Bowery Farming, Unfold to Partner on Vertical Farming-Focused Varieties
June 30, 2022 
Bowery Farming, one of the largest vertical farming companies in the U.S, and Unfold, a seed and digital solutions company advancing the vertical farming industry, have announced a partnership to create great tasting, locally produced vegetables through new seed varieties.
Controlled-environment agriculture needs deep collaborations, like Unfold and Bowery’s, to unlock the immense potential value of the industry. The lack of broadly available industry expertise has caused many vertical farms to rely on suboptimal seeds, receiving a lower return on investment for their produce. Bowery’s world-class team of agricultural scientists and engineers will partner with Unfold’s plant biology experts, and leverage its digital tools, germplasm, and best-of-breed seeds to cultivate new plant varieties for its customers.
“The partnership will give us an even stronger foundation to address the biggest food challenges facing our world, from sustainability and food security to year-round access to nutritious produce,” says Henry Sztul, Chief Science Officer at Bowery. “With our R&D team working alongside Unfold, we will expand the wide variety of crops we can grow in Bowery’s indoor controlled environments, which will ultimately benefit the broader industry.”
The resulting plant varieties will increase Bowery’s produce output while lowering the production costs, making vegetables more accessible to everyone. Bowery has identified two new higher-yielding Romaine varieties available exclusively from Unfold that it aims to trial in early 2023.
Core to this collaboration is a joint priority around sustainability. Working alongside Unfold, vegetable varieties that require less time and energy to produce while maintaining the traits valued by consumers like crunch, color, and taste are now possible.
“We don’t see ourselves as another seed provider. We strive to operate as a powerful complement to our partners’ R&D teams and provide deep collaborations that will result in quicker, more targeted innovation,” says John Purcell, CEO and President of Unfold. “We are still in the burgeoning stages of vertical farming, but I’m convinced that with industry partnerships like the one between Unfold and Bowery, we’ll improve the long-term success of the industry.”
To learn more about Unfold’s Innovation Partner Program, click here.
Subscribe to eNewsletter
