Heavenly Good From The Underworld

April 17, 2018, 16:25

Forget about organic farming. Now it is about urban urban cultivation. ICA Kvantum Liljeholmen peered in the crystal ball and was helped by Urban Oasis to introduce the country's first underground crops - completely without the help of soil.

In a mountain room under ICA Kvantum Liljeholmen, fruit grows, greens and green so it's cracking. No wonder, if you do not think that Urban Oasis's cultivation area is not only underground but because the frog beds also lack soil. However, the taste can not be mistaken; The products are just as tasty, crisp and healthy as they were grown with native Mother Nature. But in the long run, the difference can be huge for our planet.

 Underground crops are, in short, a giant cliff straight into the future. For here, there is no talk of either eutrophication, climate impact or unnecessary imports. Today, 70 percent of all vegetables in Sweden are purchased from abroad. Soon that number can be a memory only. In Liljeholmen it moves on 50 square meters of small production of freshly harvested only 500 meters, straight into ICA Kvantum's fresh salad bar.

 "We can grow almost anything here. With the technology in place, it is only the imagination that sets limits. "Break the seasons" we are talking about. Maybe we're just a small step from sun-dried tomatoes and crispy strawberries at Christmas, says ICA Kvantum Liljeholm's sales manager Joakim Haraldsson.

 Urban Oasis's resource-efficient urban cultivation is the result of a quartet pilot project - consisting of two KTH students, an architect and a finance man - with the goal of forming a foodtech company for sustainable food production.

 - By so-called hydroponic cultivation, cultivating in water without soil, we can produce nutritious and nutritious food in an exciting environment where agriculture and technology meet. We will be able to offer fresh, roasted vegetables all year round even in Sweden, "said Albert Payaro, CEO and one of the initiators behind Urban Oasis.

 Ica Kvantum Liljeholmen has already taken great steps in pursuit of environmentally friendly farming practices. When the Urban Oasis underground plant will soon be utilized even more efficiently, the ambition is to produce nearly 5 tonnes of vegetables - a day. 

It is enough to calm the hunger of thousands of salmon-hot ICA customers in Liljeholmen every day. 

 "ICA is basically an entrepreneurial company and it is therefore fun that we can support and collaborate with other exciting entrepreneurial companies and help them to market," concludes Joakim Haraldsson at ICA.

• Growing in water without soil gives great harvest on a small surface - year round. Nutrition reaches the roots via an aqueous solution under the boxes. As an air gap is left between the plant and water, oxygen is added all the time, which causes the crops to grow rapidly above the surface.

• What can I grow? Almost whatever for green. Spices like basil, coriander and parsley, lettuce and other leafy vegetables, of course, but also tomatoes, chili, eggplant.

• If you do not have daylight, the crops can get energy using small LED lights.

• Farming without soil is nothing new. It already did the ancient Egyptians 600 BC. in one of the world's seven wonders: Babylon's famous hanging gardens.

ICA's Entrepreneur Prize is awarded for the first time in 2018 and goes to people outside the ICA organization. The prize goes to two categories: the local hero of the year and the new star of the year, and a scholarship of 100,000 kronor each. The winner is appointed by a jumbo jury and an online poll that weighs as heavily as one of the jury's voices.

In addition to ICA's Entrepreneurial Award, Ica aims to provide 200 new, small local suppliers with the opportunity to sell their products directly to ICA stores by 2020.

published: April 17, 2018