Indoor farming business IGS reaps major French deal
● Tie up deemed positive for Scots firm but also for whole UK agriculture sector
Scottish indoor agritech firm Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) has netted a “significant” export deal with a French urban agriculture firm.
Jungle will utilise IGS’ s indoor growing platforms to produce a variety of crops to supply major French retailers.
The first growth towers will be in production by early 2021, scaling incrementally to a minimum of 17 towers by the end of the year. Jungle will grow a range of herbs and salads to supply select retailers across France. The company will utilise the patented IGS “plug-and-play” vertical farming platform to widen its portfolio and produce new varieties through an ongoing programme of crop trials.
Jungle’ s indoor growing operations will also develop a variety of botanicals to provide natural ingredients to a major flavour and fragrance business.
When completed, the ninemetre-high growth towers will be housed alongside a 1,500- squ are-metres ervice area on Jungle’s site outside Paris. This will provide about 5,200 sq m of growing space, producing up to 425 tonnes per annum when fully operational, making it one of the largest vertical farms in Europe.
David Farquhar, chief executive of Edinburgh-based IGS, said: “In recent months, glo - bal markets have been challenged considerably and export agreements have become more difficult to fulfil. The announcement of this deal is an exciting one not just for IGS, but also for the UK’S agritech sector as we showcase our international capability to support economic recovery post-corona virus. The Jungle team has a strong reputation for the excellence and sustainability both of its produce and approach.”
Jungle’s ethos is described as being focused on sustainable food production, re-localising the supply chain, considerably reducing waste and using no chemicals.
Farquhar added: “This deal is proof that our unwavering commitment to innovative, practical design, based on a deep understanding of delivering optimum growing conditions, is what customers want. The deployment of the system for Jungle begins immediately.”
Gilles Dreyfus, chief executive of Jungle, said: “This partnership agreement is a significant step forward for Jungle and our ability to deliver at scale for our customers. We have established Jungle as a grower of superior produce with major French retailers and have plans to build on this reputation as we look at operations in other regions.”
Neil Francis, inter national trade director at Scottish Enterprise, which has worked with IGS since 2018, said: “We congratulate IGS on securing this exp or t deal, which will ensure the company’s innovative technology is delivered to a global marketplace.”
It was announced in July that IGS had completed a deal with new vertical farming operator Vertegrow, which is backed by Brewdog co-founder Martin Dickie.