Walmart teams with Plenty to bring vertically-farmed produce to shelves
Walmart has announced an investment in Plenty Unlimited, an indoor vertical farming company, in an effort to deliver fresh produce to Walmart locations.
Together, Walmart and Plenty will work collaboratively to create a new product category in vertical farming by delivering the “freshness and quality that Walmart customers expect,” year-round, according to Walmart. Vertical farming supplements traditional farming practices to help increase food supply and alleviate current challenges on the food system in a sustainable way.
The long-term commercial agreement allows Walmart to source Plenty’s leafy greens for all its California stores from Plenty’s Compton farm beginning later this year. The greens will be used for Walmart’s own brand produce products as well as a line of Plenty brand produce. Shoppers can find the new produce through Walmart’s new ‘Shop by Diet’ digital tool. Walmart is the first large U.S. retailer to significantly invest in vertical farming.
“At Walmart, we are focused on identifying and investing in innovative food solutions to bring our customers the freshest, highest-quality foods at the best prices,” said Charles Redfield, chief merchandising officer at Walmart U.S. “We believe Plenty is a proven leader in a new era of agriculture, one that offers pesticide-free, peak-flavor produce to shoppers every day of the year. This partnership not only accelerates agricultural innovation, but reinforces our commitment to sustainability, by delivering a new category of fresh that is good for people and the planet.”
California-based Plenty’s farming technology platform aims to deliver pesticide-free, indoor-grown produce all year long. The company’s indoor farming architecture differs from greenhouses and other indoor farms, combining engineering, software and sustainable crop science to grow multiple crops on one platform. Backed by one of the largest U.S patent portfolios in the industry, Plenty’s proprietary tech is designed to improve on traditional agriculture’s use of water and land. By building their farms closer to the consumer, Plenty helps reduce transportation and food waste, keeping items fresher for longer in 100% recyclable product packaging.
"Plenty’s unique farming system unlocks industry-leading crop versatility and unit economics by enabling indoor growing year round,” said Arama Kukutai, Plenty CEO. "Our farms can be sited anywhere allowing us to put fresh fruits, greens and vegetables on shelf at all times, at speed, for maximum freshness. As a long-time market leader in retail innovation, Walmart is an ideal partner to test and scale access to our quality produce for their customers. This is a game-changer for the agritech industry."