Huge hint about future of Dyson products

When James Dyson launched new hair straighteners in New York last week he quietly revealed a massive clue about the company’s future.

British entrepreneur Sir James Dyson has dropped a big hint about the future of his business and the products it produces.

The future plans may come as a surprise to Australians that are used to Dyson manufacturing vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and snazzy fans.

As well as producing hi-tech gadgets, Mr Dyson is also one of the UK’s biggest farmers with 35,000 acres of land producing potatoes, cereals and strawberries as well as creating energy for thousands of UK homes.

At an event in New York last week, the founder and chief engineer of Dyson suggested that, in future, some Dyson products could contain materials grown on his farms.

Dyson founder Sir James Dyson has given a big hit about the future of the firm.

Mr Dyson, who is worth a cool $23 billion, was in the US city to launch the Airstrait hair straighteners. Relying on directed warm air rather than traditional hotplates, the company said “no one has done this before”.

Mr Dyson even demonstrated the new tongs by attempting to straighten his own hair.

But at the conclusion of his address, he talked about the company’s agriculture off shoot.

“It may seem odd for someone with a technology company to invest in and be in farming,” he said to the New York crowd. “I’ve done it because I like growing food.”

Mr Dyson also likes the sustainability side of things with the company highlighting its “circular farm” system which relies more on organic fertiliser and less on chemicals, how it uses animal and food waste to make heat to power greenhouses and 10,000 local homes, and its deployment of drones and self-driving tractors to sow crops and pick weeds.

The 76-year-old now owns more farm land than the similarly agriculture inclined King Charles.

The new Dyson Airstrait hair straighteners which James Dyson launched in New York. Picture: Benedict Brook/news.com.au

Cryptic clue

Now he wants to bring his farm worlds and tech worlds together.

“We’ve also done the farms because I want to grow things that might make products.

“But that’s as far as I’m going to go,” he said, enigmatically, at the Manhattan event.

Previously, Mr Dyson has said the firm could “begin” to use agricultural materials in its products.

“I can’t tell you how we’re going to do that, but we can already see the way, and that would be interesting.”

Dyson’s technology and agriculture arms are increasingly working side-by-side, the company has said.

“The parallels between the two businesses are greater than you might think,” stated the British founded firm, now with headoffice in Singapore.

“Lighter machines, made of new materials, using less energy are not only better for the planet, but are also more pleasurable to use.

“Farming has much to give – growing materials and creating energy which can be used in our machines”.

Could new Dysons be construed from material derived from farms?

It’s possible that some of the new gadgets Dyson produces will feature, in some form, organic materials in their construction.

For some time, manufacturers have been producing plastic containers made partially with plant-based materials including corn, potatoes, wheat, sugar cane and sugar beet.

Dyson may be looking at plant-based materials for its products – but they would have to be durable to last for years and be able to stand up to the high temperatures of modern tech products.

The firm’s agriculture arm is making healthy profits. Financial results released late last year and covering 2021 showed Dyson Farming made $5.25 million (2.8 million pounds).

Sir James Dyson is one of Britain's biggest farmers. Picture: Dyson.

Talking to news.com.au earlier this year, Mr Dyson said the company would be spending $885 million over the next four years on 20 new beauty products.

It launched the Supersonic hair dryer in 2016 and its range now features the AirWrap styler and Corrale and new Airstrait hair straighteners.

“These machines will look and perform very differently to anything that is currently available, solving problems in entirely new ways,” he said.

“They will be more efficient too. Developing technology for all hair types remains a crucial focus for our development teams.”

Originally published as Huge hint about future of Dyson products