AppHarvest

AppHarvest promised to revolutionize American agriculture with massive high-tech greenhouses in Appalachian Kentucky. The company's pitch combined sustainability (using 90% less water than open-field farming), technology (AI-controlled growing environments), and social impact (creating jobs in economically depressed Appalachian communities).

The company merged with Novus Capital Corp in February 2021, with celebrity board member Martha Stewart lending credibility. The stock surged to $42, valuing the company at $1 billion. AppHarvest opened its first 60-acre greenhouse in Morehead, Kentucky, growing tomatoes.

But growing tomatoes at scale proved far harder and more expensive than projected. The high-tech greenhouse had enormous operational costs, and AppHarvest's tomatoes had to compete with cheaper imports from Mexico. The company reported massive losses on every tomato sold — it literally cost more to grow them than grocery chains would pay.

AppHarvest pivoted to building additional facilities for leafy greens and berries, but each new facility added more debt and more losses without solving the unit economics problem. A securities fraud lawsuit alleged the company had misrepresented its technology and production capabilities. By July 2023, AppHarvest filed Chapter 11, and its facilities were sold at auction.