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Plenty has announced the opening of a new indoor vertical farm in Compton, California, designed to grow up to 4.5 million pounds of leafy greens annually. The farm uses Plenty’s 3D vertical architecture that can increase yield up to 350 times the yield per acre of a conventional farm. The farm also has the potential to save millions of gallons of water annually compared to field farming. Plenty grows in 3D – on vertical towers nearly two stories high, which enables the company to grow more produce in less space and easily automate each step of the growing process, from planting to harvest.

Plenty’s CEO, Arama Kukutai, said: “After investing nearly a decade into R&D, Plenty has cracked the code on a scalable platform for indoor farming. With Plenty’s first commercial farm, we’re proving that our uniquely vertical indoor farms can deliver a reliable, year-round supply of fresh produce with positive unit economics.” The Compton Farm is initially growing four leafy greens – baby arugula, baby kale, crispy lettuce and curly baby spinach – the spinach is the “first vertically grown, pesticide-free spinach available in the US” and is the result of more than two years of development in Plenty’s plant science research centre. From designing a new filtration system to analysing nearly billions of data inputs from trials, Plenty adjusted the spinach growing environment to consistently produce pesticide-free spinach with a distinct sweet flavour and unique crunch. Compton Mayor Emma Sharif added: “The Plenty Compton Farm is bringing field-scale farming back to Compton and introducing a new generation of our community to careers in agriculture – more than 30% of the farm’s hires came from Compton. Plenty’s farm is a model for how we can increase access to fresh, locally grown food for urban populations while supporting cities’ economic development.” Plenty’s pesticide-free leafy greens are available at select locations in and around California, including Whole Foods Markets and Walmart, as well as a featured meal ingredient on all Singapore Airlines flights out of Los Angeles International Airport.