9B by 2050
by 2050, the world's population will reach 9 billion, with the majority of people living in cities. The process of urbanization and desertification is causing a decline in fertile land. We have lost one-third of land that can be used for farming in just 40 years. Additionally, 70% of our freshwater resources are being used for agriculture. The use of pesticides and the impact of climate change are undeniable
it is imperative that we rethink agriculture, now
vertical farming?
Professor Dickinson Despommier in the early 2000s came up with the concept of vertical farming: bringing production from open field to indoor urban spaces by creating vertically stacked layers and a precisely controlled growing environment. Good for the plants, good for the environment, on paper good also for the business
wow!
vertical farms are amazing, they should be everywhere! Well, they are not due to a bottleneck in technology and business execution
we fixed it by developing our own IP and bringing it to market with a different approach
we exist to unleash the true potential of indoor farming, and make it democratically accessible
the Toronto Future Farming District is a visionnaire collaboration between ZERO, an Italian technology company leading the indoor farming revolution, and a forward-thinking group of Canadian investors led by Deutsche Equity Group. Italians and Canadians make the perfect partners to blend tradition and innovation: we are in the right spot to nail the recipe for vertical farming at scale. This is a project by:
ZERO's proven indoor farming technologies have already made significant strides in large commercial projects across Europe and the GCC. ZERO received investments from Mitsui & Co., a leading Japanese conglomerate, after a multi-year selection process aimed at identifying the best players in the Controlled Environment Agriculture sector, and by Barilla, on the leading food company in the world. Moreover, ZERO has been selected as CEA partner for governative projects in GCC and proved itself as a viable partner to operate dedicated private label programs for leading European retailers
what sets ZERO apart from indoor growers is its focus on a systemic, holistic approach to technology: ZERO’s fully integrated, hardware and software Future Farming Platform enables applications stretching across multiple industries. Greens are just the most obvious, but there is much more to grow
we are about Farming the Future
the Toronto Future Farming District will emerges as a dynamic and adaptable infrastructure where we handle commercial operations and host state of the art R&D facilities. While we will initially focus on the pivotal goal of reducing import dependency by cultivating local greens, we envision collaborations with Canadian research institutions and an interactive connection to the Future Farming Initiative, a collaborative effort led by ZERO with the University of Venice Cà Foscari and many other European and Middle-Eastern research institutions
we’re converting Canada's largest indoor Cannabis facility
the vision of the Toronto Future Farming District is not only innovative and sustainable but also exceptionally pragmatic:
a quick time to market, a strategic location, an empty canvass to scale-up
we are converting Canada's largest indoor Cannabis cultivation facility, sprawling over 90 acres, into a dynamic hub. Our approach involves a phase 1 with a straightforward go-to-market by leveraging the modularity of ZERO’s technology that enables the conversion of the existing buildings. We have 90 acres of green-filed canvas for expansions tailored to meet market demand in Phase 2
The Toronto Future Farming District not only pioneers the use of cutting-edge technologies on large commercial scale: it also envisages itself as a showcase for these innovations, with the role of licensing them in Canada and across North America. This will be our Phase 3
