Ocado Eyes Vertical Expansion With £17 Million Investment In Vertical Farming
written by Bella PalmerOcado, the UK-based online groceries and warehouse tech company that
Plants are grown on stacked levels using specialist lighting and advocates highlight the greater efficiency vertical farming represents compared to traditional outdoors methods. Land use is highly
“Tastier and fresher products all year round, picked when ripe and virtually untouched by human hands”.
The first of the two deals Ocado has signed with vertical farming operators is with the Scunthorpe-based Jones Food Company. Ocado has taken a majority 58% stake in the company which vertically farms ‘leafy greens’ and herbs. For now, Jones sells its produce B2B to customers such as FTSE 250-listed food producer Greencore. The company plans to expand both its vertical growing locations across the UK as well as its range of produce.
Ocado also wants to integrate vertical farming facilities into its large tech-
Tim Steiner, Ocado co-founder and current chief executive commented that the ultimate aim is to:
“co-locate vertical farms within or next to our customer
The second vertical farming investment, which at this stage is still a ‘memorandum of understanding’ will be in a three-way joint venture with Ohio-based 80 Acres Farm and Priva Holdings, a Dutch provider of industrial systems to the horticulture industry. The JV is to be called
Within that context, Ocado’s interest in vertical farming looks a comfortable fit with the company’s broader strengths and
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