US vertical-farming business Plenty Unlimited has teamed up with fruit grower Driscoll’s to cultivate strawberries using the former’s controlled environment technology.
The two companies, both located in California, have entered a joint development agreement for Driscoll’s “proprietary flavourful” strawberry varieties to be grown year-round in Plenty’s vertical indoor farm based in the city of Laramie, Wyoming.
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Vertical, or indoor farming, is gaining prominence around the world as an alternative means to cultivate fresh produce without the need for soil or pesticides, and instead employs hydroponics and aeroponics technologies that require 90% less water than traditional methods. Vertically-farmed produce can also be grown closer to customer locations, ensuring freshness, with the advantage that crops can be cultivated all year round.
Plenty is led by chief executive Matt Barnard, who co-founded the business with Nate Storey, the company’s chief scientific officer. It recently established an agreement with US retailer Albertsons for the supply of fresh leafy greens, including lettuce, baby kale, baby arugula or rocket, and the Japanese vegetable Mizuna, across California.
Storey said in a statement today (12 October): “As they [Driscoll’s] embrace the emergence of indoor farming, we are proud they have chosen Plenty as their collaborator to develop flavourful berries grown indoors in a clean, controlled environment. We are aligned in our mission to bring the most delicious food to our consumers while reducing our environmental impact.”
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Driscoll’s, based in San Francisco, supplies the retail and foodservice channels with fresh berries in markets that include North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and China.
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By GlobalDataMiles Reiter, Driscoll’s chairman and CEO, said: “As one of the few berry companies with a dedicated global R&D program, we believe our proprietary berries….combined with Plenty’s technology leadership, will create a competitive market edge as we expand to more effectively meet the future consumer.”
See just-food’s analysis on vertical farming here: Can vertical farming ever become mainstream?
