Key Points
- Strategic Collaboration: Bayer partners with Unfold to elevate the vertical farming industry by improving quality, efficiency, and sustainability.
- Integration into Bayer’s De Ruiter Business: Unfold joins forces with Bayer’s high-tech horticulture arm to drive innovation in indoor farming.
- Focus on Novel Varieties: The partnership aims to develop plant varieties optimized for indoor environments, enhancing consumer appeal and agricultural productivity.
- Leveraging Global Networks: Bayer plans to expand its indoor farming business by utilizing its established global footprint and partnerships in the food value chain.
- Advancing Agricultural Technology: The collaboration will explore advancements in breeding, digital crop management, and automation within protected agriculture.
Collaborative Efforts to Revolutionize Vertical Farming
Bayer, a global frontrunner in agricultural innovation, is intensifying its commitment to sustainable agriculture by partnering with Unfold, a company specializing in advancements in vertical farming. This collaboration, established in 2020, aims to propel the vertical farming sector to new heights by focusing on quality, efficiency, and sustainability.
Integration for Innovation
Unfold will integrate its operations within Bayer’s De Ruiter high-tech horticulture business, a move that is expected to harness synergies and foster continued innovation within the vertical farming space. “We are excited about the potential that Unfold brings to our high-tech horticulture business and look forward to the innovations our combined efforts will produce,” said a spokesperson from Bayer.
Targeting Consumer and Agronomic Traits
The partnership’s primary goal is to develop new plant varieties that are specifically designed for indoor farming environments. These varieties will exhibit traits that are most desired by consumers, such as taste and nutritional value, while also possessing agronomic characteristics suited for efficient indoor production. By doing so, Bayer and Unfold aim to address the growing demand for sustainably grown, high-quality produce.
Global Expansion and Technological Advancement
Bayer intends to leverage its extensive global footprint and deep-rooted partnerships across the grower and food value chain to expand its indoor farming business. This strategic approach will capitalize on technological advancements, including digital crop management and automation, to meet the evolving needs of protected culture agriculture. “As technology advances, our focus will continue to evolve to meet the intersecting needs of breeding targets and digital agriculture, enhancing our ability to deliver optimized varieties more rapidly to the market,” added the spokesperson.
Optimizing Development and Market Introduction
The collaboration will prioritize the selection of characteristics that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of global protected agriculture pipelines. This includes not only the development and testing of new varieties but also optimizing the time to market. Additionally, Bayer’s De Ruiter business will leverage its significant expertise to continue serving vertical farming customers with innovative solutions tailored to the unique requirements of indoor agriculture.
Unfold Latest News
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Unfold Partners With Goodleaf To Enhance Leafy Greens (2023/02/28)
GoodLeaf Farms and Unfold have partnered to commercialize premium lines of vertically-farmed spinach and other leafy greens. The CEOs of both companies will discuss this cooperation at the 10th Annual Indoor Ag-Con in Las Vegas. GoodLeaf is expanding nationwide with new facilities in Montreal and Calgary to produce over four million pounds of leafy greens annually. The partnership will allow GoodLeaf to develop varieties of leafy greens that require fewer resources to produce while enhancing crunch, color, and taste.
Unfold Names Sonia Lo as President and CEO (2022/07/22)
Sonia Lo has been appointed as the President and CEO of Unfold, a premium seed provider in the vertical farming industry. She takes over from John Purcell who will remain with the company. Lo has previously held executive roles at Sensei Ag, Crop One Holdings, Google, and eZoka. Unfold has partnered with Sustenir and Bowery Farming for creating locally grown superfoods and new seed varieties of vegetables.
Partners With Sustenir To Create Local Superfoods (2022/06/02)
Sustenir and Unfold have partnered to create new, locally grown superfoods for key Asian markets. The collaboration will deliver plant varieties with better nutritional value and higher yield for Sustenir’s indoor vertical farming operations. Unfold will provide expertise, digital tools, and germplasm to accelerate the selection of high-performing plant varieties. Sustenir has already started trialing numerous plant varieties from Unfold.
Photo by Gil Ndjouwou on Unsplash
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