A 245 m2 insulated superstructure will accommodate four nine-metre-high towers alongside a 1,600 m2 service area on Vertegrow’s site at Waterside Farm. This will provide approximately 1,343 m2 of growing space, producing up to 70 tonnes of produce per annum when fully operational.

This is the first move into vertical farming for Vertegrow, diversifying alongside existing agricultural operations, currently growing crops including barley and rye in open fields.

Vertegrow was established through Steadman Partners, the UK-based private investment office set up by BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie.

 The IGS platform was selected after a rigorous analysis of the market and considered to be the most advanced, efficient and scalable to meet Vertegrow’s requirements. The plug-and-play vertical farming product developed by IGS offers them a highly controllable platform, designed specifically to maximise productivity whilst minimising energy consumption and allowing the production of consistently high-quality produce at scale.

The towers, which are expected to be operational in early 2021, will grow a variety of crops which are intended to service the local food supply chain. Vertegrow will work with a range of local customers including retailers, caterers, restaurateurs and other local services, to deliver fresh, nutritious, high-quality produce all year round.

IGS CEO David Farquhar said: “This is an exciting step for IGS and for Vertegrow as we set out to deploy a new vertical farm for a new operator in this space. With proven experience in traditional farming, and extensive involvement, through its owners, in the food and drink sector, we are confident that this will bring a new and top-quality offering to the local market. Such re-localisation of the food supply chain is a feature of post-coronavirus planning we are seeing all over world.

“We were delighted that the IGS platform was selected for this project. It is proof that our rigorous commitment to engineering design excellence and our unique patented systems deliver what customers want – a system that is highly pragmatic, flexible, modular and scalable.  We look forward to getting underway with the deployment of our Growth Towers with the Vertegrow team.”

Graeme Warren of Vertegrow added: “Vertegrow is delighted to be working with IGS on this innovative project as we position our farm business to address the challenges of the modern food supply chain. We have spent considerable time identifying the right partners and systems, and the IGS platform stood out as a quality solution which could be configured for our needs.

“Growing quality, nutritious food in North East Scotland will allow us to reduce food miles for our customers. Combined with our renewable energy sources and rainwater harvesting, the efficiency of the IGS system is a key part of our ambition to grow crops in a carbon neutral way. We look forward to continuing to work with IGS as we construct the facility later this year.”

The team at IGS will continue to work closely with its new customer in the construction and deployment phases over the coming months.