Infarm continues US expansion: largest growing center will supply Northeastern USA

The urban farming company, Infarm, has revealed that it has established its third Growing Center in the USA and the largest Infarm Growing Center to date.

Alongside the existing vertical farming facility in Seattle and a recently announced one in Austin, Texas, the new North East Growing Center will be located in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. The opening of this facility is a huge step in the company’s US-expansion roadmap, where Infarm plans to roll out its network of cloud-connected farming facilities with a size of over 500,000ft2 from coast to coast. The new Growing Center in Maryland will add around 200,000ft2 to Infarm’s US portfolio and produce up to 45 million crops per year. The Growing Center will create more than 50 jobs in Howard County.

“The opening of our largest US Growing Center to date in Central Maryland MSA demonstrates Infarm’s commitment to rapidly grow a local food infrastructure in the US market for the benefit of people and the planet," said Erez Galonska, CEO & Co-founder of Infarm. "Howard County is a great strategic location that will allow us to serve over 23 million consumers across the Tri-State and Mid-Atlantic areas.

“With the opening of this new Growing Center, we are now entering a region where vertical farming is already widely adopted, and green innovations are thriving. Once fully operational, our Growing Center will provide the Northeastern US with a new food production capability that minimizes climate and supply chain risk by growing more than 75 types of plants locally, sustainably, and reliably 24/7, 365 days a year,” Galonska added.

More than 50% of the new Growing Center is already pre-ordered with the first harvest planned for Spring 2023. The remaining capacity will be added by early 2024.

Infarm’s Growing Centers are set up with modular, cloud-connected farming units — each occupying 430ft2 of ground space and 33ft in height — producing more than 500,000 plants a year while saving 95% of ground space, and 95% of water. To date, Infarm saved more than 30 million gallons of water. Infarm is continuously working to reduce the environmental footprint of its operation. For example, the company is committed to using 100% green-certified energy throughout its network by the end of 2022 and will operate the North East Growing Center with green-certified energy.

Infarm’s data-driven approach and constant measuring and analyzing of plant data allow the company to continuously improve yield, taste, and production costs. The company already collected 100 billion data points to date and offers over 75 products, such as herbs, leafy greens, ready-to-eat salads, microgreens, and mushrooms. This year, an additional 40 products like strawberries, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and peas will be added.

With the intention to grow a global and scalable network of vertical farms that makes fresh, nutritious, and sustainably produced food accessible right where people live, Infarm plans to be established in 20 countries by 2030. Infarm has partnerships with more than 30 of the most important retailers worldwide. In the US and Canada, the vertical farming company has long-term agreements with retailers Kroger, Sobeys, Safeway, and Thrifty Foods.

Infarm was supported by the Maryland Department of Commerce, Howard County Economic Development Authority and Baltimore Gas and Electric.

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