Swegreen installs vertical farms in Swedish supermarkets. So far its hydroponic units are in eight grocery stores, and the company’s goal is to reach 80% of supermarkets across the country. This is how Swegreen puts its urban farming idea into practice: fresh produce should go straight to the shopper’s table, without delivery and transport.
Shoppers have been very curious about the hydroponic units.
An employee at one of the supermarkets working with Swegreen says many visitors take photos of the vertical farm, ask what it is and want to taste the greens. Several shoppers noticed a big difference in taste between lettuce grown in the store and lettuce sold elsewhere.
The plants are looked after by a Swegreen operator, not by store staff, and most care tasks are automated. Each farm has an AI-based environmental control system, and robots handle all the containers the plants grow in.
In summer 2022, Swegreen announced an investment in multifunctional robots and offered an automation solution for vertical farms. Swegreen’s own specialists built the digital platform, and the developers expect demand from retailers, restaurants and property developers.
Marcus Pettersson, Swegreen’s technical director, said that in the fall the company would robotize some tasks that farm operators now do by hand. He expects this to save customers time and money and make growing fresh produce more efficient.
