Greenman Group launches vertical farming business

Greenman Group launches vertical farming business, Potager Farm, with the appointment of Managing Director

Berlin / Dublin – The Greenman Group (the ‘Group’), a fully integrated European grocery anchored real estate investment and fund manager, is launching vertical farming business Potager Farm GmbH (‘Potager Farm’), a subsidiary of the Group, with the appointment of Mario Gatineau as Managing Director.

Vertical farming is the process of growing herbs, leafy greens and micro veg indoors in a tower structure, usually in urban areas. It often uses advanced farming techniques, growing crops without soil whilst maximising growth in a confined space. The vertical farm technology helps to dramatically reduce the number of food miles required to feed growing urban populations.

Headquartered in Berlin, Potager Farm will enable the Group to implement vertical farming into its grocery anchored retail centres (held by their flagship Greenman OPEN fund) across Germany, selling more environmentally friendly produce year-round by reducing food miles and avoiding the use of pesticides and other chemicals. As the largest importer of fresh herbs in Europe, there is huge scope for the adoption of vertical farming technology across Germany.

Mario Gatineau is one of the most experienced individuals within the vertical farming sector, having spent four years as Training Program Developer at Infarm, one of the largest vertical farming businesses in the world. During his time there, he was responsible for running training programmes across the globe and supporting the expansion of the business in Europe.

Potager Farm will cooperate with IGS, a Scottish based technology business that builds vertical farms for farmers and growers in food, pharmaceutical and fragrance markets around the world. Its technology has so far been deployed across four continents.

Johnnie Wilkinson, CEO of the Greenman Group, said: “Potager Farm is an exciting new venture, placing the Greenman Group at the forefront of a revolution in new agriculture technology. Our experience within the food retail sector has shown us that vertical farming will become an increasingly important part of the food supply chain in Europe.”

“Vertical farming is expanding rapidly across Europe as agricultural space becomes increasingly scarce and pressure on the sustainability of supply chains and food production continues to mount. At Greenman, we are extremely well placed to leverage our relationships with some of the largest food retailers in Germany to drive this initiative forward and play our part in improving the sustainability of the food supply chain.”

Mario Gatineau, Managing Director at Potager Farm, said: “I am delighted to be part of the launch of Potager Farm, and am extremely excited about the possibilities for the business, leveraging my experience of vertical farming and the vast experience of the Greenman Group within food retail. I look forward to working with people across the whole Group to make Potager Farm a success.”

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