Woolworths shoppers in Erskineville may now enjoy shopping for the freshest of herbs at their very first in-store vertical farm, where sustainable plants are cultivated right in the middle of the supermarket.
Dubbed “The Urban Garden,” the in-store vertical farm currently offers pesticide-free herbs like basil, coriander, mint, and parsley. The initiative has been launched by Woolworths in partnership with InvertiGro, an AgTech company based in Sydney.
The herbs are partially grown on a farm in Rosebery before it’s transported to the Woolworths Metro Park Sydney Village in Erskineville, where it’s transplanted on a shelf full of framing walls. Herbs sold from these walls cost $3 per bunch that customers may continue to transplant and grow in their own home garden.
Woolworths metro director Justin Nolan said that “The Urban Garden” also offers customers products farmed locally and enjoy the provenance of the produce.
“Metro Park Sydney shoppers will notice InvertiGro takes up a small amount of space in-store and is a great non-waste initiative for our customers. We look forward to our shoppers using the hyper-local fresh herbs available at the Urban Garden to garnish and add flavour to home-cooked meals,” Mr Nolan added.
InvertiGro Co-Founder Ben Lee said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Australia’s Fresh Food People to deliver a hyper-local, nutritious and flavoursome herb range whilst also introducing shoppers to the benefits of indoor vertical farming for both consumers and our planet.”
“As indoor-farming technology providers, our solutions have applications from on-farm fodder production and crop diversification to in-store applications that can address urban and regional food deserts, supply chain and sustainability issues. Indoor vertical farming has the potential to help communities become more self-sufficient and sustainable in their food production and we are proud to be leading the way in Australian AgTech innovations with global applications.” InvertiGro Co-Founder Paul Millett added.
The second Urban Garden has also launched in Double Bay.