Target Plans to Have In-Store Vertical Farms

“We sell extremely local produce at Target! No, really! We mean it.”

Target is boldly going where no major retailer has ever gone before by installing a giant farm in the middle of its store. Target’s Food + Future CoLab team announced recently at the White House that it would be installing vertical farms in select store locations, so that fresh fruits and vegetables could be grown in acclimatized conditions and sold directly in the store. Food from the in-store gardens will be on sale starting spring 2017.

The farm will make use of artificial lights and hydroponics to assure proper growing techniques.

 “Down the road, it’s something where potentially part of our food supply that we have on our shelves is stuff that we’ve grown ourselves,” Casey Carl, Target’s chief strategy and innovation officer, told Business Insider.

After installing the technology in a few test locations, Target will be able to gage “how involved customers actually want to be with their food,” Business Insider reported.

At first, Target’s farms will be filled with leafy greens, which are easiest to grow vertically. Potatoes, beetroot, and zucchini will be made available in the future. 

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