RICHMOND, Va. – Plenty Unlimited Inc. opened its first indoor, vertical berry farm in Richmond in October. The farm estimates it will produce 4 million pounds of Driscoll strawberries yearly in a 40,000-square-foot production facility with 30-foot-tall towers.

Vertical farming is being offered as a solution to the loss of farmland and a hungry, growing population. Vertical farming occurs indoors, with crops grown in stacked layers using artificial growing systems like aquaponics. Plenty Unlimited advertises it will use state-of-the-art technology and artificial intelligence to grow its strawberry crops. For example, computers will control the light, temperature, and humidity inside the grow rooms, with AI analyzing 10 million data points daily, adapting as needed to ensure “the best possible strawberry.” Pollination is also engineered and computerized, and the company claims that its methods use less water than traditional farming and produce less waste and pollution, too.

“By combining our 100 years of farming expertise and proprietary varieties along with Plenty’s cutting-edge technology, we can deliver the same consistent flavor and quality our customers love – now grown locally,” Soren Bjorn, Driscoll’s CEO, said in a press release.

One of the goals of Plenty’s business model is to bring premium crops closer to consumers. This is demonstrated at its Compton, Calif., location, where the company produces lettuce and other leafy greens. In 2023, the company shared that it anticipated the facility would grow 4.5 million pounds of greens per year in a social media post. A vertical farm, placed directly in a dense, urban area like Compton allows for locally grown, fresh produce to be readily available to consumers. As reported by the publication LAist, the price of the indoor-grown greens was to be on par with organic pricing.

Plenty Unlimited declined to participate in an interview, so how the pricing of Driscoll strawberries grown indoors will differ from strawberries grown in a field is unknown.

However, strawberries produced by Oishii, a vertical berry farm company with facilities along the East and West coasts, will set you back $9.99 for eight berries at Whole Foods. Oishii utilizes robots that monitor temperature, humidity, CO2, wind speed, and light. It is outfitted with an expansive solar field and a multi-million-dollar water purification system at its newest facility in New Jersey.

Oishii claims to be the world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm, a claim also touted by Plenty. Oishii says in its mission statement that it began with the goal of introducing Japanese fruit culture to the U.S., selling the Omakase Berry, Koyo Berry, and the Rubī Tomato.

Other headlines may be troubling to indoor vertical farmers. In November, Bowery, an indoor farming company based in New York City, closed and ceased operations. The company was founded in 2015 and used controlled environment techniques to grow leafy greens and herbs, harnessing the power of automation, robotics, and AI. According to reporting by Agriculture Dive, Bowery’s closure came after the company intended to expand its reach beyond the Northeast, saddling the company with debt.

However, PitchBook reported on additional factors that may have contributed to its collapse: high prices and a leaf-eating pathogen. Bowery’s spring mix retailed for almost $16 per pound at Whole Foods, compared to $6 per pound for the Whole Foods brand, a high price for many consumers. In May 2023, phytophthora, a genus of plant damaging water molds, was detected and contributed to harming growing produce. Although the company invested in modifying systems to isolate the pathogen, it could not control the spread. With reduced yield, Bowery could not deliver to its distributors, leading to halted partnerships.

Researchers say that vertical farming offers many benefits, like the ability to grow crops year-round in any region and any season, greater consumer access to fresh produce, and vertical farming can take over otherwise unused urban infrastructure like abandoned warehouses. The farms use less land, with crops producing greater yields, and aren’t subject to extreme or inclement weather. Still, there are drawbacks, including the cost of artificial light sources and HVAC systems.

It is estimated that there are more than 2,000 vertical farms in the US, and it’s predicted that by 2026 these farms will be worth around $1.4 billion. Countries across the globe have already implemented vertical farming systems, including China, Japan, Thailand, Germany, and the United Kingdom.