Bowery Farming, which sells greens and herbs to local restaurants and grocery stores as well as via online channels, has partnered with California-based seed and digital solutions provider Unfold to produce vegetables using new seed varieties.

Bowery Farming’s team of agricultural scientists and engineers will collaborate with Unfold’s plant biology expert team and leverage the latter’s digital tools, germplasm, and seed varieties to grow new plant varieties. Bowery has identified two new high-yield Romaine lettuce varieties that it aims to trial in early 2023. 

Bowery Farming will be focusing on sustainability, where vegetable varieties use less time and energy for production while maintaining qualitative characteristics such as crunch, color, and taste. The new plant varieties will reportedly increase Bowery’s output while reducing its production costs.

Founded in 2020, Unfold develops seed varieties that are optimized for the vertical farming industry. The company offers their seed varieties and digital agronomic services to vertical farming companies to grow crops the best way vertically. It also has access to a library of fruit and vegetable germplasm that can be tested for their efficacy at its own R&D farm or a partner farm. 

Analyst QuickTake : Bowery Farming is one of the most popular vertical farming companies in the industry. The company has been continuously working on expanding its product portfolio. In 2021, Bowery launched a new product category called New Farmer’s Selection, which included a line of flavorful greens curated by its R&D team. In March 2022, it also announced the commercial launch of its vertically produced strawberries.