Floating Farm
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersRotterdam, Netherlands
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Floating Farm does
Floating Farm Rotterdam operates the world's first floating dairy farm, situated in Rotterdam harbor and operational since May 2019. The company produces fresh, additive-free dairy products — including milk, buttermilk (plain and flavored), stirred and set-style yogurts, hangop, butter, and artisan cheeses aged in an underground cellar — using a circular agriculture model in which cows are fed residual streams from the city, including brewers' grain from Rotterdam breweries, bran from Schiedam mills, grass from local sports fields, and vegetable, fruit, and bread scraps from catering partners Vitam and Albron under a Dutch government-backed pilot. In 2024 the company expanded with a Vertical Farm section below water level, growing pesticide-free microgreens and herbs (basil, lemon balm) in a closed-loop system that consumes 85% less water than traditional cultivation.
The core technology is the floating platform itself — a novel architectural approach to urban dairy farming that brings production physically close to consumers in Rotterdam, supported by an integrated cold-chain, cheese-aging cellar, and on-site shop at Gustoweg 10. Distribution combines direct-to-consumer sales, B2B supply to Horeca and institutions (Erasmus MC, Rabobank, Dudok, Sophia Kinderziekenhuis), retail partnerships with Spar and Gorilla's, and same-day delivery through Picnic. Revenue is diversified across dairy product sales, tiered "Future of Farming" agritourism tours (€99-€339), and nascent biobased products (plant pots from cow manure, co-developed with Studio Lindey Cafsia).
The business model is multi-stream and primarily domestic (Netherlands only): retail dairy (one-time product sales), Horeca supply (sales-led), agritourism (transaction-based), and emerging biobased goods. The company is privately held with disclosed investment from Navus Ventures (2018) and operates with a small core team supplemented by volunteers and interns. Its core strategic narrative — "Transfarmation," bringing the farm back into the city as part of sustainable urban transformation — anchors brand differentiation and supports premium positioning with sustainability-focused Horeca, healthcare, and educational customers.
Floating Farm firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Floating Farm
- Legal name
- Floating Farm Rotterdam
- Website
- https://floatingfarm.nl
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Floating Farm industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Fresh Dairy Products
- NAICS
- Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (11212)
- SIC
- Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200), Dairy Products (2020)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Milk Production (Raw Milk) (AFAEACAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Farmers’ Markets & Farm Stands (Fresh Food) (CRAHAHAE)
Keywords
Where Floating Farm is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rotterdam
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Floating Farm business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Dairy Product Sales: Fresh dairy products including milk (750ml and 250ml bottles), butter (220g cups), buttermilk (750ml and 250ml with raspberry, ginger, and orchard fruit flavors), yogurt (1L stirred and stand yogurt), and hangop (500g). Also artisanal cheeses aged in underground cellar. Products sold through own shop, retail partners (Spar, Gorilla's), restaurants, and via Picnic delivery.
- Future of Farming Tours: Educational tours of the floating farm offered at three pricing tiers: Basis (€249 for 20-40 persons), Plus (€299 for 20-80 persons), and Complete (€339 including coffee and tea). Family tours at €99 for up to 10 persons. Additional revenue from dairy tasting experiences at €2.50 per person.
- Raw Milk and Retail Sales: Raw milk and dairy products available for purchase at the on-site shop at Gustoweg 10, Rotterdam. Multiple sales points throughout Rotterdam city.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Family Tour - €99 for up to 10 persons |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Basis Tour - €249 (20-40 persons) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Plus Tour - €299 (20-80 persons) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Complete Tour - €339 (20-80 persons) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
Floating Farm product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Floating Farm operates the world's first floating dairy farm in Rotterdam harbor, producing fresh, additive-free dairy products including milk, buttermilk, yogurt (stirred and set-style), hangop, butter, and artisanal cheeses aged in an underground cellar. The farm also runs a vertical farm producing microgreens and herbs (basil, lemon balm) in a closed-loop system using 85% less water than traditional cultivation, and develops biobased products such as plant pots made from cow manure. Revenue is generated through on-site retail, B2B supply to horeca and institutions, retail partnerships, Picnic delivery, and educational tours.
Product overview
Floating Farm operates the world's first floating dairy farm in Rotterdam (operational since May 2019), producing a range of fresh dairy products including milk, buttermilk, yogurts (stirred and set styles), hangop, butter, and artisan cheeses aged in underground cellars. The product portfolio centers on pure, additive-free dairy products sold primarily in the Rotterdam region. The farm also operates a Vertical Farm section producing microgreens and herbs, and has developed biobased products like plant pots made from cow manure. Visitor experiences (Future of Farming Tours) are offered alongside product sales. The circular farming model uses rest streams from the city as animal feed.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Fresh Milk (Melk) Pure, unprocessed cow's milk with no additives to extend shelf life, processed daily and packaged in 750ml and 250ml bottles. Sold directly at the on-site shop and via retail/delivery partners to individual consumers and horeca customers in Rotterdam.
- Buttermilk (Karnemelk) Fresh buttermilk made from Floating Farm milk, available plain, raspberry, ginger, and orchard fruit (apple, pear, peach, apricot) variants in 750ml and 250ml bottles. Targeted at consumers looking for flavored traditional dairy drinks.
- Stirred Yogurt (Roeryoghurt) Full-fat stirred yogurt that remains pourable, available plain, with vanilla, or with apple-cinnamon-raisin, sold in 1L packaging. For households and foodservice.
- Set-Style Yogurt (Stand Yoghurt) Full-fat set-style yogurt ripened in packaging, yielding a thicker scoopable texture, sold in 1L packaging. Suited to pairing with fruit, granola, or hangop.
- Hangop
Quantifiable outcome
- 85% less water usage than traditional cultivation
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Floating Farm
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Floating Farm technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Floating Farm partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- PicniccoreElectric vehicle delivery partnership where Picnic uses an electric van to collect vegetable, fruit, and bread scraps from government catering locations while delivering fresh milk and yogurt to those same locations. Enables circular logistics model combining distribution with feed collection.
- VitamcoreCatering partner at Belastingdienst location in Rotterdam center. Provides cutting residues from vegetables, fruit, and bread for inclusion in cow feed rations as part of circular agriculture pilot with Rijksoverheid. Receives fresh dairy products in return.
- AlbroncoreCatering partner at Rijkswaterstaat location in Rotterdam center. Provides cutting residues for circular feed pilot. Partnership part of government-backed experiment to incorporate food scraps into cow rations.
- Rijksoverheid (Dutch Government)flagshipGovernment partnership for pilot experiment starting December 2019 to test addition of vegetable, fruit, and bread scraps to cow rations. Results were promising enough to expand the program as a permanent part of the feed ration.
- Studio Lindey CafsiaminorDesign collaboration to develop biobased plant pots made from cow manure. Addresses manure surplus by converting waste into valuable products. First products created through this partnership.
- Provincie Zuid-HollandminorProvincial government commissioned delivery of plant pots with microgreens for Prinsjesdag (Prince's Day, Dutch royal ceremony). Demonstrated circular economy applications of farm products.
- Rotterdamse BrouwerijencoreMultiple Rotterdam breweries supply beer brewers' grain (bierbostel) as feed for cows. Circular feed sourcing reduces waste and provides high-quality nutrition for dairy cattle.
- Schiedamse MolensminorMills in Schiedam supply bran (zemelen) as part of the circular feed ration for dairy cows.
- SPARcoreRetail partnership for distribution of artisanal cheeses. Cheeses to be available at Spar stores in addition to direct shop sales.
- Gorilla'scoreQuick commerce platform partnership for fast delivery of fresh dairy products to consumers.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Floating Farm competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Arla Foods: Largest European dairy cooperative with broad fresh-dairy and cheese portfolio, including established sustainability and local sourcing programs. Competes with Floating Farm for European horeca and premium retailers, but as a broad incumbent rather than a niche urban specialist.
- FrieslandCampina: Largest Dutch dairy cooperative with nationwide manufacturing, distribution, and brand portfolio across fluid milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter. Competes with Floating Farm across the same Dutch horeca and retail channels and on adjacent 'sustainable / local' positioning, but at vastly greater scale.
- Royal A-ware: Major Dutch dairy producer with cheese and fresh dairy operations serving European retail and foodservice. Competes with Floating Farm in Dutch artisanal cheese and fresh dairy, especially for Spar-type grocery placement.
Direct peers
- Gotham Greens: Urban greenhouse operator producing fresh herbs, leafy greens, and microgreens for retail and foodservice. Directly comparable to Floating Farm's Vertical Farm and on-site retail model, with an established urban-fresh brand positioning similar to Floating Farm's 'fresh, local, additive-free' framing.
- Infarm: European (Berlin-based) urban vertical farming company distributing herbs and microgreens through grocery retail and quick-commerce channels. Closely comparable to Floating Farm on geography (Europe), channel mix (Spar/Gorilla's-style retail and quick-commerce), and product mix (herbs/microgreens).
- Bowery Farming: Indoor vertical farming operator producing leafy greens, herbs, and microgreens for grocery and foodservice. Comparable to Floating Farm's Vertical Farm output and retail/go-to-market approach, despite operating in a different geography.
- 80 Acres Farms: US indoor vertical farming company producing leafy greens, microgreens, and herbs. Comparable to Floating Farm's Vertical Farm on resource-efficient controlled-environment production and on the direct-to-retail and foodservice distribution thesis.
- AeroFarms: Indoor vertical farming company specializing in microgreens, leafy greens, and herbs with technology focused on resource efficiency. Directly comparable to Floating Farm's 85%-less-water vertical farm claim; both pursue pesticide-free, urban-located production of premium greens.
- Plenty: US-based indoor vertical farming company producing leafy greens, microgreens, and herbs. Directly comparable to Floating Farm's Vertical Farm component, which also grows microgreens and herbs (basil, lemon balm) in a controlled indoor system targeting the same premium urban-greens consumer.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Floating Farm social profiles
Digital presenceFloating Farm financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Floating Farm leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Floating Farm funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Floating Farm M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Floating Farm
What does Floating Farm do?
Floating Farm operates the world's first floating dairy farm in Rotterdam harbor, producing fresh, additive-free dairy products including milk, buttermilk, yogurt (stirred and set-style), hangop, butter, and artisanal cheeses aged in an underground cellar. The farm also runs a vertical farm producing microgreens and herbs (basil, lemon balm) in a closed-loop system using 85% less water than traditional cultivation, and develops biobased products such as plant pots made from cow manure. Revenue is generated through on-site retail, B2B supply to horeca and institutions, retail partnerships, Picnic delivery, and educational tours.
Is Floating Farm a public or private company?
Floating Farm is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Floating Farm founded?
Floating Farm was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Floating Farm based?
Floating Farm is headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Floating Farm make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Dairy Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are future of Farming Tours and raw Milk and Retail Sales.
Who are Floating Farm's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Arla Foods, FrieslandCampina and Royal A-ware. Direct peers are Gotham Greens, Infarm, Bowery Farming, 80 Acres Farms, AeroFarms and Plenty.
Does Floating Farm have an API?
No public API is recorded for Floating Farm.
What industry is Floating Farm in?
Floating Farm's product category is Fresh Dairy Products. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAEACAA, Milk Production (Raw Milk), with a secondary code of CRAHAHAE, Farmers’ Markets & Farm Stands (Fresh Food). Its NAICS code is 11212 and its SIC code is 200.