In a time, where one part of the world suffers from food shortages and another part has no idea, if the food they served on a palte is truly fresh, ecological and safe to consume, there is SPREAD with its new, sustainable way of growing healthy vegetables! 

A Japan-based company SPREAD is about to open the world's first automated farm in the Kansai Science City, called the Vegetable Factory™, implementing the most advanced vegetable production system. Currently, SPREAD already operates the world's largest plant factory that produces 21,000 heads of lettuce per day in Kameoka, but the new one is said to increase that number by 9,000. On a yearly basis, the farm would produce 11 million heads of lettuce every year.

SPREAD intends to incorporate the know-how from their first farm in Kameoka and adapt their business in order to reduce production costs and increase production itself. According to their buisness model – as depicted on their website –, they will see a 50% cost reduction in personnel (employing 25 instead of 50 factory workers to work on a daily basis) due to full automation of the cultivation process from raising the seedling to harvest, while seeding, for example, would still be done manually, by human hands.

According to the website, the company has "developed low-cost LED lighting in-house that are specialized for plant factories." These lights are more energy-efficent, consuming 30% less power in the new factory. Compared to the Kameoka Plant, construction costs as well will be reduced - by 25%.

Moreover, SPREAD developed "air conditioning technology for humidity and the optimization of temperature that is necessary for the growth of vegetables using photosynthesis" and created a brand new recycling, filtering and sterilization system, hoping to recycle 98% of the water - hence, the amount of water required per head of lettuce was already reduced from 0.825L down to 0.11L.

The first shipment will leave the farm in Fall next year.

Feb. 3, 2016 Living photo: Profimedia

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