This week's top stories from 11-18 May

Hello there!

Just in case you missed them, we thought we would highlight our most-read stories of the week, amalgamated based on number of clicks via The Future of Food Production website and most engagement on our LinkedIn page. This essentially means they're big news for the indoor ag sector!

Superfish Growers pilot Brunei’s first vertical strawberry farm

“Our local strawberry farm will focus mostly on catering to local demand, but our main angle will be to sell our system to buyers in countries whose climate doesn’t optimally support the traditional farming of strawberries" Lee Wei Sheng, Co-founder & CTO, Superfish

Agtech veteran David Lee becomes CEO and Board Chair of Inevitable Tech

"Inevitable is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help farmers harness cutting-edge technology to realize urgently needed efficiencies and economies of scale – and we've already started working with partners in controlled environment ag" David J. Lee , CEO & Board Chair, Inevitable Technologies Inc.

Sprout AI announces successful potato harvest with IDIAP

"Sprout AI is revolutionizing the vertical farming industry, and I am thrilled to join the board to help guide its future growth. I believe that my background and experience will be instrumental in developing and implementing strategies that will enable Sprout AI to continue to excel" Kevin McGeough MBA PMP , Member of Board of Directors, Sprout.ai

AeroFarms expands availability with USA-wide Amazon Fresh launch

“AeroFarms is excited to continue to scale our national availability with Amazon Fresh to meet the growing consumer demand for our fresh, flavorful and delicious microgreens. We are proud to offer a unique flavor line-up of our Micro Spicy Mix, Micro Arugula and Micro Rainbow Mix to Amazon Fresh customers across the nation”? David Rosenberg , Co-Founder & CEO, AeroFarms

AppHavest reports US$13 million in net sales in Q1 2023

AppHarvest Board Member and controlled environment agriculture industry veteran Tony Martin was appointed COO in January 2023 to optimize production, sales and costs across the AppHarvest four-farm network. “Under Tony’s leadership, we’re already seeing improved performance in the first quarter with net sales of IS$13 million,” commented AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb . “Tony is focusing on a data-driven approach for optimizing production and driving more efficiency across the four-farm network. I believe Tony’s strong CEA experience will help accelerate our path to profitability”

Seasony partners with iFarm to merge cutting-edge mobile robotics and indoor farming technology

“We are excited to partner with iFarm and bring together our innovative robotics technology with their advanced vertical farming systems. This partnership will provide farmers with a sustainable and efficient solution for indoor farming, which will help to revolutionize the agriculture industry,” said Christopher Lissau Thomasen , CEO of Seasony

How scientists developed a robotic hand to pick blackberries in Arkansas

"Just imagine a robot walking through a blackberry farm, but the robot has 10 arms" Renee Threlfall , Food Science Research Scientist, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas

The above are just a select few of the stories that we have highlighted this week - there are plenty more on www.futurefoodproduction.com.

If you have a news story you would us to share with our community, please do send it to editor@futurefoodproduction.com.

And don't forget there's loads of exclusive features in the launch issue of The Future of Food Production magazine. Click here to read the latest edition and to subscribe free of charge to the next instalment!

We'll see you with some more great stories next week!

The Future of Food Production team