Plenty, a US hydroponic-based vertical farming company that sells greens and herbs via restaurants, grocery stores, and online channels, has secured 120 acres of land to build the world’s largest indoor vertical farm campus in Richmond, Virginia. 

This marks Plenty’s expansion into the East Coast beyond serving the West Coast where it plans to deploy multiple vertical farms within the campus. Plenty expects to invest USD 300 million over the next 6 years for the project. The campus is expected to have an annual potential production capacity of 20 million pounds across a range of crops such as strawberries, leafy greens, and tomatoes.

The first farm in the campus will grow strawberries for Driscoll’s where the company would reportedly be the first to do so at scale. The farm is expected to produce more than 4 million pounds of strawberries per year and will serve the Northeast. The company has already begun construction activities for the farm and plans to serve retailers in 2023–2024.

Analyst QuickTake : This announcement follows Plenty’s partnership with Driscoll’s in March 2022 to open a dedicated vertical farm for strawberries. Though Plenty announced plans to launch vertically produced strawberries after rivals such as Bowery Farming the company would reportedly be the first to grow them at commercial-scale if  its farm comes online by 2023 as planned.