Planet Farms, a scaleup operating in the vertical farming sector, announces that it has won the ‘Logistics development for the agri-food sector’ call ( Measure M2C1, Investment 2.1) of the PNRR funded by the Next Generation EU program of the European Union thanks to which, against a total investment of about 11 million euros for the construction of the area used for packaging, warehouse and logistics operations of the Cirimido plant in the province of Como, the company will be awarded a non-repayable fund of 6.9 million euros.
The innovative logistics area will be integrated into the new Planet Farms production plant, which will be operational from the end of July and will cover a total area of 40,000 square meters, of which 11,500 are dedicated to the plant with a net cultivation area of 20,000 square meters, positioning itself among the largest vertical farms in the world.
The solution identified by the company involves the implementation of a logistics area contiguous to production and a fully automated and interconnected system, which will make it possible to make all operations efficient, automated and further digitized. Improving the capacity for storing, managing and processing raw materials will reduce possible waste related to product handling.
Thanks to the use of state-of-the-art technologies, the entire production chain, from sowing to packaging, will be concentrated in the same place. In addition, growing in a controlled environment, the crop does not require to be washed before consumption and is packaged within 60 seconds of cutting. These aspects are crucial as they allow the organoleptic characteristics of the products to be preserved in the best possible way, guaranteeing a very high level of quality and a longer shelf-life , reaffirming Planet Farms ‘ great attention to the end consumer.
“The fact that we have been awarded this call funded by the Next Generation EU programme is a further, important recognition for us. The development of the investment project testifies to our growing role within the Italian agri-food supply chain, on which it will inevitably have a significant impact, confirming the validity of our technological assets, from automation systems to advanced artificial intelligence systems that allow the collection and constant updating of large amounts of data – declares Daniele Benatoff in a note, co-founder and co-CEO of the Planet Farms Group – . The optimization of logistics management and information flows, together with the shortening of the supply chain, will have a positive impact on the quality of processes and the final product: not only salads and basil, but also other crops such as coffee and cotton, which have very long production, processing and transport times and are strongly affected by the consequences of climate change”.
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