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USA: CALIFORNIA - Futuristic Vertical Farm Aims To Bring Fresh Produce And Jobs To Compton
The vertical farm will contain rows upon rows of crops with the capacity to produce 365 harvests of high quality leafy greens per year
The vertical farm will contain rows upon rows of crops with the capacity to produce 365 harvests of high-quality leafy greens per year. "From day one it's perfectly controlled...We don't use pesticides, there's nothing to wash off, it's usually not touched by human hands ever, and so we have a safe clean product that is ready to eat right out of the package", the owner says.
When we talk about farming, we don't often think of Compton. But the future of farming could soon be coming to life there. A company is building a massive vertical farm that would save water, land, and eliminate the need for pesticides.
It is still under construction, but when this unassuming 95,000-square-foot warehouse is up and running, the inside will look like something out of the future-- rows of vertical crops with LED lights replacing the sun.
"From day one, it's perfectly controlled. We don't spray any pesticides. There's no birds flying over our field pooping on the produce. There's nothing to wash off. It's usually not touched by human hands ever. And so we have a safe, clean product that is ready to eat right out of the package" says the owner.
Read the complete article and watch the video at www.news.yahoo.com.
22 Mar 2021
FRANCE: Jungle Says It’s Cracked How To Make Vertical Farms Profitable
“No matter how good your product is, if the price is higher than the alternative, then you’re dead.”
“No Matter How Good Your Product Is,
If The Price Is Higher Than The Alternative,
Then You’re Dead.”
BY FREYA PRATTY
22 MARCH 2021
Jungle, a French vertical farming company that says it can produce ten to 30 times more food than traditional greenhouses, has raised €42m in new funding.
The company also says its focus on large-scale farms will help it overcome one of the biggest challenges facing vertical farming: how to make a profit.
Jungle’s new funding, €7m of which is in equity and €35m of which is debt financing, comes from Founders Future, a French investment firm focused on impact startups. Jungle is the firm’s first investment.
The company’s funding comes as the wider industry continues to grow fast. It was worth $2.2bn in 2018 but is expected to reach $12.8bn by 2026. Investor appetite is clearly there: vertical farming giant Infarm raised $170m at the end of last year.
Jungle is building a 5,500m2 farm 80km from Paris, where crops will grow on stacked platforms. The site is already partly operational and the company has secured contracts with French supermarkets Monoprix and Intermarche.
At present, it’s growing a mixture of aromatic herbs, greens and, unlike other vertical farms, flowers. It’ll be fully operational by the end of 2021.
Less pesticides, more local and a greater yield
Gilles Dreyfus, cofounder of Jungle.
“We don’t claim to be instigating a revolution, we are part of an equation that wants to be a solution,” explains Gilles Dreyfus, who cofounded Jungle in 2015.
For Dreyfus, vertical farming has several advantages. Crops can be grown close to cities, where the majority of consumers are, thereby reducing the environmental costs of transit.
Plants can also be grown on more frequent cycles than on traditional farms because they’re not seasonally dependent, and they’re also grown without using pesticides.
“Our most popular product, Green Basil, gives 14 harvests a year in the vertical farm, compared to 3 or 4 in the South of France, where the crop grows best outdoors.”
National food sovereignty
Being able to grow crops out of season means vertical farming can help countries achieve better food sovereignty, Dreyfus says.
“We have to go further and further from the country to get crops when they’re out of season,” he says. “Brexit import taxes on food have shown the complicated situations this can lead to.”
“If the price is higher, you’re dead”
Despite the benefits, vertical farming has often struggled with how to make a profit. “Having a viable financial model and an efficient farm is the main hurdle for vertical farming,” Dreyfus says.
“No matter how good your product is, if the price is higher than the alternative, then you’re dead.”
The company believes that bigger farms is the answer.
German company Infarm, which is aiming at profitability by 2023, places microunits into supermarkets. Jungle, which is aiming at profitability in 18 months time, will focus on large-scale production facilities that then supply a whole area.
“Price depends on scale and we’re not aiming for small-scale farms, we’re aiming for less farms but a lot bigger. If you activate the economies of scale you can get a very reasonable product,” he says.
The company’s aiming to sell food at 5% more than the cost of conventional alternatives, but at 20% less than organic foods grown on farms.
For Valentine Baudouin, partner at Founders Future which has invested in Jungle, the focus on large-scale farms is the key to profitability, and what makes Jungle stand out.
“They’ve answered the economic question of vertical farming, which is very important because you have many similar enterprises that haven’t done so.”
Jungle’s vertical farm warehouse.
Beyond salad?
A criticism often leveled at the vertical farming industry is whether it can grow beyond just salad leaves and herbs.
Unlike other farms, Jungle also grows flowers for the perfume industry, but Dreyfus says the other crops its working on, including cherry tomatoes and mushrooms, won’t be in supermarkets until 2023.
“You can grow virtually anything you want, except truffles — which is a real shame actually,” says Dreyfus. “But the question shouldn’t be, can we grow it, it should be, do we have the financial model to make it work?”
Jungle’s currently got a team of 25 people based in France, but will use the new funding to double its workforce by 2022. It also plans to open two new large-scale farms in France, including one in the south that’ll be twice as big as its first site.
Freya Pratty is Sifted’s news reporter. She tweets from @FPratty
US: SOUTH CAROLINA - Indoor Farm Provides Fresh Lettuce To Charleston County Schools
Vertical Roots’ goal is to revolutionize the way communities grow, distribute and consume food
Indoor Farm Provides Fresh Lettuce
To Charleston County Schools
03-16-21
Vertical Roots, a hydroponic farm in Charleston, looks different compared to a traditional farm. Inside the upcycled shipping containers, individual heads of bright green and red lettuce line the walls as they complete the growing process without touching the outdoors.
Vertical Roots’ goal is to revolutionize the way communities grow, distribute and consume food.
“All the founders of the company have always been very inspired and motivated by feeding the community healthy, nutritious food,” said Jessica Diaz, the sales manager at Vertical Roots.
Students at Chicora Elementary School taste-tested Vertical Roots lettuce. PROVIDED
The school system is no exception to the organization’s mission. At the end of February, Vertical Roots began providing all of Charleston County schools with fresh lettuce from the farm.
“They’ve never been in the position where they could have a local lettuce provider,” said Diaz. “You have to be able to provide that product year-round for it to be an option for the farm-to-school program.”
In order to provide food to the schools, a farm has to meet the requirements of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Order Receipt System Catalog from the Department of Agriculture, which includes sufficient quantity and ability to produce a consistent supply.
Since Vertical Roots’ lettuce is grown indoors in a controlled environment, the lettuce is not impacted by environmental factors, like flooding, droughts or even seasonal changes. This means the lettuce can be produced year-round with each container growing 3,400 heads of lettuce per harvest.
Vertical Roots’ two farms in Charleston and Columbia produced approximately 3 million pounds of lettuce in 2020.
Diaz said it’s taken several years to scale up to the capacity that the farm is currently at; Vertical Roots began in 2016 and currently, it’s the largest hydroponic container farm in the country. The farm provides lettuce to over 1,200 retail locations across 11 states in the Southeast.
Vertical Roots farmers checking on the lettuce in one of the storage containers. PROVIDE
Vertical Roots initially connected with the CCSD in January 2020 during its Harvest of the Month program. Each month, CCSD’s Nutrition Services, in partnership with the Green Heart Project, provides students with nutrition education with a focus on locally grown produce.
“Based on the success of that program, we started having conversations about what would it look like to service the school district in a more meaningful way,” Diaz said.
Each school district is allocated a specific amount of money from the government that goes towards fresh fruits and vegetables based on the number of students and school sizes, according to Kerrie Hollifield, a registered dietitian with the CCSD Office of Nutrition.
She said it’s up to the district on how the funds are spent and CCSD is committed to providing fresh, local produce to students and staff so partnering with Vertical Roots became a natural fit.
The current lettuce options at the schools are the Green Butter lettuce and a cut spring mix. Each day, the schools offer an entrée salad that includes Vertical Roots lettuce, grilled chicken and fresh vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. There is also a side salad option. Occasionally, the schools will offer other options like a lettuce wrap sandwich.
Hollifield said all of the lettuce in Charleston County schools is from Vertical Roots, which means over 50,000 students from 84 schools have a fresh lettuce option. “It’s been awesome to see the kids get excited about salads,” she said.
Since the initiative began, Emily Trogdon, the public relations specialist for Vertical Roots, said the farm has received positive feedback from teachers and parents who are excited that fresh, local lettuce is now available at the schools.
“Children, in general, are always geared towards sweets and candies, salty snacks, but to see them genuinely enjoying the vegetable is just a testament to the product quality itself and to the amazing work that the nutrition program has been doing in the schools,” said Trogdon.
Typically, lettuce that is consumed on a food service or retail level is grown in California or Arizona, so most lettuce travels 2,000 miles before reaching a restaurant or grocery store.
Vertical Roots’ goal is to close the “farm-to-table gap” by providing lettuce with close to zero food miles.
The lettuce growing in an indoor, controlled environment. PROVIDED
Charleston County schools have not had a local lettuce option until the partnership with Vertical Roots because lettuce cannot be grown year-round in South Carolina on a traditional, outdoor farm.
In addition to being grown locally, Vertical Roots’ lettuce is not treated with chemicals or pesticides. Trogdon said she likes to tell people the produce is 100 percent lettuce.
“The produce is incredibly clean and safe to consume,” Trogdon said. “That’s a barrier that the school system doesn’t have to jump over with our produce.”
Vertical Roots controls the entire environment as the lettuce matures from propagation to harvest. The temperature, humidity, amount of light, and water are optimized in order to provide the safest and most productive growing environment.
Vertical Roots’ system speeds up the harvest time to 35 days, versus the 45 to 60 days for traditionally grown lettuce.
The organization is committed to sustainability, specifically with water and land conservation. Indoor farming uses up to 95 percent less water compared to traditional farming due to the ability to recycle and re-filter water throughout the system.
The company is also socially sustainable when it comes to providing fair wages for employees.
While part of Vertical Roots’ mission is to revolutionize the produce industry, Diaz said their goal is not to eliminate traditional farming. She said there are many heritage crops in South Carolina that could not be grown in an indoor system, so the organization fully supports the local farming industry.
When it comes to buying locally, Diaz said ultimately it benefits the county and state. “When you’re buying from a local farm, you’re employing local people who spend that money in the local economy,” Diaz said.
Lead Photo: The lettuce growing in a controlled upcycled shipping container. PROVIDED
UNITED KINGDOM: Sheffield Underground Farm Is 'Green And Sustainable'
Luke Ellis, from Sheffield, grows his produce at Kelham Island using organic soil and food created from waste products and without natural light
03-18-21
A Former Builder Has Transformed Unused Cellar Space
Into An Underground Farm To Produce
Fresh Herbs And Vegetables
Luke Ellis, from Sheffield, grows his produce at Kelham Island using organic soil and food created from waste products and without natural light.
He said it might sound like science fiction, but the unusual farming method has the potential to address food shortages and climate change.
The business already sells produce to restaurants and direct to customers.
Mr. Ellis first became interested in hydroponics technology six years ago but felt it was not as sustainable as it could be with most companies using high-tech, state-of-the-art equipment with a high start-up cost.
To address that he decided to create a bioponic farm, an organic form of hydroponics.
"Bioponic vertical farming may sound like something straight out of the world of science fiction, but it is a sector which holds a lot of potential for growth," he said.
The produce is grown in soil created from waste food, paper, used coffee, and ash
COPYRIGHT LUKE ELLIS
The plants are fed with an organic food packed with nutrients | COPYRIGHT LUKE ELLIS
The company uses waste materials, such as paper, card and food scraps, to create its own soil and the run-off from those systems is not wasted either.
"We make our own plant food, which means we don't ever pour anything away," said Mr Ellis.
The plants are grown under electric lights which, he added, offer advantages.
"Artificial light can be better than natural light because we can control the flavour of the food and control the growth rate."
Electric lighting helps control the growth rate of the plants. COPYRIGHT LUKE ELLIS
The produce is sold to both restaurants and individual customers. COPYRIGHT LUKE ELLIS
Mr. Ellis said he hoped the business, which opened in December 2020, would inspire others to help build a "greener, more sustainable society".
"It's super fast to grow, we use recyclable materials, it's 100% organic and it's very efficient," he added.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here.
Lead photo: Luke Ellis supplies residents and restaurants with herbs and greens. COPYRIGHT LUKE ELLIS
March Indoor Ag Science Cafe - March 30th Tuesday 11 AM Eastern US Time
This month's Café Will Introduce A Funding Opportunity For Small Businesses‘ R&D
This month's Café Will Introduce A Funding Opportunity
For Small Businesses‘ R&D.
Please sign up, thank you!
"USDA SBIR Grants Program Overview"
Dr. Steven Thomson & Melinda Coffman
USDA NIFA
SBIR = Small Business Innovation Research
Please sign up so that you will receive Zoom link info.
Indoor Ag Science Cafe is an open discussion forum, planned and organized by OptimIA project team supported by USDA SCRI grants.
Sign up here
Chinese Agriculture Platform Pinduoduo Unveils Plans To Become The World’s Biggest Grocer
Chen Lei, the Chairman and CEO of Pinduoduo, is banking on the continued blurring of boundaries between the online and offline worlds to open up new opportunities
Pinduoduo is one of the fastest-growing consumer internet companies in China, achieving close to 800 million active buyers in just six years. It is also the country’s biggest agriculture platform, handling some $42 billion of agriculture orders in 2020. It has now set sights on becoming the world’s biggest grocer.
Chen Lei, the Chairman and CEO of Pinduoduo, is banking on the continued blurring of boundaries between the online and offline worlds to open up new opportunities. So confident is Chen that the mobile internet will transform the way people interact and behave, that when Pinduoduo started in 2015 the team built a mobile-only technology platform.
His judgement has proven right so far. The surge in online grocery shopping is one recent example. In China, shopping for groceries at traditional wet markets is an entrenched habit. Households would do their shopping daily, buying just what they need for the day or next couple of days. That changed with Covid-19 as shopping in crowded markets became a potential health hazard.
The lockdowns and subsequent changes to daily routine have pushed more consumers in China to order groceries through mobile apps. Some analysts estimate the online grocery market could be worth more than $120 billion by 2023.
To cater to this new demand for fast and affordable groceries, Pinduoduo introduced Duo Duo Grocery, a next-day service that offers a curated list of produce and groceries from local farms and suppliers to consumers in the same region. Consumers place their orders through the Pinduoduo mobile app before 11 pm and pick up their orders after 4 pm the next day at collection points located near their homes. The whole process shortens the time for produce to reach from farm to table from a few days to less than 24 hours.
“We saw six years ago that mobile is the only way to go. Therefore, we are the only major consumer internet company in the world that is mobile only. The mobile internet fundamentally transforms the way humans interact with each other,” said Chen, who was the chief architect of Pinduoduo’s mobile platform. “This mobile revolution is now tearing down the walls between the physical and digital worlds. Being a mobile-only product in this new age, we are well-placed to benefit from the opportunities thrown up by each behavioral change.”
“One such change sweeping the world is agriculture and grocery. Pinduoduo started with agricultural products, with the vision of offering consumers the “Costco + Disney” experience of more savings and more fun,” he said. “We are now the largest agriculture platform in China and we hope that Pinduoduo can one day become the largest grocer in the world.”
To achieve the goal of becoming the world’s largest grocer, Pinduoduo is investing in building an agriculture-focused logistics infrastructure that it sees as a stumbling block to meeting two key and contradictory consumer demands: speed and cost. In other words, consumers want both speedy delivery but also low prices. Most e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, charge extra for expedited shipping.
An additional problem is that the current express delivery logistics system in China is designed by and large to handle sturdy manufactured goods, which can withstand rougher handling and days on the road, often under harsh weather conditions. Fresh produce fares much worse under such treatment and spoilage rates are much higher, especially during the summer months.
Pinduoduo sees the solution as an agriculture-focused logistics infrastructure that is suited to handling fragile perishables. Another important part of the equation is shortening the time from farm to table, which is achieved by Pinduoduo’s proprietary technology in predicting and matching local supply with consumer demand. The more accurately Pinduoduo can pinpoint what is available in terms of supply, and match it with nearby demand, the less time the produce spends reaching the customer, resulting in less spoilage and deterioration in quality.
There’s an added advantage in this model for farmers who produce leafy greens and other fragile farm goods. Local-to-local commerce has the potential to put these farmers closer to consumers, giving them an added option to selling solely to wholesale buyers like supermarkets. By removing the inefficiencies from the supply chain, farmers stand to gain more for their toil, while consumers save on their grocery bills.
Publication date: Wed 17 Mar 2021
Responding To Local - And Sustainable Food Sourcing
“Running a farm is quite a complex learning process, therefore we’ve removed the entry barrier from a learning curve point of view to form the actual system,” Alexander Olesen, CEO and co-founder of Babylon Micro-Farms
Babylon Micro-Farms Is Dialing In Recipes,
Support Software For Specific Crop Types,
And Even For Specific Markets
“Running a farm is quite a complex learning process, therefore we’ve removed the entry barrier from a learning curve point of view to form the actual system,” Alexander Olesen, CEO and co-founder of Babylon Micro-Farms.
Babylon has set up a remote management platform connected to sensors and cameras to run the majority of vertical farms through the cloud. The company set out to develop technology that would automate the complex aspects of indoor farming and in doing so make this method of crop production accessible to anyone.
Alexander Oleson
Lifting barriers
“For us, the challenge is to aggregate the data from all our farms so we can continuously learn to do things better. We’ve automated all things around shipping, supply, and all of the other factors that come along. Our advantage is that we really start to dial in recipes, support software for specific crop types, and even for specific markets. That becomes quite powerful and it drives product development. It’s a really interesting software, transferrable to all sorts of hardware, and represents a big step forward for small-scale vertical farms. It reimagines the user experience and opens up the market for anyone who wants to start sustainable plant growing,” says Alexander.
Local and sustainable sourcing
Babylon Micro-Farms has seen an expansion of the local food movement. Meaning accelerating trends towards more sustainable and local produce sourcing. “The time is now, as there has never been such a great focus on sustainable- and local food sourcing. Also, on the fact that all micro-farms can labor superior products on-site, giving all the benefits of food production. Therefore, it has been really exciting for us, and certainly for the industry as a whole,” Alexander notes.
The last year has been really exciting for the company as a lot of their technology has been out in the field. As Babylon’s main takeaway is to remotely manage farms, they literally had to do so. Once the lockdown was in place, in the US, they were tested in a good way. Alexander adds, “It has proven we can support a network of farms without ever setting foot on-site. That was a huge prove point for us.”
There are growing pains within any business, says Alexander, in terms of scaling, distribution, and support. “Support for a network of small micro-farms is something no one has even done successfully before. We provide automation and high-service without the need for boots on the ground. It’s a phenomenal leap forward for the industry I’d say, but it’s not without its quirks and we’re still learning a lot and overcoming these hurdles.”
'Removing the green thumb'
The company provides a high level of support that is designed to remove the green thumb from growing, according to Alexander. “We’re opening the market of vertical farming to institutional service operators, businesses, communities, etc. In this way, customers are supplying their own products that are harder to source and to be rather independent. Next to that there’s a huge appeal to have stuff on-site as it’s great to explain what kind of business you are and the experience it gives is certainly exciting. I think we’re taking a rather different approach to the industry than others. It looks like it’s working and that’s exciting for us,” Alexander notes. Babylon Micro-Farms is also currently targeting the expansion of its micro-farms distribution throughout North-America.
For more information:
Alexander Olesen, CEO and Co-founder
Babylon Micro-Farms
3409 Carlton St, Richmond
VA 23230, United States
alexander@babylonmicrofarms.com
www.babylonmicrofarms.com
Publication date: Thu 18 Mar 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com
USA: FLORIDA - The Villages Grown: Food-As-Medicine Concept Expands In America's Largest Retirement Community
The innovative growing complex covers 85 acres with 40 acres dedicated to vertical hydroponics in controlled environment greenhouses
As consumers across the globe look for locally produced, nutritious, and reasonably priced fresh produce, The Villages Grown is rising to the challenge for Florida and is currently the largest CEA operation in the southeastern United States.
The Villages Grown LLC began as a farm-to-table, food-as-medicine initiative centered in The Villages, Florida, America’s largest retirement community with roughly 165,000 residents. The innovative growing complex covers 85 acres with 40 acres dedicated to vertical hydroponics in controlled environment greenhouses. The site also includes space for cut processing and a commercial kitchen. Using five different hydroponic techniques, The Villages Grown produces a wide variety of crops including tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens, microgreens, herbs, and other specialty products. This, according to executive director Jennifer Waxman, is one of the things that sets the company apart from other operations.
“Most CEA operations are category killers and are producing large volumes of one or 2 types of crops. They may produce only lettuce or only tomatoes, for example. At The Villages Grown, we’ve managed to crack the code on diversification and now produce tomatoes, cucumbers, microgreens, lettuces, fine herbs and specialty products, 365 days a year,” says Jennifer.
The Villages Grown has always been committed to producing nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, which it achieves through precise nutrient control and irrigation control, a combination of natural and supplement lighting, and biological control methods including Integrated Pest Management (‘IPM’). The company also conducts nutritional analyses both in-house and through third-party laboratories to ensure that its products are indeed nutritionally superior. As Jennifer explains, “if you give a plant everything it needs, it will give you everything you need.”
While The Villages Grown was initially developed to supply the retirement community with fresh produce, it has since modified its business model to become somewhat of a food hub. In addition to the 7 million lbs of produce grown annually, the company has partnered with 17 local farms and 26 artisans to aggregate local products and develop a “By Florida, for Florida” food system. The onboarding of new farms and artisans will continue to expand.
Stores & Pick-Up
The Villages Grown offers its products through its stores, with orders then delivered to pick-up locations within 2-48 hours by the company’s own delivery fleet. The company is also partnered with other key produce distributors as well as other large retail grocers to cover the state of Florida, all of which will operate on a no-inventory model to ensure that products always reach the consumer at peak freshness.
Recently, The Villages Grown announced that it has entered more hospitals, restaurant holding groups, school districts, and assisted living facilities to provide nutritionally dense products to these organizations. Moving forward, the company aims to begin producing year-round berries and other key produce items in new types of warehouse growing facilities.
For more information:
The Villages Grown
www.thevillagesgrown.com/#
Publication date: Wed 17 Mar 2021
Author: Rose Seguin
© FreshPlaza.com
Kalera Announces Newest Vertical Farming Facility To Open In St. Paul, Minnesota
With millions of heads of lettuce to be grown per year, Kalera’s St. Paul facility will provide a source of fresh, non-GMO, clean, living lettuces and microgreens to retailers, restaurants and other customers. Kalera’s location in the heart of the city will shorten travel time for greens from days to mere hours, preserving nutrients, freshness, and flavor
The New Facility Will Provide Fresh,
Hydroponically-Grown Produce To The Western Midwest
ORLANDO, Fla., March 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalera (Euronext Growth Oslo ticker KAL, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the fastest-growing US vertical farming companies in the world and a leader in plant science for producing high-quality produce in controlled environments, today announced the purchase of a facility in St. Paul, Minnesota which they will convert to a vertical farming facility. Kalera’s Minnesota location is the eighth facility it has announced, making it one of the fastest-growing vertical farming companies in the United States. This announcement comes on the heels of the news of Kalera’s appointment of Sonny Perdue, former Secretary of Agriculture and Maria Sastre to the Board of Directors, as well as its acquisition of Vindara, the first company to develop seeds specifically designed for use in vertical indoor farm environments as well as other controlled environment agriculture (CEA) farming methods.
With millions of heads of lettuce to be grown per year, Kalera’s St. Paul facility will provide a source of fresh, non-GMO, clean, living lettuces and microgreens to retailers, restaurants and other customers. Kalera’s location in the heart of the city will shorten travel time for greens from days to mere hours, preserving nutrients, freshness, and flavor. The facility will also generate approximately 70 jobs upon opening.
“I’m proud to be welcoming Kalera to St. Paul and the W. 7th neighborhood,” said City Councilmember Rebecca Noecker, who represents St. Paul’s Ward 2. “The facility is not only bringing millions of dollars in investment into the community but is also providing jobs and importantly, increasing access to fresh, non-GMO, clean, locally grown produce.”
Kalera currently operates two growing facilities in Orlando and last week started operations in its newest and largest facility to date in Atlanta and is building facilities in Houston, Denver, Columbus, Seattle, and Hawaii. Kalera is the only controlled environment agriculture company with coast-to-coast facilities being constructed, offering grocers, restaurants, theme parks, airports and other businesses nationwide reliable access to locally grown clean, safe, nutritious, price-stable, long-lasting greens. Once all of these farms are operational, the total projected yield is several tens of millions of heads of lettuce per year, or the equivalent of over 1,000 acres of traditional field farms. Kalera uses a closed-loop irrigation system which enables its plants to grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming.
“Minnesotans are all too familiar with the limitations of a challenging climate,” said Daniel Malechuk, Kalera CEO. “They also take great pride in local accomplishments, so we are extremely excited to facilitate this opportunity for Minnesotans to have fresh, high quality produce year-round, grown by the locals for the locals.”
Final project commitments, including jobs and capital investment, are contingent on final approval of state incentives.
ABOUT KALERA
Kalera is a technology-driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and cleanroom standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistently high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact.
US: NORTH CAROLINA: CraftGrown Farms Offers Fresh Microgreens, Lettuce And Herbs
All of the growing is done inside, allowing CraftGrown Farms to produce year-round and the ability to expand its growing capacity
BY JESSICA MAURER
March 10, 2021
CraftGrown Farms involves a hydroponic farm on Castle Street. (Photo courtesy of CraftGrown Farms)
Randall Rhyne’s career has included teaching high school biology and earth science as well as serving in the Army Reserve, with deployments to Iraq and Syria.
After visiting Wilmington last year, he fell in love with the city and decided to relocate from Virginia.
While serving overseas, Rhyne and his unit often had little to no access to fresh food, relying on MREs or snacks like Pop-Tarts. He often longed for fresh produce.
One spring when he was in the Syrian desert, he saw trucks hauling locally grown produce and found himself thinking that if the locals were able to grow their own food in the middle of a civil war, in a desert, there was no reason why he couldn’t do this at home. As soon as he returned to Virginia, Rhyne got to work.
Now, having secured a Castle Street storefront and growing space across from Luna Café on Castle Street last fall, Rhyne has created CraftGrown Farms, an indoor, hydroponic farm selling nutrient-dense microgreens, hydroponic lettuce, and herbs to local restaurants and the public.
All of the growing is done inside, allowing CraftGrown Farms to produce year-round and the ability to expand its growing capacity.
Rhyne said the response so far has been remarkable; in fact, he’s already outgrown his initial vertical grow system.
“It’s a great problem to have,” Rhyne said.
He said new customers are usually so excited about what they’ve tried that they want to take home more than they need.
“I’m an old school believer in the quality of the sale and even though these items have a good shelf life, I try to discourage people from buying too much at once,” Rhyne said.
CraftGrown Farms only harvests what it sells, so the produce is picked right in front of the customer, providing maximum flavor and freshness.
There are currently about a dozen microgreen blends available, as well as leafy greens such as kale, arugula, and tatsoi. The microgreens will keep in a vegetable crisper for two weeks, and all of the lettuce is sold with the root ball intact to preserve flavor and freshness.
“These are not your everyday lettuces,” Rhyne said.
CraftGrown Farms is located at 603 Castle St. and is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
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Stockholm’s Indoor Farms Boost Food Security
The city is revolutionizing its food sector by showing results in eco-friendly urban farming
The City Is Revolutionizing Its Food
Sector By Showing Results
In Eco-Friendly Urban Farming
14 Mar 2021
In April 2020, the UN warned that the world was on the brink of a catastrophic famine.
It was estimated that about 135 million people in around 55 countries faced shortages in food, particularly nutritious food, in 2019.
Against this backdrop, the UN has set an ambitious goal to ensure food security and wipe out hunger by 2030. It estimated that around 183 million people could slide into starvation and malnutrition if stricken with a pandemic akin to Covid-19. The coronavirus crisis disrupted global food supply chains, leading to chronic shortages in many countries.
Even before this pandemic, the ecological costs of food production were rising, compounded by water scarcity in many places. Irrigation accounts for about 70% of freshwater withdrawals around the world, with the figure reaching 90% in some developing countries.
Food production, which is critical for survival, affects the ecosystem. With the Earth’s resources depleting every day and the world population growing, we must discover innovative ways to cultivate food. We need ground-breaking and resourceful approaches to not only feed the world’s population but to do so in eco-friendly ways.
Faced with this dilemma, we need to develop alternative methods of farming, particularly using artificial intelligence.
Stockholm’s modern indoor farming methods provide some answers on how to overcome global food shortages. The city is revolutionizing its food sector by showing results in eco-friendly urban farming.
Some buildings in Stockholm incorporate artificial intelligence and eco-friendly methods into indoor farming. Circular energy wastewater and carbon-absorbing mechanisms enable indoor-grown greens while reducing the ecological footprint.
Indoor farming in Stockholm uses LED lighting and hydroponic watering systems. Food, especially vegetables, is grown indoors all year round. Growing vegetables indoors not only cuts reliance on food imports but also makes cities self-sufficient in food.
More than 1.3 million plants are grown indoors in Stockholm every year. Indoor farming has allowed Sweden to slash food imports by 60% and cut carbon emissions incurred in transporting food. Such transport accounts for a quarter of emissions in Sweden.
In some Stockholm suburbs, bright LED lights illuminate a business space. In this building, plants follow an artificial daylight rhythm to grow as efficiently as possible. Delicate plants such as various herbs and lettuce grow in stacks of about 20 metres wide by six metres high. Local restaurants, supermarkets and airlines buy this indoor-grown indoors.
Weather conditions in Sweden allow open-air farming for only three to four months a year. But climate is not a constraint in indoor farming, which maximises the use of space using stacks. Each shelf has its own LED lighting and circulating water. Even fruits like strawberries can be grown throughout the year.
Sweden Foodtech, a government agency, acts as a catalyst in promoting and encouraging innovation in the food sector. This agency also offers support to firms that want to restructure the food ecosystem. Companies converge when business events are organized focusing on major themes revolving around the future of the Swedish food sector.
Besides Sweden Foodtech, the Stockholm Business Region, a business promotion agency, aims to create a resilient food ecosystem for innovative businesses. Its goal is to position Stockholm as a “leading food-tech hub” for 300 companies in the food-tech industry.
Public interest, environmental consciousness, and an innovative society has made Stockholm a conducive place for food-tech initiatives. Consumers in this city are more ecologically vigilant, and many of them feel it is their moral obligation to support eco-friendly products. The city itself also extends support to all kinds of sustainable projects.
As a society grows more affluent, it places greater emphasis on health issues and ecological considerations. Ecological degradation and the use of harmful chemical fertilisers and pesticides will spur demand for eco-friendly and healthier food products.
Some 55% or 4.3 billion of the global population of 7.8 billion are urban dwellers. This figure could reach 70% or 6.8 billion of the world’s population of 9.7 billion by 2050.
High-tech vertical farms offer alternative ways to grow food on a large scale. In this way, we can grow our food in more energy-efficient and healthier ways. Despite developments in agricultural technology, conventional farming faces problems such as pests, climate change, and natural disasters.
With the scarcity of arable farming land, ecological problems, and health hazards, the trend is towards indoor food cultivation. The only challenge is to reduce the cost of indoor farming, especially for urban dwellers in less affluent countries.
But with technology rapidly advancing along with ongoing R&D and innovation, costs will fall, allowing economies of scale in indoor farming. Technological advances will lower costs, enhance quality and improve harvests, all of which will provide better returns on investments.
The trend towards indoor vertical hydroponic or aeroponic farming will gain momentum, especially in urban areas. Mass food production in the future will probably focus on indoor farming in buildings rather than horizontal farming on the ground.
READ MORE: Use idle city land to grow food
What’s in it for Malaysia? Our total agricultural imports reached nearly $18.3bn in 2019, roughly 7% from the US. We must slash this high import bill.
The government should encourage more Malaysians to enter the food ecosystem and develop the sector completely along the value chain. It should give incentives to unemployed graduates, especially those in relevant disciplines, to venture into the food sector. It should encourage them to get involved in R&D, integrated farming, indoor farming, manufacturing, logistics, marketing and distribution.
If there is anything we can learn from the coronavirus pandemic, it is that we have to ensure food self-sufficiency. We saw how the pandemic severely disrupted global food supply chains, and so our national agenda should prioritize food security.
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Aquaponics AI Releases New Video Series ‘People of Aquaponics’ Connecting With The Movers and Shakers of The Aquaponic and Aquaculture Industry.
The People of Aquaponics series is highlighting the movers and shakers in the industry
Aquaponics AI is a social-impact aquaponic technology company powering the heroes of next-gen aquaponic food production. Their recently released video series, People of Aquaponics, aims to validate the rapidly growing aquaponic community by connecting with awesome people, doing amazing things globally with aquaponics and aquaculture.
“I’m personally inspired by the aquaponic community. You are a unique group of people with an underlying vibe for social impact and caring for people and the planet. Of course, aquaponics is an impactful avenue, but the people behind all of this, that’s who I’m excited to connect with and share with the community through this series “said Daniel Robards, co-founder, and CBDO.
The People of Aquaponics series is highlighting such movers and shakers in the industry. Some interviews so far include a professor who was trialing aquaponics 40 years ago, a researcher discussing her work with microorganisms and bacterial communities, as well as a business training persons with disabilities within their, grow space; that happens to be hosted in a brewery.
Jump in and watch the series on Aquaponics AI’s Youtube page!
About Aquaponics AI
Aquaponics AI is the leading provider of cloud-based aquaponics software. A data and intelligence-driven approach to growing with Aquaponics enable small and large farms to simplify data, understand their system and become better growers. With Aquaponics AI, growers can leverage key data insights to increase overall success and impact. For more information visit aquaponics.ai or email connect@aquaponics.ai.
Fruitbox 56 - Daniel Kats, InFarm
Despite its name, InFarm’s roots are very much in the market. In February 2021, the Berlin-based urban farming startup announced the creation of new growing centres to supply fresh produce to the likes of Edeka, Lidl and Kaufland
5th March 2021
The Urban Farming Startup's Head of Sales
Tells Fruitnet About The Next Stage of its Impressive Expansion
Despite its name, InFarm’s roots are very much in the market. In February 2021, the Berlin-based urban farming startup announced the creation of new growing centres to supply fresh produce to the likes of Edeka, Lidl, and Kaufland.
Starting in Germany and extending very soon to the UK, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, US, and Canada, the move represents a step-change in its operations, scaling up a business model that until now has focused on smaller, plug-and-grow units within retail stores themselves.
Now, as demand for locally grown produce continues to rise, the company is preparing go beyond the 1,500 in-store farms already installed and ramp up production wherever the market demands it.
And with total venture capital funding of more than US$400m to date, it’s certainly shaping up to be one of the world’s most hotly tipped vertical growing startups.
“We are not building farms,” explains InFarm’s vice-president of corporate sales Daniel Kats, speaking on the latest episode of Fruitbox. “We’re taking facilities and deploying models inside. Those automated towers can then grow by demand. If the retailer has more demand, we just add one or two or ten more towers.”
Why now? “The population is growing, the demand keeps growing, and a lot of food production is needed in many large cities,” says Kats. “Therefore we are pushing the button now and starting to grow.”
Now operating in ten countries, and set to launch in Japan this year, the company is also venturing into new products. As a result, it’s ready to become a major supplier in its own right, rather than simply enabling retailers to grow a limited number of items in stores.
“We are growing much more variety and assortment,” Kats adds. “We started with a lot of leafy greens, herbs, lettuces, mixed salads, microgreens, and now we’re doing the first steps into tomatoes, mushrooms, chillies, strawberries in the future, which require naturally much bigger spaces to grow centrally and distribute to the supermarkets.”
Hosted by Chris White in London, Fruitbox now attracts a big audience across the global fruit and vegetable business that tunes in every week to hear exclusive interviews and expert analysis. Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.
All previous episodes of Fruitbox can be found on any of the following podcast services:
Apple · Spotify · Anchor · Google · Overcast · Soundcloud · Stitcher · Pocket Casts
Produced by Fruitnet Media International, the show is essential listening for everyone in the fresh produce industry.
To find out how you can tell your story on Fruitbox, email: chris@fruitnet.com
To learn about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, email: advertising@fruitnet.com
Enjoyed this free article from Eurofruit Magazine and its team of editors? Don't miss out on even more in-depth analysis, plus all the latest news from the fresh produce business. Subscribe now to Eurofruit Magazine.
EU: According To Marcell Kovacs "Hydroponics Should Be Labeled As Organic"
“We’re living in a time where environmentally-conscious decisions are imperative,” says Marcell
Earlier this year, many vertical farms, especially hydroponic farms and their investors received a cold shower after an EU decision. Although hydroponic farming offers high-quality, pesticide-free, green, nutrition products it hasn’t been acknowledged by the European Parlament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) as “organic”.
Losing many benefits
“Agriculture technology progressed at a break-neck speed in the last 3 to 5 years, and we are only at the beginning of the trend,” says Marcell Kovacs, founder, and CEO at Maxellco an innovation agency. “The next EU budget will unleash millions of euros for the agriculture sector in the form of grants or investments for a more sustainable and greener sector. This is the time and place to witness the revolution for the next 5 to 7 years.”
The technology in novel growing solutions, such as automated vertical farms, hydroponics, and aquaponics, often fitted with Private Equity and Venture Capital investments, resulted that these products hit the market at scale. However, production at high-tech facilities is expensive as labor, electricity, and heating are major cost factors that need to be managed. Due to high CapEx and OpEx it is crucial for the sector to sell products at a premium price to keep the business afloat.
According to Marcell, one solution could be to classify indoor farming products as officially ‘organic’, using the approved logo set by the EU across all 27 countries.
The organic logo (Source: European Commission)
It appears that the labeling, such as ‘bio’, ‘organic’, ‘eco’ or ‘locally produced’ are crucial to justify a higher price for produce. The organic label has become an immediately recognizable statement for quality. “We track retail prices in several regions in the EU and we can clearly demonstrate a 30% or even in some cases a 50% price premium for organic labeled products, fruits, vegetables and greens,” Marcell says. “Therefore, the label is clearly a powerful designation and producers have a strong incentive to be included under the organic umbrella,” he adds.
Why rejected?
“It was unrealistic to assume that the Parliament would approve hydroponics as organic at one go says Marcell. He says that the European agriculture sector is one of the most heavily regulated and subsidized sectors. Only a handful of experts understand the entire Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to its full extent. It took years of negotiation, industrial influence and compromise to develop the organic label followed by a decade of heavy marketing so the brand could easily be recognized by (potential) customers. It is a sacred protection tool to prevent European citizens from buying low-quality and unhealthy food from sources other than inside the EU,” Marcel affirms.
“Technology always progressed faster, whereas legislation and regulation followed the progress five to 10 years later to catch up with trends. The new agriculture is surely disruptive, but this is not a get-rich-quick scheme,” Marcell warns. “Farmers should embrace themselves for years of continuous investment in technology and marketing.” In order to pursue these classification goals, the AgTech sector must unite and push for legislative change together, or try to develop a new label as a standard for hydroponic and indoor farming production. Even with the best efforts, the process might take years, and maybe even decades for it to pass. So why not spend this effort in customer education instead?” Marcell suggests.
Photo 17690284 © Panpote | Dreamstime.com
Customer engagement
“We’re living in a time where environmentally-conscious decisions are imperative,” says Marcell. The change is not only a peak of the political centrum, but it’s present in industries, companies and customers. Customer's habits are now changing as many are becoming more environmentally conscious and are set to pursue a healthy diet. They prefer high-quality products as they’re able to afford it. Marcell says that the green aspect is part of the customer’s decisions as they want to become part of the story and have an emotional attachment to the food. Questions will arise such as, Where did come from? How was it produced? What is the environmental impact of this one?”
Marcell states that customers have the power to decide the future of the planet and the agriculture sector. On the other hand, producers have the chance to engage with customers across the supply chain, to better inform, educate and assist them to maintain their choice of lifestyle. Companies and producers should explore this field to begin developing a long-term customer relationship.
“An armada of digital tools are available for companies to take advantage and lead the changing customer habits. Think of QR codes to track down the source of vegetables (from Farm-to-Fork), or mobile apps to track eating habits or gamified waste collection. These are all easy to go answers and an important piece of this extremely complex situation.”
For more information:
Maxellco
Marcell Kovacs, Founder, and CEO
marcell.kovacs@maxellco.com
www.maxellco.com
Publication date: Fri 5 Mar 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com
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[Webinar] Airing It Out: Clean Production Room Environment
You won't want to miss our next Indoor Ag-Conversations webinar session as our expert panel talks about creating a healthy environment for people and plants
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Advanced Container Technologies, Inc. Joins Clean Food Initiative
Through the use of the company’s GrowPods, ACTX can provide farmers, community groups, investors, and non-profit agencies with a turnkey system to grow ultra-clean and nutritious food that can not only benefit the ecology of the planet and bolster community food security but can also provide new jobs and economic opportunities
March 03, 2021 | Source: Advanced Container Technologies Inc.
Company joins movement toward sustainable alternatives to traditional food production.
CORONA, Calif., March 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Container Technologies, Inc. (Ticker: OTC:ACTX) stated it is joining the Clean Food Initiative and intends to become a leading force in the drive toward sustainable agriculture.
The Clean Food Initiative is focused on bringing clean, fresh, healthy food to children throughout the world, that is free from pesticides, herbicides, or harmful chemicals. Along with the practice of implementing Sustainable Agriculture Systems (SAS), the aim is to develop a global food system that uses half the water and half the soil as it does today – yet produces twice as much food.
Through the use of the company’s GrowPods, ACTX can provide farmers, community groups, investors, and non-profit agencies with a turnkey system to grow ultra-clean and nutritious food that can not only benefit the ecology of the planet and bolster community food security but can also provide new jobs and economic opportunities.
GrowPods are automated indoor micro-farms that can provide a sustainable supply of affordable safe, clean, nutritious food, while also providing jobs at a local level by promoting the growth of a skilled agricultural workforce in non-traditional settings.
Doug Heldoorn, CEO of Advanced Container Technologies, Inc., said the company’s objectives are to make agriculture sustainable, investable, manageable, scalable, and transparent.
“There is a substantial difference between meeting basic food requirements and meeting optimum nutrition requirements,” he said. “People need access to high quality foods that are rich in nutritional value. Future generations deserve access to a healthy and sustainable food supply, not a diet filled with preservatives, pesticides or chemicals.”
SAS and the Clean Food Initiative represents one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, as well as a tangible investment opportunity with sound business growth prospects and consistent annual income generation.
“There are few problems facing mankind that are as massive as our need to change our methods of food production and distribution,” Mr. Heldoorn stated. “Fortunately, there are innovative solutions to these challenges, and we are extremely proud to be a vital participant in this agricultural and social evolution.”
For more information, call (951) 381-2555 or visit: www.advancedcontainertechnologies.com.
About Advanced Container Technologies, Inc.
Advanced Container Technologies, Inc. is in the businesses of selling and distributing hydroponic containers called GrowPods; and designing, branding, and selling proprietary medical-grade containers that can store pharmaceuticals, herbs, teas, and other solids or liquids, and can grind and shred herbs; as well as selling other products and accessories, such as humidity control inserts, odor-proof bags, lighters, and plastic lighter holders; and provides private labeling and branding for purchasers of the Company’s containers and the other products. For more information visit: www.advancedcontainertechnologies.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes predictions or information considered "forward-looking" within securities laws. These statements represent Company's current judgments but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date of this release. The Company is not obligated to revise any statements in light of new information or events.
Company Contact:
(951) 381-2555
info@advancedcontainertechnologies.com
Investor Relations:
Stuart Smith
SmallCapVoice.Com, Inc.
512-267-2430
ssmith@smallcapvoice.com
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Jersey City Housing Authority To Host Vertical Farms
The partnership aims to provide more access to healthy food
Partnership Aims To Provide
More Access To Healthy Food
February 25, 2021
AeroFarms will construct and maintain 10 farming sites, the first of which will be built at the Curries Woods Community Resource Center as part of a new agreement between the city, AeroFarms, and the Jersey City Housing Authority.
Vertical farms will provide free nutritious food to residents in need now that the Jersey City Council has adopted a resolution approving an agreement between AeroFarms, the city, and the Housing Authority.
The new agreement means that vertical farms will be opened at Curries Woods and Marion Gardens.
The public housing farms, which will be funded by the city, will increase healthy food access where needed most and encourage residents to live healthier lifestyles.
The Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), AeroFarms, and Jersey City Housing Authority will collaborate with the Boys & Girls Club and Head Start Early Childhood Learning programs to support produce distribution and healthy eating education.
“We’ve worked hard to keep the Vertical Farming Program a priority despite the impacts from this pandemic, which have disproportionately affected the more economically challenged areas and exacerbated societal issues such as healthy food access,” said Mayor Steven Fulop.
“We’re taking an innovative approach to a systemic issue that has plagued urban areas for far too long by taking matters into our own hands to provide thousands of pounds of locally-grown, nutritious foods that will help close the hunger gap and will have an immeasurable impact on the overall health of our community for years to come.”
City farming
AeroFarms will construct and maintain the farming sites. The first will be built at the Curries Woods Community Resource Center. The Boys & Girls Club and Head Start will integrate the vertical farm as a learning tool for youth within their educational programming.
Head Start, operated by Greater Bergen Community Action, plans to integrate greens into its early childhood meals.
AeroFarms indoor vertical farming technology uses up to 95 percent less water and no pesticides versus traditional field farming.
According to the city, the JCHA-Aerofarms Advisory Committee will be formed to provide strategic oversight and guidance throughout the program.
The steering committee will include Jersey City residents and stakeholders from the Boys & Girls Club and Head Start.
The city’s Vertical Farming Program will consist of eight additional vertical farms throughout Jersey City in senior centers, schools, public housing complexes, and municipal buildings.
The 10 sites will grow 19,000 pounds of vegetables annually using water mist and minimal electricity, according to the city.
The food is free to residents if they participate in five healthy eating workshops, and they will have the option of participating in a quarterly health screening.
“As a Certified B Corporation, we applaud Mayor Fulop’s leadership and advocacy to bring healthier food options closer to the community, and we are excited to launch together the nation’s first municipal vertical farming program that will have a far-lasting positive impact for multiple generations to come,” said Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms David Rosenberg.
The city’s Health and Human Service Department will run the program with a health-monitoring component to track participants’ progress under a greener diet, monitoring their blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity.
Crops will be integrated with other Healthy Food Access initiatives, including senior meal programs, according to the city.
“Access to healthy food and proper nutrition is directly linked to a person’s mental and physical health, and can decrease risks of chronic diseases while increasing life expectancy,” said Stacey Flanagan, director of Health and Human Service for Jersey City. “This past year has shed light on the health disparities that exist in urban areas nationwide, which is why we’ve remained focused on closing gaps where healthy food access is most needed, specifically for our low-income, youth, and senior populations.”
Healthy food initiatives
The Vertical Farming Program is part of the broader initiative from the World Economic Forum (WEF) toward partnerships with cities.
Jersey City is the first in the world to be selected by WEF to launch the Healthy City 2030 initiative, which aims to catalyze new ecosystems that will enable socially vibrant and health-centric cities and communities.
The vertical farming initiative is the latest and broadest effort Jersey City has launched around food access, including more than 5,000 food market tours for seniors to educate them on healthy eating, and the “Healthy Corner Store” initiative.
According to a 2018 city report, much of Jersey City could be described as a “food desert.”
The USDA defines a food desert as “a low-income census tract where either a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.”
This means at least 500 people or 33 percent of the population live more than a mile from a supermarket or large grocery store.
According to the city, these deserts have led to an increased rate of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other diet-related illnesses in the more marginalized communities of Jersey City.
“We are thrilled that the vertical farms that will be installed at JCHA sites to enable some of our most vulnerable residents, including low-income households, children, and seniors, to have access to fresh, green produce that is nutritious, delicious, and easy to prepare,” said Vivian Brady-Phillips, director of the JCHA.
For updates on this and other stories check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Marilyn Baer can be reached at Marilynb@hudsonreporter.com.
Swegreen’s New In-Store Farming Service Will Be Scandinavia’s Biggest
Swegreen's innovative in-store service will make the Ica Maxi megamarket in Linköping, located in Mid-Sweden, the first of all Sweden’s megamarkets to offer fresh herbs and salad grown from seed to finished plant inside the store
March 01, 2021
Swegreen’s board member Pierre Mohlin meets up with Milleriine Axelsson who will be responsible for the in-store growing unit from Ica Maxi’s side.
Swegreen launches ‘NextGen’ of super-efficient in-store vertical farming service when Ica Maxi megastore in Linköping puts the company’s Farming-as-a-Service growing unit for leafy greens right at the entrance of the store. The new vertical farm will be Scandinavia’s largest in-store cultivation.
Swegreen's innovative in-store service will make the Ica Maxi megamarket in Linköping, located in Mid-Sweden, the first of all Sweden’s megamarkets to offer fresh herbs and salad grown from seed to finished plant inside the store. Every day, several hundred fresh leafy vegetables can be harvested for the store's customers.
- It won’t get more locally produced than this, says Ica Maxi Linköping's CEO Tomas Lundvall.
The actual cultivation facility, which takes place in the middle of the store entrance, will have glass walls from floor to ceiling. This, together with an eye-catching light from the plants' LED system, will leave a clear mark on the entrance to the store when the installation is ready later this spring.
- We have chosen a central place for cultivation to really clarify our commitment to a greener and more climate-smart food production. The cultivation will be a destination in itself for our customers, and once they get the opportunity to taste these crops, many will understand what fantastic quality such a cultivation system offers, says Tomas Lundvall CEO and owner of the megamarket.
- Our salad and our herbs will simply be the smartest greens in town, he adds.
The new in-store plant is based on hydroponic cultivation technology. Nutrition comes directly from the water, which can be recycled. The system can also recover energy, carbon dioxide and nutrients. Behind the innovation is the all-Swedish technology company Swegreen, which has developed both the cultivation room itself and the AI-based control system which, via a cloud service, controls and optimizes the environment in the cultivation.
- We are very proud to work with the team for Ica Maxi in Linköping for this installation, their commitment to hyper-local and climate-smart produced food shows that this is a megastore at the forefront, says Swegreen's CEO Andreas Dahlin.
- Ordinary vegetables sold in Swedish supermarkets have traveled an average of 3,000 kilometers, while these crops have not been transported at all. Of course, it gives better taste, better consistency and durability - and also better nutritional value, he continues.
The new in-store service will start delivering leafy greens in May, and it will then be able to supply the megastore with different kinds of herbs such as coriander, dill, and parsley, and also lettuce and cabbage. The crops will also be used for in-house production in the store's own kitchen, and in future, there will be the possibility of more types of vegetables.
Swegreen is an all-Swedish ESG AgTech company combining advanced technology with data and plant science to efficient produce high quality and climate smart leafy greens in urban environment. Swegreen offers a prescription based growing service called Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS). With it, any supermarket or restaurant owner can supply their customers with fresh, nutritious, well-tasting and hyper-locally produced leafy greens all year. See more at www.swegreen.com
ICA Maxi Stormarknad Linköping was established in 1993 as one of the ICA Groups first Maxi megamarkets in Sweden. It’s the largest of its kind in the region and one of the largest ICA-stores all categories. The total sales area is 8,000 sqm and it employs around 300 persons. See more at: www.ica.se/butiker/maxi/linkoping/maxi-ica-stormarknad-linkoping-8900/start/
PODCAST: Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show speaker, futurist, and Chief Sustainability Officer at SweGreen, Sepehr Mousavi
Season 2 Episode 26
Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show speaker, futurist, and Chief Sustainability Officer at SweGreen, Sepehr Mousavi. Sepehr is a sustainability strategist, innovation catalyst, and a passionate futurist with an international and multicultural background. His organization, SweGreen, is the number one AgTech company in Sweden and is revolutionizing the vertical farming industry by providing futuristic, smart, and circular solutions for controlled-environment growing systems.
In this episode, Harry and Sepehr discuss Sepehr’s unique background and vertical farming origin story. They delve deep into the concepts of symbiosis, smart real estate solutions, and the importance of Research and Development. Finally, Sepehr speaks to the importance of educating the world on vertical farming and what excites him the most about the future of SweGreen and the AgTech industry.
VERTICAL FARMING PODCAST
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PHILIPPINES: Smart Farming In Metro 3rd
Cong. Kiko recently visited the demo farm developed by TUPV in Talisay City where Director Eric Malooy showcased a single mini farm-set-up using aquaponics technology with lettuce, pepper, tomatoes and tilapia ready for harvesting
Food security is among the priority development thrusts of Cong. Kiko Benitez for the Third District and the proposal of the Technological University of the Philippines-Visayas (TUPV) focusing on micro-farming through aquaponics offers positive potential for both urban and rural communities.
Cong. Kiko recently visited the demo farm developed by TUPV in Talisay City where Director Eric Malooy showcased a single mini farm-set-up using aquaponics technology with lettuce, pepper, tomatoes and tilapia ready for harvesting.
The project that will pool the efforts and resources of TUPV, the Congressional District Office, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation and IF Green Technologies targets the development of a sustainable business model for food security, increased production of healthy food choices, training of beneficiary communities on aquaponics technology assisted farming and financial literacy. Micro-financing for expansion plans and marketing support through an e-commerce platform for the produce is also a vital component of the project.
In the meeting with Cong. Kiko, Director Malooy and key TUPV representatives also introduced the solar powered water supply technology and disaster preparedness technologies – flood prediction, detection and monitoring through analytics, air quality monitoring, and data-driven disaster monitoring and response.*