Starting in the 1970s, the technology for full indoor crop cultivation using artificial light gained popularity among companies at expos in the United States and Japan, leading to the first boom in the 1980s. However, at that time, fully automated smart vertical farming systems like Nongshim’s were not yet developed. Instead, all multi-layered trays had to be managed manually, and indoor maintenance was also the responsibility of humans. Furthermore, the lighting used during this period was highly inefficient in terms of economic viability, making vertical farm crops significantly more expensive than open-field crops. As a result, except for Kewpie Farm in the 1990s, no company fully adopted vertical farming during that time.

Thus, despite the global development of agTech that began in 1999, vertical farming was unable to fully flourish as a commercial industry throughout the 2000s. This was largely due to the inadequacies of agricultural technology at the time and the conservative attitudes of agricultural workers who were slow to embrace change. However, overcoming these unfavorable conditions, in 2010, Osaka Prefecture University successfully developed a fully controlled smart farm facility using fluorescent lights. From that point onward, vertical farming began to significantly influence global smart farm initiatives. As research focused on cost reduction, increased production, and reduced electricity consumption, scientific advancements finally aligned with business perspectives, making vertical farming a viable industry.