Spread Co., Ltd, the Japanese vertical farm specialist, has introduced its innovative new "Techno Fresh" processing method, which extends the shelf life of cut lettuce up to two times while maintaining its quality.
To further this new development, the company is building a new large-scale salad production facility near Tokyo - Techno Fresh Hadano - which will utilise the new Techno Fresh method. It comes as little surprise that this latest development in maintaining shelf-life and quality of fresh produce comes from Japan due to the country's significant food waste problems, raking 14th in the world for the amount of food wasted - totalling over 8 million tons each year.
Operations at Techno Fresh Hadano are scheduled to commence mid-2024, with the facility producing and selling six varieties of cut lettuce under the Indoor Salad brand. The new method used uses pesticide-free lettuce cultivated in the hygienic indoor environment of Tecnho Farm. The resulting shelf life of the cut lettuce has been extended to six days, double that of the conventional duration of such a product.
The next-generation Techno Fresh Hadano facility will process 8 tons of lettuce each day, with 85% of the processes automated, including the implementation of the world's first AI-based lettuce core remover.
Here at thefoodpeople we recently welcomed Kate Hofman, Founder and Chief Brand Officer at GrowUp Farms, to our virtual Trend Summit stage to discuss the story behind her brand, another pioneer in the vertical farming space. The full video of Kate's discussion with tfp co-founder Charles Banks will be published in the new year.