German retailer Edeka has announced plans to open greenhouses in selected stores, to offer its customers fresh and locally grown products.
These allotments will produce herbs and salads that will arrive ‘harvest fresh’ in stores.
Infarm
Berlin-based start-up company Infarm has opened the first high-tech greenhouses at Edeka’s Loddenheide and Gievenbeck stores.
The importance of buying fresh and local produce is growing, and this modular farm system is able to suit this trend, the retailer reported.
“You can hardly buy your products more local,” said Uwe Marx, who runs the Loddenheide store.
Marx added that his company wants to provide its customers with an alternative to products imported from other countries.
“The special thing is that the customer can watch the herbs being grown,” he furthered.
Growing Process
The herbs grow without soil in a multilevel structure – a so-called ‘vertical farm’.
Moreover, temperature, light spectrum, and nutrients are adapted to the plants without the use of pesticides, while negative influences like heat, cold and drought are excluded from the greenhouse.
Customers can sample the first harvest from 7 May.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jana Zimmermann. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
