SWEDEN - What would you say if I told you that you could purchase a lovely HEMNES bookshelf and a head of lettuce at the same time? Would you shake your head in disbelief and say, “You’re living with your head in the clouds, kid!” Well, I would be delighted to prove you wrong, because IKEA has announced its plans to harvest lettuce!
“I'm happy to announce that we today harvested the first lettuce from our on-going circular urban farming tests at the IKEA stores in Helsingborg and Malmö, Sweden,” stated Catarina Englund, Global Sustainability Innovation Manager, IKEA Group, in a LinkedIn post. “Together with Bonbio we are testing how to become self-sufficient in growing our own local salad. We can harvest 15-20 kg per day from this container. In addition, we are using our own food waste from the IKEA store to produce a nutrient solution in Bonbio/OX2 biogas plant. The aim is to establish a closed circular food loop. We all look forward to follow this interesting test.”
The closed circular food loop, as Englund states, is part of both IKEA and Bonbio’s mission to turn food waste into nutrients that grow other crops. Although the urban farming tests have only been tested in Sweden, I would bet money that it’s only a matter of time before the prototype hops across the pond.
Other companies such as Gordon Food Service have partnered with indoor farming companies, in moves that highlight the importance of leveraging new ag tech to bring real, healthy food to consumers.
Will we see other retailers making similar moves? Will IKEA lettuce be the next Costco hot dog? Only time will tell, but AndNowUKnow will be here to report any future developments.
