What will fresh produce supply chains look like 20 or 30 years from now? According to Dickson Despommier, author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, it’s right to assume they will be a whole lot shorter, quicker and, well, higher.
Vertical integration of a far more literal kind could soon have a dramatic effect on models of fruit and vegetable distribution around the world, particularly where the amount of space in which to build presents a challenge. Given that the world’s mainly urban demographic explosion is forecast to create 2bn extra mouths to feed by 2050, the need to grow and deliver fresh, healthy products far quicker than ever before is set to increase.
For that reason, vertical farms which use accelerated growth methods could spring up quicker than you might imagine. Located as close as possible to market, they could make supply lines much shorter, more dependable and hopefully less damaging to the environment. In a sense, it would not be that much of a departure to dispense with the large-scale greenhouses of the kind already found in Europe and build them in cities themselves, making all of the necessary allowances for things like climate and logistics.
The idea remains up in the air, but it’s an interesting proposition that we’ve explored in detail in the February issue of Eurofruit. In fact, we’ve devoted much of this edition to green issues including CSR, organics, Fairtrade, ethical trading and sustainability. If this business is all about adding value, then green is the colour of money.
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