Micro-greens investment feasibility
The figures below are historical financial-model scenarios, not verified operating results or guaranteed returns. The client identity and study date are not publicly disclosed.
Featured case study · Investment feasibility
Turning an idle building into a micro-greens income asset.
A full operational and financial feasibility study modelled an idle building as a vertical micro-greens facility, with projected after-tax annual profit of R871,620 to R19.77M under the stated financing assumptions. The audit ran from tray count and Eskom load through to loan servicing and tax.
The brief
The real question was whether this specific building, this R1 million loan and this Eskom bill could still leave money on the table—not whether micro-greens work in general. The client owned an under-utilised property (a former school, offices, reception, TV room and ablutions) and needed to know if converting it into a commercial micro-greens facility could service the debt and still return a profit.
The audit
Three scale scenarios were modelled from tray count and Eskom load through to loan servicing and tax, after every room was measured, mapped and converted into stand capacity.
- Stand layout — 99 large + 112 small stands, delivering 719 trays per shelving level using existing floor plates only.
- Cycle economics — R300 sale per tray at R50 SA average production cost, 26 harvests per annum on a two-week grow cycle.
- True operating costs — Eskom kWh + fixed connection, R48.50 transport crates, stand capex and R3.12 M annual loan repayment layered on top.
Modelled after-tax projection
R19.77M
projected annual profit at 7-level scale
Even the entry-level 1-shelf scenario clears R871,620 after 27% tax and the stated loan-servicing assumptions in the model — not a verified operating result.
Numbers pressure-tested against Cape Town's published micro-greens business plan.
Vertical yield engineering
Re-purposed an existing 13.4 × 6.2 m building (school, offices, reception, ablutions) into a 211-stand vertical micro-greens facility — 719 trays per level, scalable to 7 stacked levels without a single square metre of new build.
Load-shedding & Eskom modelling
Modelled 3,192 kWh/day draw at R2.61 – R3.36 per kWh plus a fixed R3,000/month connection fee, so power cost is priced per tray per 2-week cycle instead of hidden in monthly overhead.
Debt-aware profitability
Every scenario is stress-tested against a R1 million start-up loan at 26% (R260,000/month fixed) and 27% company tax — so the annual profit shown is what actually lands in the bank, not a gross-revenue mirage.
Comparative feasibility summary
Micro-greens scale scenarios — Low, Medium & High
| Metric | Low · 1 level | Medium · 4 levels | High · 7 levels |
|---|---|---|---|
Trays in production | 719 (1 shelf level) | 2,876 (4 shelf levels) | 5,033 (7 shelf levels) |
Annual revenue @ R300 / tray | R4,314,000 (26 harvests p.a.) | R17,256,000 (26 harvests p.a.) | R30,198,000 (26 harvests p.a.) |
Loan servicing (R1M @ 26%) | R3,120,000 (R260k / month) | R3,120,000 (R260k / month) | R3,120,000 (R260k / month) |
Yield per harvest @ 200 g / tray | ≈ 1.73 tons | ≈ 6.90 tons | ≈ 12.08 tons |
Annual profit after 27% tax & loan | R871,620 (entry scenario) | R10,319,280 (core scenario) | R19,766,940 (full-stack scenario) |
Source: internal feasibility model, 25 Oct 2024. Assumptions: R300 sale / R50 SA average production cost per tray, 26 harvests per annum on a 2-week grow cycle, R1M start-up loan at 26% fixed, 27% company tax, Eskom load ≈ 3,192 kWh/day at R2.61 – R3.36 / kWh plus R3,000 / month fixed connection.
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