Imagine walking into a building and being hit by the sweet scent of fresh strawberries—but instead of rows of plants stretching across fields, the berries are climbing 30 feet toward the ceiling. Welcome to Richmond, Virginia, where the world’s first large-scale indoor vertical farm has flipped traditional farming. This is a $300-million experiment designed to outsmart nature itself.
Plenty Unlimited Inc., in partnership with berry giant Driscoll’s, has built what could be the boldest attempt to control food production in human history. The Plenty Richmond Farm grows over 4 million pounds of strawberries annually in less than an acre of space. No soil, no seasons, no bees. Just towers of fruit stacked sky-high, bathed in artificial light, and managed by artificial intelligence.
A Farm Without Farmers?
Forget tractors and muddy boots. Algorithms run this futuristic farm. AI tracks 10 million data points daily, tweaking temperature, humidity, and airflow to ensure each strawberry grows perfectly red, juicy, and uniform. Pollination doesn’t rely on buzzing bees, either. Plenty engineered a patent-pending airflow system to do the job faster and more efficiently.
But here’s where it gets controversial: with no bees and no dirt, is this still farming? Critics argue that this is more laboratory than a farm, a sterile, mechanical environment where nature is treated like an obstacle instead of a partner. Yet, supporters claim it’s exactly what the world needs to survive climate change, food insecurity, and resource scarcity.
The Numbers That Shocked the Industry
Traditional strawberry farms sprawl across vast fields, guzzling water and pesticides while battling unpredictable weather. Not Plenty. Their vertical farm system uses 97% less land and up to 90% less water. No pesticides. No weather worries. And the kicker? Their strawberries are available year-round, grown in 12 climate-controlled rooms, within a day’s drive of over 100 million consumers.
Paul Gauthier, a scientist from the University of Queensland, shattered expectations by tripling strawberry yields in controlled environments. He proved strawberries can thrive under artificial conditions, challenging everything we thought we knew about agriculture.
The Billion-Dollar Question: Is This the Future?
Proponents call it the future of farming, a solution to feeding a growing population without wrecking the planet. Detractors worry about the ethics of tampering with natural processes, energy consumption, and the corporatisation of food. After all, when strawberries are grown by machines, managed by algorithms, and untouched by soil or sunlight, what do we lose in the process?
Plenty’s CEO believes they’re building a vertical farm and a blueprint for humanity’s survival. Whether you see it as progress or hubris, one thing is clear: the age of sky-high strawberries has begun, and it’s growing faster than anyone expected.
