Driscoll's heads to Virginia to grow strawberries in world's largest indoor vertical farm
Indoor vertical-farming company Plenty Unlimited Inc. confirmed plans with the city of Richmond to build the world’s largest indoor vertical farming campus in Virginia with a $300 million investment in Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park.
Plenty recently secured $400 million in financing, the largest investment to date for an indoor farming company, according to a news release. Plenty plans to complete its Richmond Farm Campus over the next six years, utilizing its 200 patent assets to grow produce year-round in grow towers that will be more than 30 feet tall.
What’s more, the first farming site slated for the expansive, 120-acre campus will be a Driscoll's berry farm that will grow the first indoor, vertically farmed strawberries at scale. Driscoll's farm will be completed by winter 2023-2024.
“Indoor farming is fundamentally changing agribusiness with environmentally and socially responsible farming technologies that make local, sustainable produce available to more communities,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick said in the release. “Plenty will be able to easily grow and distribute fresh products to thousands of customers from its new campus in Chesterfield County, reinforcing the benefits of Virginia’s strategic location and dedicated workforce. We are proud to welcome Plenty to the Commonwealth and thank the company for further advancing the Controlled Environment Agriculture industry in Virginia.”
California leads the country in fresh strawberry production, growing 90% of strawberries annually, according to the USDA. Florida trails in second, producing about 8%, followed by New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington. Driscoll's' and Plenty’s new endeavor would put central Virginia on the strawberry map and build Virginia’s growing reputation for indoor farming. This year alone, both AeroFarms and Beanstalk opened indoor farming operations in Virginia.
“At Plenty, we’re on a mission to sustainably grow fresh food for everyone, everywhere,” Plenty CEO Arama Kukutai said in the release. “This campus will raise the bar on what indoor vertical farming can deliver. The scale and sophistication of what we’re building here in Virginia will make it possible to economically grow a variety of produce with superior quality and flavor. We look forward to continuing to work in close partnership with the government of Virginia as we endeavor to rewrite the rules of agriculture."
