sometimes only differences. They're an Asian American compared to 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.520 a lot of their white peers, and they're less wondering 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.000 whether this big feedback had something to do with their 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.080 performance or their credentials, or is it about their identity. 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.880 There is one person that I think um is more 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.680 dientful than others, which is Ellen Powe. And you know 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.800 that she became famous for the case that she lost 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:31.520 in but it also, um, you know, it speaks to 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.840 sort of what she was able to accomplish in the 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:36.960 legacy her legacy a little bit. So what did you 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.240 learn from talking with Ellen Powe? Well, one thing I 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.800 wanted to chat with Ellen Powe about in particular was 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.520 when she was interim CEO of Reddit. Firstly, why was 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.280 it interim? Right? Um? Did did the board coming in 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.440 decide that she wouldn't be staying on forever? And why 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.360 it was that? And she says she looks back and 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.120 wonders the same thing. Why she had that taxed under 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.640 a title and she let it go at the time. Um. 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:03.599 But one of the things that struck me most was 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:06.839 looking back on her career. While she was running Reddit, 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.839 there were all these racist memes, but users would post 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.720 calling her chairman now or chairman pal after you know 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:18.840 now style memes, um. And and that just seemed really 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.520 striking right to rebel against the changes she was making 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.680 with not just any kind of meme, but these like 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:30.320 frankly very racist memes um calling her chairman pal. So 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:35.440 that that was something that I think if that happened now, um, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.440 perhaps we look at even more than it was covered 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.040 in the past that was pre and non Bloomberg Venture 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.920 Capital reporter and Bloomberg Business Week editor Joel Weber coming up, 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.920 Truly CEO Kim Rivers is back stopping about to talk 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.680 about earnings and an increasingly smoke in marijuana market in 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.839 the United States. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. This 0:06:55.240 --> 0:07:06.599 is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:12.040 and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Spinovik from Bloomberg Radio. One 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:13.960 of the industries we gotta check on this week is 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.400 the cannabis industry. Thanks to earnings from True Leaf Cannabis, 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.640 second quarter revenue at the company beating estimates, up seventy 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.600 eight percent year over year. Profits also a beat, and 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:25.880 for more, we checked in with Kim Rivers. She's chairman, 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.320 president CEO of Quincy, Florida based True Leave Cannabis. Things 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.440 are going great. We continue to see, um, you know, 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:38.840 the continuation of cannabis really this great American growth story. Um. 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.440 You know, even in the face of right and or 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:47.440 the lack thereof, I guess of of federal federal legalization movement, Um, 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:50.320 it continues to be really a state by state story. 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.040 And in this quarter was no different, with strong demand 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.960 across all the markets that we operate in and and 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.520 really a continued positive outlook in the industry. We'll talk 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.840 to me about the cannabis regulatory environment. I mean, this 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.680 is something we have had multiple conversations with many individuals 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.360 in the industry, and I keep I think, we keep 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.200 thinking we're gonna get closer and closer to some kind 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.480 of federal rulings on it in federal oversight, and yet 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.840 here we are what are the indications, what kind of 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.840 guidance are you getting from policymakers in d C. Yeah, 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.400 you know, I think that it's you know, it's fascinating, 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:25.760 and that we came from an environment under a previous 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.760 administration where we really couldn't get any traction in the 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.559 Senate at all, right, and we we didn't get get 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.240 anything to be to to to progress or make it 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:37.920 at all to the floor. Now we're in kind of 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.720 the opposite, the opposite environment where there's a lot of 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.400 interest and a lot of a lot of willingness to 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.560 get something done. And here we have this proposal that 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.760 is so robust um that that perhaps it's um it 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.080 may be and this remains to be seen, of course, 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:58.160 and I'm talking about you know, Center Schumer's bill. It 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.120 included thing that we could ever want to address, right 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:04.080 with respect to cannabis reform. It you know, I think 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.040 that the answer likely lies somewhere in the middle, and 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.240 that this is a process at the federal level, like 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.599 it is with any large policy policy matters. So I 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.200 don't cannabis is no different. And we've swung the pendulum 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.120 kind of from one end to the other. And and 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.440 I hope that at the very least, I hope that 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:23.160 we can get at least some piece of substance policy 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.720 legislation passed out of this Congress. I think it would 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.560 be an absolute shame if if we were to if 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.280 they were to allow Congress to a join without something 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.560 significant passing at at the federal level. You know, we 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.559 know that the votes are there for state banking. Um, 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.880 that's fundantly clear, right, And but you know, at this 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.199 sentence position is that that's that's simply you know, at 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.600 this point in time, not enough as a standalone piece 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.160 of legislation. And so from our from our standpoint, and 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.120 we would be ecstatic with say banking, we would be 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.320 even more ecstatic. It was if it was safe banking 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:59.040 plus some significant element of social justice um in or 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.800 criminal justice is reformed, but that it needs to be 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.240 something right because still on a federal level it's illegal. Well, 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.000 what guidance do you have on that? And how much 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.600 did covid derail the movement forward when it comes to 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.720 either a safe banking act or you know, ending cannabis prohibition. 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.959 You know, I don't know. I mean, certainly and rightly 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.679 so COVID is is top of mind for all of us, 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.240 um in our personal lives and our business lives, and 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:31.280 of course for policymakers as well, and that's understandable and inappropriate. Um. 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.160 That being said, you know, it was. I don't think 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.720 ever the plaint the cannabis policymaking is on the schedule 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:39.240 that I think that many of us thought that it 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.440 would be on in that you know, a cent our 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:46.080 streamer introduced his his proposal, Um, they went into recess. 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.479 I believe that it will be revisited in in September. 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:51.760 UM at that point, you know, towards the back half 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:53.319 of the year. I think there's going to be additional 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.520 discussion around it and will decide whether or not. You know, 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:59.480 that's the path if there's enough, if there's enough momentum 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:03.160 there in terms of a heavier lift, or if instead, um, 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.840 it should be paired back into something and that may 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.360 be more palatable for a bipartison, for a pipartisan um, 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.640 you know, the ability to get passed them from on 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.760 a bark on a bipartisan basis, which of course we 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.880 would like to see as well, because the reality is 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:17.920 is that when you look at the states and you 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:19.840 look at what's happening at the state level, you know, 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.360 we just want to license in Georgia for getting operational there. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:24.760 You look at what happened last November with states like 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.200 Mississippi passing a medical a medical um initiative, you know, 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.440 Arizona going recreational. I mean at the state level, things 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.600 are not slowing down, as a matter of fact, they're accelerating. So, 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.120 you know, I think it's important for folks to realize 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:40.120 that the growth of the industry is not tied to 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.280 what happens in dc UM really at all. UM. It 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.040 makes it more difficult from a we just paid eighty 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.760 million dollars in taxes, for example, under to eight UM. 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.520 But you know, Indy cats these businesses, but it isn't 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.440 slowing down demand. Hey, Kim, so talk to us about 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.520 some of the strategies you guys have been working on. 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:03.600 You have been making some acquisitions, you've been expanding where 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.800 you are operational and that includes Massachusetts also West Virginia. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.000 So give us a little bit more insight into, uh, 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.680 how growth has been going. Yeah, absolutely, so we you know, 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:16.040 we started in Florida and we were in our the 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:20.120 market leader, uh you know, significant market leader in Florida 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:24.520 with about of the stores and have approximately over of 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:26.640 the market here. And that was purposeful and that we 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.560 really wanted to ensure a couple of things. One that 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.520 we could actually scale a cannabis company in a market 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.720 that allowed us to do so, and into we wanted 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:39.000 to get our very solid financial footing prior to expanding 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:42.880 into other markets. And so truly has UM certainly a 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.360 reputation of being the most profitable cannabis business in the 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.480 US UM and that has allowed us to fuel our 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.320 growth um internally and really kind of insulated us from 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:56.079 the volatility of the capital markets over time. And so however, 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.679 UM that being said, we started five years ago and 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.960 really about a team months ago, we made a strategic 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.800 decision to begin expanding UM in a hub and spoke 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.839 model across the US, and we did that first by 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.280 expanding into the Northeast. As you mentioned, we have operations 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.120 in Massachusetts. We also have operations in Pennsylvania recently made 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:18.040 another acquisition there as well as UM as well as 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.920 West Virginia in Connecticut. UH, and then UM we we 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.000 decided that it was time for us to really take 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.360 a card look at where we wanted to go from 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:31.280 there and which other markets were our next moves, and 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:33.160 whether or not we wanted to make a bigger a 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.880 bigger move or continue this UM this sort of you know, 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:39.920 state by state or company by company strategy. And at 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.800 that point we decided to UH kind of go big, 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.520 if you will, and UM entered into a deal with 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:49.160 Harvest and Health and Recreation. Harvest is the largest player 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.640 in Arizona. They also have significant presence in Pennsylvania and 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:56.560 also operations in Florida. Combined, we will be by far 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.480 the largest cannabis company in the US. UM. But any 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.840 available metric UM this quarter on a combined basis, how 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.560 do we closed the deal? So the Harvest shareholders voted 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.880 on the transaction and we're looking to close here as 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.679 soon and if we if we were combined today, we 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.040 would have you know, top line seventeen point six million 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.360 in revenue, hundred two point nine million in in Ebada 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:20.840 would be in eleven states, have a hundred and forty 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.720 stores and over three million score feet of grow. That 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.920 grow footprint is about fifty larger than any competitor in 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.360 the number of stores is north of thirty. So um, 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.800 we will be the dominant player in the in the space. 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.560 That was true leaves CEO Kim Rivers. Check out that 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.200 full conversation. You can find it at Bloomberg dot com. 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.360 Still ahead on Bloomberg Business Week, from growing and selling 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.520 cannabis to farming and freight containers. That's coming up next. 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:52.880 This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from the financial capital of the 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.800 world Bloomberg eleven Rio in New York to Washington, d C. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:01.720 Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one does San Francisco, 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:05.240 Bloomberg nine sixty to the country Sirius xm JEDDO one 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.240 nine team and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:12.720 and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Business Week. 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.640 So when I got this pitch, I thought our audience, 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.040 our Bloomberg audience, might be interested. It's a company that's 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.400 on a mission to create a global infrastructure for local 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:25.440 access to food. So far, they've spread across thirty four countries, 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.000 foarding on US states and territories, and have created more 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.200 than six d freight farmers all over the past eight years. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.520 Here with what they are doing and how climate change 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.400 is definitely playing a role in all of this, as 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.280 well as Rick Venzera, he's CEO of Freight Farms. Rick 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.000 tell us a little bit about exactly what you guys 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.640 have been doing over the past almost ten years here. 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:46.280 I think it's actually might be even longer than ten years, 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.120 right right, yeah? Are our co founders, John Friedman and 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:54.720 Brad McNamara came together in to try and address um 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.800 urban access to food and food deserts with roof top gardens. 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.640 They realized pretty quickly that that wasn't a very economical 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:08.080 or our practical approach to um to scaling, so in 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.640 they they founded Freight Farms, and and John came up 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:16.560 with this crazy idea too to grow produce inside a 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:21.040 used shipping container because he saw that there were many 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.800 of them around and that if you put led lights 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.800 in the right environmentals in it and nutrients that you 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.160 could grow produce. And and since then we've gone through 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:35.960 ten generations of farms, and and uh UM realized that 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.400 trying to use use shipping containers really wasn't optimized for growing, 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:44.720 so developed a lot of patents around UM optimizing growth 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.880 and customized shipping containers. So we launched the greenery in 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:52.440 and we've gone through several of the evolutions of that 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.920 to come to the greenery s and in a nutshell, 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.400 it allows you to grow about two and a half 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:02.560 acres of produce in UM an eight by forty ft 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:07.240 shipping container, and you can do it with UM less 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:13.920 water than traditional agriculture, no soil. It dramatically cuts transportation miles. 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:18.119 Nine of the lettuce in the US comes from fields 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.160 in Salinas, California, so here on the East Coast, that's 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.920 having to spend several days and travel thousands of miles 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.080 to get to uh shelves and grocery stores on the 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.200 East Coast. Whereas you can grow in our shipping containers 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.840 UM anywhere in virtually any climate, any time, So we 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.959 can put those containers right where there's need and deliver 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:44.879 you know, hyperlocal sustainable fresh produce UM anywhere where you 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.359 have access to power and water. So that's it. And 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.080 based on that, we're now in in forty nine states 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.919 and in our thirty fourth country. So UM it's been. 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:59.520 It's been, uh just a great turn and uh great 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:03.160 to do some thing that's that's um scalable and good 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.040 for folks around the world. Talk to me about the 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:09.280 financial dynamics of what you are doing. UM, the cost 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.600 equation of all of this and how that works. Our 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:16.800 farms cost a hundred thirty nine thousand dollars, which pretty 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:21.680 low cost of access for commercial farming, particularly given it 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.919 it takes virtually no footprint, and on that investment you 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.800 can get a payback in about two years. Again thanks 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:33.080 to the advances in the technology, you can you can 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.400 grow that two and a half acres worth of crops 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.720 and UM. You know, I've I've been involved in evolving 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:43.280 technology that months before in my life, where early stage 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.359 it looks like how is this ever going to make sense? 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:47.120 And then it gets to the point where it kind 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.280 of makes sense, and then a few years later it 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.800 leads leads the alternatives and the dullest, So I think 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.439 not just for us, but for the industry in general, 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.600 you're seeing that same sort of evolution. I mentioned climate 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.639 chain in the lead up to this, and we certainly 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.320 were talking. Everybody was about the latest report from the 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:09.040 u N and talking about UM the impact that certainly 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:12.679 humans are having on our climate. Food is one of 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.359 those things we talk about it, but I don't think 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:20.800 we realize how dangerous a situation we could be getting 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.680 into because of climate change and making it much more 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.760 difficult to grow the food that the world needs. How 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.120 do you think about climate change and what you what 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:34.760 you folks are doing absolutely critical issue with se of 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:39.679 of the world's freshwater resources go towards agriculture. We've lost 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.680 about a third of the arable land on Earth over 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:46.200 the last forty years for a variety of reasons, including 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.080 climate change, and and you know, we've all read about 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.040 a lot of the devastating things that are happening with 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:56.359 fresh water levels and just climate conditions generally to grow 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.600 around the world. So you know, having a solution that 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.959 doesn't rely on soil, that UM takes memory water and 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.879 can grow in an extreme climate is really important. And 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:10.720 you know we're going to have to preserve what we 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.840 can you know, the latest reports. As you have said, 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.960 we're now at the point where, um, you can't turn 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.840 back the clock, but at least protect what we have 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.119 and we need to do that. That's Rick van Zura. 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:26.040 He's the CEO of Freight Farms. You're listening to Bloomberg 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.119 Business Week straight ahead. What really is going on in 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:32.920 residential and commercial real estate? One hint, not so great 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:35.080 to be a first time home buyer. We'll get an 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:37.360 update from the co founder of the boutique real estate 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:48.240 law firm Rummer to bas. This is Bloomberg. You're listening 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:52.399 to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:57.520 Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. All right, so real estate 0:20:57.560 --> 0:20:59.000 is something we'd like to talk about a lot, and 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.320 we do it and covered a lot here at Bloomberg. 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.480 And there are a few stories. Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust, 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.520 a caring WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust that was 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:10.280 a cash deal value at three point one billion, included debt. 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.760 You've also had the Biden administration urging state and local 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.800 governments to move quickly to distribute billions of dollars provided 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:19.840 by Congress to help struggling renters and landlords. So there 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.159 is a lot always going on when it comes to 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:24.880 real estate. So someone who's got a front row seat 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:27.320 to it all. Pierre du bas He is co founder 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.320 managing partner of Rumor Dubas. It is the boutique real 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:32.399 estate law firm. It's based in New York City, in 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:36.560 Midtown Manhattan. Pierre, good to have you back. How are you, Carol. 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:38.280 Great to hear from you. Thanks for having me back 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:39.920 on the show. Well, it's great to have you here. 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.120 How are things going? And I think the last time 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.360 we talked was maybe I think back in November. UM, 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:49.320 tell me how the world is right now from your perspective. Well, 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:52.200 it's a loaded question, but you know, luckily it seems 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.440 that you know, we we've been in an upper progression 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.239 and I think that everybody in town, you know, is 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:00.639 sitting here saying, you know, is it Alta Varian going 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.439 to take us a step back? And you know, praying 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:06.080