Marks & Spencer rolls out urban farms to more shops

M&S unveiled its first vertical farm with special partner Infarm at its overhauled Clapham Junction branch in London in September.

The retailer has now rolled out the project to more branches in the capital – Bromley, Ealing Broadway, Kensington, Kings Road, Stratford City and its Oxford Street flagship – where customers will be able to buy herbs grown and harvested in-store.

Clapham Junction store manager Joe Erskine said: “Our farming unit has been a real talking point since we reopened and is helping change the perception of M&S Food in the local area.

“The farm brings a feeling of real freshness to our product offer and customers have been keen to discuss its sustainability benefits too. The feedback on the product quality and flavour has been outstanding.”

Infarm deploys vertical farming units with internet-of-things technologies and machine learning to create a controlled ecosystem in which light, air and nutrients are optimised using a cloud computing platform.

The farms, which need 95% less water and 75% less fertiliser than traditional soil-based agriculture, measure 2 sq m but can produce the equivalent crop of 400 sq m of farmland.

Infarm chief executive and co-founder Erez Galonksa said: “The launch of our partnership with M&S has generated tremendous excitement among shoppers.

“As we expand to several more locations we look forward to making Infarm a core part of the fresh, sustainable produce menu available to London’s demanding, health-conscious consumers.”

The first harvest is already available at Bromley and will take place this month at the other new farms.