You will soon be able to track your shop-bought herbs from seed to table — and learn about vertical farming

A leading retailer has launched in-store “vertical farms” to grow various lettuce leaves and herbs in its fruit and vegetable section.

Pick n Pay is partnering with CAN-Agri, a hydroponic, greenhouse farm in Pretoria, on in-store vertical farm displays. They are being piloted at the PnP on Nicol in Sandton and its Constantia store in Cape Town.

While customers won’t be able to buy produce directly from the in-store vertical farms, CAN-Agri will supply an assortment of salad leaves with different lettuces and herbs, whole baby butter lettuce heads and cos leaves in punnets made from recycled plastic from its farm. 

A QR code will be added to the packaging later this year to let customers track their produce from seed to table.

“Customers will be able to see where their food was grown, when was it planted, what were the environmental conditions it grows in, what nutrients it received, when was it harvested, packed and supplied to the store,” said Liz van Niekerk, the retailer's head of produce and horticulture.

Francois van der Merwe, CEO of CAN-Agri, says the in-store initiative is a platform to create more awareness for vertical farming — which the companies say are a low carbon farming method using 95% less water, 85% less fertiliser and no pesticides.

Van der Merwe said vertical farming is expected to grow by 25.5% in the next eight years due to the increased demand for urban agriculture and adoption of environment-friendly production of fruit and vegetables.

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