Infarm Expands Relationship With Sobeys In Canada

July 26, 2021

Infarm and Sobeys Inc. BB #:116615 have announced a new agreement to accelerate the availability and distribution of fresh produce to an additional 4 of Canada’s 10 provinces by 2023.

The agreement builds on the success of a partnership launched in 2020 – the first of national scope between a Canadian retailer and a vertical farming company – to offer locally grown, Infarm produce to Sobeys Inc. consumers Canada-wide.

As part of the deal, Infarm will construct new Infarm Growing Centers – growth, production and distribution hubs with high-capacity vertical farms – at sites in Calgary, Halifax and Winnipeg, with Hamilton, Ontario, near Toronto planned to host the location for the largest Infarm Growing Center in North America with a growing capacity of 37,000 ft2.

In combination with existing Infarm Growing Centers in Vancouver and Victoria/Vancouver Island, the agreement allows the company to increase production volume in Canada more than sevenfold. The deal comes in response to the increasing demand by retailers, including Sobeys, Safeway and Thrifty Food for fresh Infarm produce, and will supply more than 1000 stores in the retailer’s network alone.

With 97 employees on the ground today, Infarm’s Canadian team will grow by more than 50% to 160 by the end of the year, working from locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

“We’re delighted with what has been an extremely positive and successful partnership with the Sobeys family of retailers,” said Erez Galonska, CEO at Infarm. “This expansion deal represents one of the largest rollouts of any vertical farming company in North America to date as we aim to offer local, high-quality produce to people everywhere.”

Niluka Kottegoda, Vice President Customer Experience at Sobeys Inc. said, “We are passionate about bringing Canadian families the best, freshest, most delicious produce every single day. The expansion of our exclusive partnership with Infarm demonstrates our commitment to delivering that in a technologically advanced and sustainable way.”

Reflecting on the current offer and expansion plan, she said, “We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and our store teams about the current Infarm product grown in our stores. We are thrilled to expand into the Infarm Growing Centres as they allow us to exponentially offer these great local products to a multitude of communities across Canada all year-round.”

Infarm’s growing centers integrate farming units that can each save up to 10,000,000 liters of water per year compared to soil-based agriculture for similar crops, while producing the equivalent of up to 100,000 ft2 of land. In line with the company’s goal of utilizing 100% renewable or green-certified energy, 90% of electricity used throughout the Infarm network will be from green-certified sources by September 2021.

Over the next five years, Canadian consumers can expect to select from a range of new Infarm produce to the current selection of herbs, leafy greens and microgreens now available in the retailer’s grocery aisles including tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, mushrooms, convenient cut salads and even potted plants. By 2025 Infarm plans to scale to 100 growing centers with a growing capacity of 3 million ft2.

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About Infarm

Infarm was founded in Berlin in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska. Passionate to become self-sufficient and eat better, they were growing their own food, enjoying all the flavor and nutrients, without the chemical pesticides and transport kilometers. With the aim to share the goodness of self-grown produce with everyone, they developed a smart modular farming system that allows distribution of vertical farms throughout the urban environment, growing fresh produce in practically any available space and fulfilling practically any market demand. Today, with cutting edge R&D, patented technologies and a leading multi-disciplinary team, Infarm is growing a worldwide farming network helping cities become self-sufficient in their food production, while significantly improving the safety, quality, and environmental footprint of our food.

With a multinational team of 1000 people globally, Infarm has partnered with more than 30 major food retailers including Aldi Süd, Amazon Fresh, Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, E.Leclerc, Edeka, Empire Company Ltd (Safeway, Sobeys, ThriftyFoods), Farmdrop, Intermarché, Irma, Kaufland, Kinokuniya, Kroger, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Migros, Selfridges, Selgros and Whole Foods Market in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland, deployed more than 1300 farms in stores and Infarm Growing Centers, saved more than 16,000,000 gallons of water and 600,000 square feet of land, while harvesting 1,000,000+ plants monthly and growing.

Lead Photo: An Infarm Growing Center (IGC) with multiple state-of-the-art production modules

Four Vertical Growers Collaborating To Deliver Social-Impact Projects in Wales

July 9, 2021

Four UK vertical farming companies, LettUs Grow, Digital Farming, Farm Urban, and GrowStack, are collaborating to bring the benefits of CEA to Welsh communities. This is one of the widest collaborations between leading CEA tech providers in the UK to date, with a focus on delivering vertical farms across different locations in Wales as part of a social impact and community-focused project called Crop Cycle.

Crop Cycle is looking to bring the benefits of vertical farming directly to communities that could benefit most and is being funded by the Welsh Government through the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund. The project is being led by Social Farms and Gardens, supported by Welsh Government's NutriWales CEA Special Interest Group and BIC Innovation.

The project enables multiple different CEA systems to be tailored to fit different community settings, whilst also allowing them to be assessed in coordination across the pilot sites. This approach is unique, facilitating the testing of new socially focused business models, the engagement of the local communities and businesses with CEA and the development of new technical solutions. LettUs Grow, Digital Farming, GrowStack and Farm Urban are working together to share their specialisms and apply different technologies to where they are best suited within four sites in Wales, two of which are in the Valleys.

This project will introduce year-round food growing right into the heart of Welsh communities, where they’ll be connected to the particular dynamics of the local area. Activities will test new community-based engagement models, focusing on social well-being, local entrepreneurship and environmental impact. In this way, the project will be bringing together community, businesses and local public sector organizations.

Gary Mitchell, the Wales Manager for Social Farms and Gardens who is leading the project team stated, "we are excited to be running the pilot project across a diverse set of sites to gain insight and further knowledge into how new agricultural systems can successfully support communities in delivering local, fresh and nutritious foods as well as important social benefits in a sustainable manner."

Read the complete article at: Vertical Farm Daily

For more information:
LettUs Grow
info@lettusgrow.com
lettusgrow.com

GrowStack
www.growstack.co.uk

Digital Farming
www.digitalfarming.io

Farm Urban
www.farmurban.co.uk

Agrify Enters Into Multi-Year Vertical Farming Research And Development Partnership With Curaleaf

Partnership To Study Impact

of Cultivation Environment on

Plant Health And Harvest Yields

July 06, 2021

BILLERICA, Mass

Agrify Corporation (NasdaqCM:AGFY) (“Agrify” or the “Company”), a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software cultivation solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, today announced that it has signed a definitive Collaboration Agreement (“the Agreement”) forming a long-term research and development (“R&D”) partnership with Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (“Curaleaf”). Curaleaf is one of the largest multi-state operators (“MSOs”) in the United States and the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe as Curaleaf International.

The research will be focused on evaluating the impact of certain environmental conditions created and controlled by Agrify’s Vertical Farming Units (“VFUs”) and Agrify Insights™ software platform on harvest yields, plant terpene profiles, and flavonoid concentrations. It will also explore and analyze techniques to enhance the aesthetic appeal, aroma, and overall chemical profile of cannabis flower. In addition, the joint research team plans to study the effect of regulated environments on the overall health and longevity of cannabis plants, including research on the maturation of the chemical profile of the plants over their lifecycle.

“We are thrilled to announce our first MSO collaboration and honored to partner with Curaleaf to advance this important research,” said Raymond Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Agrify. “Curaleaf is a cannabis industry leader, and our shared research will demonstrate the critical importance that an optimally controlled environment can play on the cultivator's ability to consistently produce high-quality flower. I am proud to showcase our cutting-edge indoor vertical farming grow cultivation technology and assist Curaleaf in growing the high-quality, consistent cannabis they are known for in the most cost-effective manner possible.”

“Since our inception, we have been committed to providing our customers with premier and innovative cannabis products and experiences, with a relentless drive for quality,” said Joseph Bayern, Chief Executive Officer of Curaleaf. “The cultivation environment plays a critical role in the plant’s chemical composition, and we believe this research will help to further increase understanding of the conditions required to optimize a plant's genetic potential.”

Under the terms of the Agreement, Agrify will supply its VFUs and provide use of the Company’s Agrify Insights™ software platform for a period of three years at Curaleaf's primary R&D facility located in Massachusetts, with an option to extend another three years. The collaboration combines Agrify’s technology and expertise in creating optimized cultivation environments with Agrify Insights™-based data and Curaleaf’s expertise in cultivation and production of quality cannabis products. All test data collected by Agrify Insights™ will be jointly owned.

About Curaleaf Holdings, Inc.

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf") is a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis with a mission to improve lives by providing clarity around cannabis and confidence around consumption. As a high-growth cannabis company known for quality, expertise and reliability, the company and its brands, including Curaleaf and Select, provide industry-leading service, product selection and accessibility across the medical and adult-use markets. In the United States, Curaleaf currently operates in 23 states with 107 dispensaries, 22 cultivation sites and over 30 processing sites, and employs over 5,000 team members. Curaleaf International is the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe with a unique supply and distribution network throughout the European market, bringing together pioneering science and research with cutting-edge cultivation, extraction and production. Curaleaf is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol CURA and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol CURLF. For more information, please visit https://ir.curaleaf.com.

About Agrify (NasdaqCM:AGFY)

Agrify is a developer of premium grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace. The Company uses data, science, and technology to empower its customers to be more efficient, more productive, and more intelligent about how they run their businesses. Agrify’s highly advanced and proprietary hardware and software solutions have been designed to help its customers achieve the highest quality, consistency, and yield, all at the lowest possible cost. For more information, please visit Agrify’s website at www.agrify.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning Agrify and other matters. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the research to be performed under the Agreement. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, including those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 with the SEC, which can be obtained on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and filings with the SEC.

Agrify
Niv Krikov
Chief Financial Officer
niv.krikov@agrify.com
(617) 896-5240

Investor Relations
Rob Kelly
ir@mattio.com
(416) 992-4539

Media Contact
Renee Cotsis
renee@mattio.com