AeroFarms plans new 150,000 square-foot facility

US-based indoor vertical farming company AeroFarms is expanding into the Midwest region with a new 150,000-square-foot facility in the St Louis area.

The project with the World Wildlife Fund and St. Louis Controlled Environment Agriculture Coalition is intended to demonstrate strategies to minimise the environmental footprint of indoor farming, said AeroFarms.

The new site, which is the firm’s largest vertical farm to date, will “provide AeroFarms with rapid access to retail partners throughout the Midwest”.

AeroFarms’ co-founder and CEO, David Rosenberg, said: “Customer demand for our award-winning greens has been accelerating across the United States, and this latest farm expansion will allow us to serve our retail partners and their customers throughout the Midwest”.

“Farm development in the Midwest is part of our business model based on our proven success in the Northeast, and as a Certified B Corporation, we are equally excited to be able to create a more sustainable food system in the St. Louis area that has incredibly deep roots in agriculture and is home to an amazing AgTech community as well.”

World Wildlife Fund’s director of innovation startups, Julia Kurnik, added: “Indoor farming solutions can help us ensure a more resilient and environmentally responsible food system in the future, through decreased water use, reduction of soil erosion and use of pesticides, and lowered food loss and waste, but there are still challenges to overcome”.