One of the main innovations in agriculture is called “vertical farming” and a reality that deals with it, Planet Farms, is expanding in Italy. The E startup-startup co-founded in Milan in 2018 and led by co-CEOs Marco Travaglini and Daniele Benatoff, active since 2021 in the production of salads using vertical farming, will build a new production plant in Cirimido (Como) after the first plant in Cavenago (Monza and Brianza). This second plant will be dedicated to the indoor hydroponic cultivation of vegetables, starting from salads and basil, always with the “vertical” methodology from which the company’s claim Go Vertical originates. The slogan has as its main characteristic the union of Italian food tradition and technological innovation in a sustainable key.
To implement the project, Planet Farms has obtained a loan of 17.5 million euros granted by Unicredit with a Green Guarantee from SACE, the insurance-financial Group controlled by the MEF that has a leading role in the implementation of the Green Ne Deal
The company led by Alessandra Ricci, in fact, can issue “green guarantees” for projects on the national territory aimed at facilitating and accelerating the transition to an economic model with reduced environmental impact, integrating production cycles with low-emission technologies to create sustainable goods and services, as well as promoting initiatives aimed at developing a low-emission mobility model.
“This transaction strengthens our support for the growth plans of Planet Farms, a reality in which technology, innovation, sustainability and vision combine with Italian know-how. This intervention confirms SACE’s commitment to support the agri-food sector and its supply chain by promoting technologies aimed at ecological transition, in line with the objectives of our business plan Togeeme2025” emphasizes Enrica Delgrosso, Head of SACE’s Mid Corporate North-West.
What is vertical farming
Planet Farms with its product line operates in the market of fresh packaged ready to be consumed, mainly targeting large-scale retail trade (large-scale organized distribution). The Milanese company uses indoor hydroponic cultivation of vegetables – already adopted in what is currently the largest production plant in Europe and which will also be used in the Como plant-through vertical farming technology.
A solution that is characterized by the automation of all production processes and does not involve the use of pesticides and pesticides, simultaneously reducing water consumption by 95% compared to traditional agriculture.
The basic objective of vertical farming is therefore to optimize the efficiency in the use of natural resources and soil, ensuring that food production is independent of the climate and the territory thanks to vertical building structures inserted in large cities and neighboring areas. An efficient cultivation system, with high performance and characterized by sustainability to protect all ecosystems.
This is because, according to forecasts, in 2050 more than 80% of the world’s population will reside in urban centers of ever greater size, with the energetically self-sufficient vertical plants designed to grow vegetables for food consumption in order to feed 9 billion people without “eroding” land.
Research, innovation and tradition for the” revolution ” of agriculture: this is what Planet Farms does
Planet Farms, operating with the largest vertical farm in Europe in Cavenago, is part of the sector by combining technological innovation of excellence and the equally excellent agricultural tradition of Made in Italy. An entrepreneurial reality in constant growth, whose original mission is to stimulate the development of the agricultural sector towards a new sustainable and efficient frontier.
”We are very satisfied with the outcome of the operation conducted with SACE and UniCredit that allows us to start the construction of the new Cirimido farm – explains the co-CEO of the company Daniele Benatoff – which will be much larger than the more than ten thousand square meters of Cavenago, allowing Planet Farms to considerably expand its production capacity and explore new potential of vertical farming, as well as increasingly efficient production techniques, also from an energy point of view”.
The” vertical revolution ” of agriculture by Planet Farms
The Milanese reality, whose innovations are the result of over three years of studies and research, does not only care about the growth of the business, aiming instead to guarantee greater access to food without neglecting food safety, reduced water consumption and quality of the same as fundamental to confer unique and genuine tastes to products.
All in a sector that has evolved over the years, but only under the chemical and genetic profiles. Planet Farms, on the other hand, wants to start a kind of revolution, moving from a climate driven approach – which implies the need to produce where climatic, economic and social conditions are suitable and favorable – to a consumer driven system.
An approach that shifts attention to consumer needs by exploiting different and innovative environments by “meeting” taste, quality and sustainability. A method that does not antagonize traditional agriculture, but becomes a resource capable of responding to various objectives of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development: from the problem represented by urbanization to traceability, up to the reduction of land consumption by virtue of production structures built vertically.
Structures that, to make a comparison with the traditional ones, thanks also to the technological component allow Planet Farms to have a high production capacity. In fact, what is obtained with traditional agricultural cultivation methods on about 300 hectares of land, only needs one hectare thanks to the innovative solutions of the E startup
New structures, expansion and internationalization of the business: Planet Farms projects to grow again
Planet Farms, in addition to constantly consolidating its position in Italy, has been looking at foreign markets since the beginning and is currently present in Portugal – with a company that deals with automation and artificial intelligence – England, Holland and Switzerland.
The company counts on another “miniature” vertical farm for the kitchen of the three-star Michelin restaurant “Da Vittorio ” in Brusaporto (Bergamo) inaugurated at the beginning of October 2022, as well as another plant in Lomazzo (between Milan and Como) that will be inaugurated by the end of 2023 after a capital increase of 30 million euros dated 2021 signed by 70 investors led by Azimut.
To which will also be added a research center to make the vertical farming of Planet Farms increasingly scalable and concretely translate the claim “Go Vertical” in Italy and in the world, without selling the technology to third parties but with the desire to generate skills also applicable to traditional agriculture (for example sensors and specific hardare
This approach will reduce the use of chemicals in the following phases, thus promoting a healthy and sustainable cultivation model. As the growth of the business according to the original vision of the co-founders of the E startup startup, supported by the financing assisted by the SACE Green Guarantee provided by Unicredit.
A source: https://www.economyup.it
