The Next Farm Is In Your Local Supermarket
Food can’t be more fresh than when it comes straight from the farm. That’s why German retailer METRO is opening farms inside its supermarkets. Together with high-tech agriculture firm Infarm the company has developed Kräuter Garten — the world’s first farm-in-a-store concept.
Kräuter Garten is a small glass unit that can be found in one of METRO’s supermarkets in the Berlin neighborhood of Friedrichshain. In the unit enables the store to produce fresh vegetables and herbs for its customers on demand. Basil and other herbs and veggies are growing on a thin nutrient-rich layer of water in a space-efficient vertical growing facility. This hydroponic system doesn’t require any pesticides, so all produce is 100% organic.
The in-store farm is not only an inspiring impulse to the shopping experience — it also delivers food that’s healthier, fresher and better to our environment. However, according to METRO Group’s CEO Olaf Koch, the best thing about the Infarm products is that they taste better compared to vegetables that had to be travel for days to reach a customer’s plate.
Koch considers the local production of food to be a strategic direction for METRO, as it re-establishes the connection between people and the products they eat. And that’s what urbanites find important these days, after all.
