To fight against food waste and ensure you are eating fresh, local produce, the French company TomoGrow has decided to grow herbs directly on the fresh shelves of local food stores. Produce is grown in vertically connected boxes called microfarms.
Tech&Co guest, Camille Ernould, co-founder of TomoGrow, explains that the microfarm is like “a big cupboard that is not refrigerated because we have the products that will grow directly. The consumer can harvest the plan himself with the root. And at home it is necessary put it back in a small glass of water, like a bouquet of flowers.
The cabinet is self-contained and does not require work for the supermarket, everything is installed in two hours. “It’s a farm on wheels, we only need a power outlet, everything is autonomous”, continues the co-founder.
Efficient energy
This technique thus makes it possible to reduce food waste because 30% of fresh products are thrown away before they reach the consumer and up to 70% of herbs. Much discarded due to transportation and storage. The system consumes little energy because it uses the store’s heating system and LEDs, all of which is equivalent to the consumption of three internet boxes.
The microfarm also allows tracking data in terms of technologies, we will have everything that is a water supply for the plant so that it can develop, light and the data tracking part such as the amount of water, the number of plants and if we should intervene” , specifies Camille Ernould.
At the moment, the device is present in two stores in France. The goal now is to reach 60 microfarms in the north and then develop the project nationwide.
Source: BFM TV
