Indoor farming company Fischer Farms has revealed that it is trialling the production of strawberries and other soft fruit at its dedicated research and development facility in Lichfield.
The company says it has been cultivating a number of soft fruit crops in a biosecure, controlled environment, as part of their three-phase plan to ‘feed the world with nutritious foods.’
Using its vertical farming technology, Fischer Farms are currently growing ‘phase one’ crops – herbs and short, leafy greens – at scale at their vertical farm in Norwich.
The same technology is now being used to grow ‘phase two’ crops of soft fruit their R&D facility, which will also be used to continue trials of ‘phase three’ crops, which include calorific staples, such as rice and wheat and protein staples, such as peas and soya beans.
‘With ever-more pressure mounting on traditional British farmers, the conventional farming community and UK food supply chain needs to start looking towards vertical farming innovation to offer the solutions to longstanding issues such as shortages of seasonal labour, climate constraints and water limitations,’ Fischer Farms said in a statement.
‘Vertical farming can deliver British-grown produce all-year-round, with the ability to transform the UK’s food supply chain, bringing stability and resilience to the fresh produce category.’
Tristan Fischer, CEO at Fischer Farms commented, “Significant capital investment is needed to get to the point where we can safeguard the supply of all berries served at Wimbledon, but the returns will be significant, leading to the next agricultural revolution, safeguarding global food security.” Wimbledon currently serves some 38.4 tons of strawberries (1.92 million strawberries) each year.