To date, plant-based commercial vertical farming has mostly been limited to the production of lettuce crops, but this latest technological advancement has broadened the scope of what can be grown upwards. With temperature, light and humidity controlled across 12 growing ‘rooms,’ pollination of plants has also been engineered to be more efficient than bees. Ultimately, the company believes this will result in more uniformity in fruit and result in less waste.

“This farm is a model for the positive impact climate-agnostic agriculture can have, and proof that vertical farming can deliver the crop diversity, scaled and local production needed to future-proof the global food system,” said Arama Kukutai, Plenty CEO. “The Plenty Richmond Farm is the culmination of 200 research trials over the past six years to perfect growing strawberries with consistent peak-season flavor indoors year-round. Driscoll’s sets an incredibly high bar for the quality of its berries and we’re excited to join forces to consistently deliver an ultra-premium Driscoll’s strawberry year-round.”

Source: First US indoor vertical farm opens, to produce 4M lb of food year-round