S4E50: Ray Urrutia - Impacting Humanity and Feeding the World Organically through Terraponics

Episode Summary:

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Ray Urrutia, Founder and CEO of Terra Firma Foods, an organization seeking to develop vertical farms and an innovative way to grow organic crops. Today, Harry and Ray discuss how Ray’s illustrious business background and charitable nature led him to the vertical farming industry. Ray speaks to the challenges that Terra Firma Foods faces and their plans to develop and ‘branchise’ their model farms across the U.S. and, eventually, nationally and internationally. Ray also shares his unique viewpoint of other competing vertical farming organizations and his belief in acting on ideas. Finally, Ray speculates on what the future holds for Terra Firma Foods and invites listeners to reach out to him to learn more.

Episodes Sponsor:

Global Vertical Farming Show – https://verticalfarmingshow.com/

Cultivatd – https://cultivatd.com/

What We Covered:

03:41 – Harry welcomes to the show Ray Urrutia who speaks to his background in business and his charitable spirit

12:13 – The work Ray’s done at the Financial Strategist Consulting Firm, RAU

15:58 – Fostering lifelong relationships is business

17:24 – Ray recalls the moment he realized how critical vertical farming could be

20:41 – Terra Firma’s business model and terraponics explained

29:23 – Why Ray has no competition in the vertical farming landscape

32:19 – Challenges that Ray foresees for Terra Firma

36:54 – Securing funds and setting up R&D for Terra Firma

41:49 – Ray speaks to what leaving a legacy means to him as well as his ongoing spiritual journey

49:25 – Harry thanks Ray for joining the show and reiterates where listeners can go to learn more about Terra Firma and connect with Ray

Tweetable Quotes:

“And that’s where food comes in. The necessities of life are eating, shelter, clothing and, in today’s world, transportation. But I look at eating and it’s always been on my mind and in my heart because I couldn’t understand why a country like ours has so many hungry people or a country like ours has food shelters and shelters for people to live in because they don’t have housing.” (08:04) (Ray)

“That process, when you look at it, is very archaic because when you cut something and chill it right away, it’s already dying. Chilling does not preserve it. If you take anything that’s wet and you chill it, it’s gonna get cold and freeze. When it freezes, it’s gotta thaw. And I think that’s where the grocery stores in the economic areas that need help can’t get what they’re looking for.” (11:04) (Ray)

“I believe food, and the growing of food, is gonna be that billion dollar business for anybody’s involvement in it for the next twenty to twenty-five years.” (14:14) (Ray)

“The first thing I saw with that was I can have an impact on the world. It wasn’t how much money I could make or I didn’t even know what it was gonna take. But I said, ‘I could feed the world.’ So when I looked at this I said, ‘Ok, a small container produces three thousand pounds of food per month. I need to produce more than that to feed the people I want to feed and also the customers I’m pursuing.” (17:57) (Ray)

“Throughout my career, in anything I’ve ever sold or been a part of, I never looked at anybody as being competition. I think they’re always a complement to each other. We may do it differently, we may do it the same way. But the more of us out there, the more the word gets out.” (29:45) (Ray)

“One of my idols - if I can call him that - is Ray Croc. The business modeling that he put together and the way he did it. I want to be the McDonalds of vertical farming.” (32:03) (Ray)

“I always tell my kids, ‘If you see something, do something. If you have an idea, act upon it. The worst that could happen is not you being wrong. The worst that could happen is that you’re right and somebody else did it and you didn’t.’” (41:37) (Ray)

Links Mentioned:

Ray’s LinkedIn

Terra Firma Website

Vertical Farming Show

Link to Visioneering Book

Link to The Silent Sea on Netflix

Ray’s Phone Number – (630) 429-4025

Ray’s Email

Sponsor Info:

Cultivatd Website

Cultivatd Instagram

Cultivatd’s Twitter

Cultivatd’s Facebook

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Mentioned in this episode:

2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews

2025 Precision Ag Report

2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews

2025 Precision Ag Report