Top 10 CEA News - March 25th

Dear readers,

French president aiming for a 3rd agriculture revolution, Pennsylvania becoming a hub for vertical farming, another vertical farm turning to strawberry production and much more!

Here are the top 10 CEA news of this week:

1- Emmanuel Macron Aims For a "3rd Agriculture Revolution" In a Bet To Transform Farms In Tech Startups

With less than a month to go before France's presidential campaign where the current president Emmanuel Macron, eyes for a second mandate, agriculture is perhaps the one sector that the candidate wants to shake up. Indeed, in recent campaign meetings and interviews, the president has emphasized his desire to transform current French farms into tech startups in addition to his France 2030 plan where 3Bn euros have been already invested to further its development.

During the International Agriculture Expo held in Paris during the last week of February, the president ensured that he aimed at bolstering the food security and sovereignty of France through the investment in Robotic, Numerical and Genetic solutions.

"We have experienced a revolution that has been mainly chemical over the last few decades, from which we are now emerging. We will not get out of it by going into decline, we will not get out of it by going back to 19th century agriculture which could not feed our population nor allow for solidarity actions. We will only get out of it through competitiveness, innovation and mobilisation," he said.

Nonetheless, it was met with concerns from environmental activists that see in such a program a desire to focus more on profitability and the economics of farming rather than the quality and sustainability of the food produced.

"Did you think that the future of agriculture lay in more quality, fewer pesticides and more farmers? For Emmanuel Macron, it's all about robotics, genetics and digital technology, to turn our farms into tech start-ups," ironized Maxime Combes, a French economist

Farmers, on the other hand, were concerned over the fact that the president would be turning farms into corporations with large investments, many highly-qualified employees and an emphasis on return on investment which is not in the logic of farming employment today.

2- Fluence Bioengineering Sign Distribution Partnership With Hydrofarm

Fluence announced its distribution partnership with Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: HYFM), a leading manufacturer and distributor of hydroponic equipment and supplies for controlled environment agriculture. Hydrofarm will distribute Fluence’s newly released SPYDR Fang LED lighting solution to its network of hydro-shop retailers throughout the U.S. beginning early April 2022. For more than 40 years, Hydrofarm has manufactured and distributed controlled environment agriculture equipment and supplies that provide growers with greater quality, efficiency, consistency and speed in their cultivation operations. Under the new partnership, Hydrofarm will supply retailers with Fluence’s SPYDR Fang, a product designed for craft growers and home hobbyists and built with Fluence’s trusted, research-backed and science-led engineering leveraged by growers throughout the world.

3- Signify Provides Its LED Technology To VAXA, Iceland's First Vertical Farm

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, is providing GreenPower LED technology for VAXA, Iceland’s first vertical farm. Vertical farming is where agriculture is carried out in controlled indoor conditions, where crops are grown under LED lighting in systems of stacked trays. With its cold climate and rocky, volcanic landscape, Iceland poses obvious challenges for traditional methods of farming, making it an ideal environment to explore the possibilities of vertical agriculture.

4- Delivering Greens With Greener Transportation, Square Roots Grow Partners With URB-E For NYC Stores

Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs, Square Roots Grow offers a range of fresh produce available in more than 250 retail locations around the country including Whole Foods Market, FreshDirect, Morton Williams, SpartanNash corporate stores, Fresh Thyme Market, Meijer’s market format stores, Busch’s Fresh Food Market, and Gordon Food Service Stores. Now, the company signed a partnership with URB-E, enabling the delivery of fresh greens in green transportation.

5- Geothermal As A Source Of Energy For Greenhouses? Half Of The Dutch Operators Could Rely On It

Excessive energy prices driven by the pandemic aftermath and the current tensions between Russia & Ukraine have not only ruined the wallets of millions of European citizens but also greenhouses as many have fallen below the minimum profit margin.

Geothermie Nederland predicts that about 50% of the heat demand of greenhouse operators could be met using geothermal energy in the Netherlands which will not only enable a sustainable source of energy but also ease the pressure off of the facilities that have to deal with a dramatic decrease in operational profitability. However, the complexity of such a project and the impressive delays to get permits are often limitations that the association, Geothermie Nederland, is trying to remove through intensive consultations.

6- Pennsylvania Amongst Top State For Vertical Farms In The United States

Recently, Fifth Season, a Pittsburg-based startup has signed a retail partnership with Kroger and subsequently increased its shelf presence by 56% as its production is now available in more than 200 Kroger stores. Before that, Bowery Farm opened a facility in the commonwealth and Upward Farm planned to build the world's largest farm in the state.

Fifth season farm was founded in 2016 and is now putting its produce on the shelves of about 200 Kroger stores in Ohio & Michigan. This partnership will enable the Pittsburg based company to reach about 200 new stores, increasing their footprint of stores by 57% as per bizjournal's report.

7- Vertical Farming Rising In South Africa As Can-Agri & Pick n Pay Develop In-Store Solutions

Pick n pay recently unveiled their new vertical gardens in their retail stores in Cape Town and Sandton. Although customers can see the lettuce and herbs grown in-store, the plants are not for sale yet as trials are conducted. The CAN-Agri facility has more than 200 grow tubes, each holding about 80 plants whilst using 95% less water and 85% less fertiliser than traditional farming methods.

8- Urban Crop Solutions & Da Ros S.R.L Join Forces For The Indoor Farming Industry

Urban Crop Solutions and the global supplier of horticulture and nurseries equipment, Da Ros S.R.L. (Italy) have agreed to partner which furthers the range of products offered by the Belgium Indoor Farm leader to its clients.

Da Ros S.R.L. is a machinery manufacturer with headquarters in Italy, that has been supplying the horticultural sector with specialised peripheral equipment for over 35 years. A well-known and trusted name in the industry, their footprint can be seen by their installations globally. As the go-to company for seeding machines, harvesting machines, and tray fillers – Da Ros have been the recommended partner for Urban Crop Solutions’ customers with their peripheral needs.

9- OnePointOne wants a piece of the vertically farmed strawberry market

Vertical farming firm OnePointOne announced a deal with longstanding California Giant Berry Farms and bring their own vertically grown strawberries to market. No time frame for the deal has been announced, but the offering will also be available through the OnePointOne-connected Willo Farm D2C offering.

10- Agricool Placed Under Receivership After Failing To Meet Expectations

According to Les Echos, French startup Agricool was placed in receivership on January 31st after an ultimate funding round failure. As the company was a precursor in such technology in France, the concept attracted many investors (XAnge, Kima Ventures, BpiFrance etc...) who injected about 35 million euros into the start-up (25 million being injected in December 2018). During its latest round, Agricool planned to manufacture hundreds of its flagship containers by 2021 but due to a lack of a viable economic model, it was unable to achieve its objective.

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