Ocado Injects 17 million pounds into Vertical Framing Sector

Ocado, a London-based chain of supermarkets, will pump 17 million pounds into the vertical farming industry space. The move will mark the company’s foray into a different field; diversifying its online groceries and tech group’s business.

The process involved in vertical farming is different than others as crops are grown indoors; without worrying about rain or any other weather conditions.

According to the company’s official statement, “We foresee a day where customers’ vegetables are harvested hours before they are packed, meters from where they are shipped.”

The company has formed a joint venture known as Infinite Acres for the new development. The participants for vertical farming will include 80 Acres Farms, a US-based company which has a fully automated indoor farm and Priva Holdings.  80 Acres Farms is involved in providing plant science knowledge to the Horticulture industry.

Priva Holdings is located in the Netherlands. The company provides industrial systems to the horticulture industry; which includes an array of products and solutions for process automation and climate control process. 

Ocado which has 58 percent stake in Europe’s largest operating vertical firm- Jones Food Company (JFC), will contribute its software and hardware systems, including robotics, automation, and AI.

The company has only a 1 percent stake of Britain’s grocery market. Yet, its 7.9 billion pound stock market valuation has been driven by its technology.