> I don’t understand how a business model that makes money pops out on the other end
Tractors and farming.
By turning what is traditionally a labour intensive product into a capital intensive one.
For now, the farmers who own tractors will beat the farmers who need to hire, house and retain workers (or half a dozen children).
This goes well for quite some time, where you can have 3 people handle acres & acres.
I'll be around explaining how coffee beans can't be picked by a tractor or how vanilla can't be pollinated with it.
I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that, largely, farmers do not own their equipment. They lease it, and it costs a lot.
Edit: Also, 3 people can handle 100 acres of land, given the crop. That happens today.
And I'll be around explaining why it's a bad idea to stockpile $X00,000,000 worth of Equipment in Columbia, where coffee grows readily.
Capital intensive industries require low crime and geopolitical stability. Strongman politics means that investors who buy such equipment will simply be robbed at literal gunpoint by local gangs.