Infarm, a Berlin-based hydroponic vertical farming system startup offering herbs and green leaves, has closed its facilities in Frankfurt on April 6th and Copenhagen on April 14th due to escalating energy prices, inflation, supply chain disruptions, rising material costs, and tough financial markets. The company’s operations in the US, Canada, and other facilities in Germany are expected to remain.

As part of this strategy shift, the company has decided to:

• Consolidate farming capacity at its Growing Centres in Frankfurt, Copenhagen, and Toronto and open a Growing Centre in Baltimore to serve the tri-state area

• Downsize operations in the UK, France, and the Netherlands, and review operations in Japan

• Optimize its InStore farming network to key clusters, prioritize high-yield industrial-scale farming units (ACREs), and relocate modular ACRE farming units to the newly defined core markets

Further, Infarm will compensate employees that are leaving for their notice period and provide them with a severance payment. The company will also support employees that are placed on notice during the transition period.

Analyst QuickTake: Infarm had previously announced in November 2022 that it would downsize and shut down some facilities to cut costs and streamline operations. It also revealed that the facilities in Frankfurt and Copenhagen were set to be consolidated, while operations in the UK, France, and the Netherlands would be downsized.