South San Francisco-based indoor vertical farming company, Plenty Unlimited, is set to build — as according to the company — “the world’s largest” vertical farming research center in Laramie, Wyoming. The project is a major development in the field of indoor farming, with the potential to advance global food production and sustainability efforts.
Supported by the economic development grant given by the State of Wyoming and backed by the Wyoming Business Council, the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance, and the City of Laramie, the new research center promises to advance the field of vertical farming, offering solutions that could reshape food production worldwide and address critical challenges in globally.
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Plenty Unlimited focuses on indoor food production and its vertical growing platform and clean, controlled environment allows to grow plants for a variety of uses beyond fresh produce, including food ingredients and pharmaceuticals.
“This new advanced plant science research facility represents not only a decade of substantial investment in R&D but also a blueprint for expanding our research capabilities. We see a significant opportunity to leverage this new platform for R&D and indoor growing to build a global network of research centers to increase our impact on the future of both plant science and indoor farming.”
The R&D platform integrates advanced genetics and breeding, custom hardware and growing environments and AI and data analytics. This advanced technology enhances the company’s ability to expand crop diversity beyond the 50+ varieties it already cultivates, including berries, tomatoes, peppers, and squashes. With this platform, scientists can screen new plant varieties for flavor and quality to maximize yield and support farms.
“The next generation of Plenty’s R&D platform that we’re deploying in Wyoming enables us to develop new crops at a much faster rate and expand the portfolio of plants we can grow in our patented vertical growing system. We just announced our expansion of Plenty farms to the Middle East and the advanced research capabilities in Wyoming make it possible for us to develop additional crops that can be grown in those farms – increasing regional production and food security despite the different climates. That’s a big advantage to having both research and commercial farm environments that are totally controlled.”
The plans for new research center have been finalized with the appointment of MOA Architecture as the design firm. Construction is set to begin next spring, with the facility expected to open by summer 2026.
