US retail giant Walmart is investing in Plenty, an indoor vertical farming firm, and will sell the company’s sustainable vegetables in its California locations.
According to environmentalleader.com, Plenty received the investment as part of a $400 million Series E round of fundraising.
The company employs vertical farming architecture that blends engineering, software, and sustainable agricultural science to produce various crops on a single platform. Plenty claims that their system is more efficient in terms of water and land utilization than conventional agriculture.
Plenty also claims that its production efficiency and flexibility in locating farms decreases transportation demands and food waste by keeping goods fresher for longer in 100 percent recyclable packaging. Plenty claims that its farms occupy 1% of the area of a regular farm and can produce up to 350 times more food per acre.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, vertical farming is advantageous because food can be produced inside all year, and it allows for more control over light, temperature, water consumption, and, in some cases, carbon dioxide levels. It also reduces pollution and food waste by requiring just a few kilometers of transit from farm to retail outlet, as compared to hundreds of miles by aircraft or truck.
Walmart claims the vegetables will be available later in 2022 and that the investment demonstrates the company’s commitment to sustainability.
Among these initiatives is a $2 billion green bond issued in 2021, which is reported to be the biggest issued by a US firm. Its goal is to assist Walmart in achieving 100% renewable energy.
Walmart has also vowed to be carbon-free by 2040 and has launched Project Gigaton to assist its suppliers in reducing 1 billion metric tons of emissions by 2030.
Sustainable agriculture is also becoming more of a concern for supply chains, due to rising demand for production transparency and the effect of environmental degradation on emissions and income. As a result, firms such as McDonald’s and PepsiCo have formed collaborations such as AgMission, which tries to minimize agricultural emissions.
Vertical farming is one of the most sustainable agricultural approaches, alongside regenerative agriculture and biofuel production.
Plenty’s vertical farms are now all situated in California. According to the Associated Press, the business is constructing a vertical farm in Compton, California, which Plenty claims will be the world’s biggest vertical farming producer.
Walmart will join Plenty’s board of directors as part of the investment. The extent of Walmart’s equity position was not revealed, according to CNBC, and the fundraising was headed by One Madison Group and JS Capital, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund. The financing is conditional on regulatory clearance.