leafy green vegetables, like lettuce, in warehouses year

round. Bowery farming, one of the US's has largest vertical

farm companies says it can grow more than five and a half tons

of produce daily. And in a bid to expand its portfolio the

company is adding a new crop to its roster - strawberries. About

90% of strawberries in the US are grown in California. The

state's strawberry harvest runs from early Spring until Fall.

Because we're grown close to the point of consumption. We can

pick these berries at the peak of freshness, and then they're

on shelves 48 hours later. With strawberries

it takes more steps because the leaf has to grow as does the

flower and the flower that become the strawberry fruit

actually has to be pollinated. So these companies have to

enlist the help of bees to pollinate those flowers to

ultimately become the fruit that people eat.

Vertical farms like Bowery use a mix of sensors, robotics and

automation to grow food that they say makes their produce

fresher, better tasting and better for the environment. But

vertical farms also face challenges including a

significant upfront investment and the use of extensive

lighting systems that are energy intensive. In 1935, there were

6.8 million farms in the US. By 2020, that number dropped to a

little over 2 million. So with the global population expected

to surge to about 10 billion in the next 30 years and with the

vast majority of those people living in urban areas, can

indoor vertical farms like Bowery be a viable alternative

for growing the world's fruits and vegetables. In a warehouse

in Kearny, New Jersey, outside of New York City, Bowery's

indoor vertical farm stacks crops from floor to ceiling.

Using LED lights to mimic the sun and a continuous supply of

water and nutrients to feed its plants crops like lettuce and

arugula are grown year round. In addition

to the genetics piece, right the seed piece, within our system,

the variables that we play with our nutrients, lights, airflow,

and light it's not just the intensity of light, but it's the

photo periods. We could make a 28 hour day for our plants,

right, or 16 hour day depending on what we think the optimal

recipe is.

It is other benefits too. Bowery claims, it's vertically stacked

design can yield 100 times more produce compared to an outdoor

operation on a similar footprint while using 95% less water. The

company's crops are grown without pesticides and different

types of plants can grow side by side. Indoor farms also don't

have to contend with seasonal labor shortage like on

traditional farms. And growing crops closer to your customer

allows goods to be shipped from harvest to shelf in as little as

48 hours. But indoor farms face significant challenges including

hefty startup costs, higher urban rents and steep energy

costs to power LED lights and ventilation.

In general is still in the very early stages. A lot of the

companies that consumers see on shelves are pretty limited in

what they can grow. It's a lot of different types of lettuce,

but I spoke to a vertical farming expert and she was

saying you know people can't live on salad alone. These

companies need to branch into other crops and some of those

crops like berries, not only are they more complicated, they also

are pricier.

While low growing crops like leafy greens have been the

hallmark of vertical farms, fruits and berries have been

harder to develop. But that's starting to change. In 2022

Bowery launched a limited release pack of strawberries at

select New York City retailers. Strawberries grown on

traditional farms generally have to be shipped long distances,

which diminishes their taste. Strawberries also rank annually

at the top of the Dirty Dozen for fruits that contain the most

pesticides. To further enhance its berry production in 2022

Bowery purchased Traptic, a robotic company that uses 3d

cameras and AI to harvest fruit vine crops like strawberries and

tomatoes.

And the good thing for these farms is if they crack have to

grow those berries, they also can help drive profits for their

business potentially by selling higher value fruits and

vegetables.

Bowery farming got its start in 2015. In 2021, revenue doubled.

It works with retailers including Whole Foods and

Walmart and his farms outside of New York City and Baltimore. It

also has plans to expand. And that expansion could be good for

the industry as a whole if it finds consumers are willing to

pay for produce that tastes consistent no matter the season.

The possibilities are endless, right, when we're talking about

genetic diversity and biodiversity of seeds. Our

system allows us the agility and flexibility to experiment with

all these different types of seeds.