USA – San Francisco-based Plenty Unlimited Inc. will invest US$300 m in new vertical farms in the US state of Virginia over the course of six years to support the production of fruits and vegetables.
Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who made the announcement said the vertical growing technology mammoth towers represent the future of agriculture.
The first farm will grow long-term investor and fruit grower Driscoll’s strawberries at scale and is anticipated to be finished in the winter of 2023–2024.
Driscoll’s chairman and CEO Miles Reiter said: “This farm will combine Driscoll’s patented berry varieties with Plenty’s patented indoor vertical-farming technology.”
“We are excited to take the next step in the journey to understand what it takes to bring fresh, flavourful berries locally grown all year round.”
Another farm, not connected with the Richmond project, is under construction in Compton in California, and is due to open in January.
Plenty estimates that when the entire campus is operating, 20 million pounds of produce will be grown annually.
Apart from the 4 million pounds of strawberries that Plenty anticipates generating each year, it also plans to cultivate leafy greens, cherry tomatoes, and other crops.
The business earlier this year signed a deal to provide leafy greens to Walmart in California with the possibility of more markets in the future as it builds additional farms.
Chief executive Arama Kukutai said: “Through more than a decade of investment in research and development, Plenty has cracked the code on a scalable platform that makes indoor farming increasingly economical. “
He noted that their innovation makes it possible for them to grow a wide variety of crops with a fraction of the land and up to 350 times more yield per acre than conventional farms.
The business earlier this year signed a deal to provide leafy greens to Walmart in California with the possibility of more markets in the future as it builds additional farms.
Several indoor agriculture enterprises have facilities in Virginia, including AeroFarms, Beanstalk, and Soli Organic Inc., which sells lettuce, herbs, and purées in 20,000 stores nationwide.
Chesterfield County collaborated with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to secure the Plenty deal.
Plenty is eligible for other benefits through the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone grant program which will offer job training and other assistance at no cost to the business.
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