In-store farming vs. central vertical farm: why location changes the economics
Both grow greens indoors, stacked in layers under LED light. The difference is where. A central vertical farm is a warehouse that still ships its produce to stores. An in-store farm grows inside the store, so transport, central warehousing and external packaging disappear – and its surplus heat warms the building.
| Central vertical farm | In-store farm (Swegreen) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it grows | A dedicated building, often outside the city | Inside the supermarket, restaurant or kitchen |
| Distance to the shelf | Road transport and a cold chain to each store | A few metres |
| Warehousing and packaging | Central packing, distribution centres, wholesale | None – from growing module to shelf |
| Harvest to sale | Depends on the distribution route | Harvested on the day it is sold |
| Surplus heat | Must be removed from the building | Warms the store (Nordic climate) |
| Visible to shoppers | No | Yes – often behind glass, part of the store |
| Retailer's role | Buys packaged product from a supplier | Harvests and sells its own produce, no investment (Farming as a Service) |
Climate and water: how does lettuce compare?
| Per kg lettuce | Field (Spain) | Greenhouse | Vertical farm | In-store farm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate footprint (kg CO₂e) | 1.6 | >2 | – | 0.3 |
| Water (litres) | 50–330 | 16–200 | 0.5–16 | 1.3–1.5 |
With the Swedish electricity mix, in-store grown lettuce lands at about 0.3 kg CO₂e per kilo – roughly 81 % lower than imported Spanish field lettuce, where transport accounts for up to 80 % of emissions. For electricity, see our measured energy use per kilo.
Sources: Martin, Elnour & Siñol 2023; Orsini et al. 2020; Karlsson 2023; Borgström & Brandel 2024, compiled in Swegreen's report Närodlat 3.0 (2026).
Why have many large vertical farms struggled?
A central vertical farm carries the costs of two businesses: a farm and a distribution company. It pays for the building, the energy and the growing – and then for packing, cold transport and a place in the wholesaler's margin, competing on price with field-grown imports.
An in-store farm keeps the farm and removes the distribution. The produce is sold where it is grown, the retailer sells it as its own fresh category, and the heat the lights produce is reused in the store instead of being cooled away.
How in-store farming works →See the difference in a real store
Visit one of our farms in the Stockholm area, or ask for the numbers behind this comparison.
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