Pandemic forces 'pink farm' to get creative in Brazil

The farm shifted its sales online and developed a new product line to respond to COVID-19

Published: September 15, 2020 11:08 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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At a warehouse on the west side of Sao Paulo, fruits and vegetables grow within a tower stacked 10 storeys high with plants, all bathed in an ethereal pink light. Image Credit: AFP

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This is Pink Farms, the first vertical farm in the teeming Brazilian city of 12 million people, where land is scarce and produce usually has to be shipped in from afar. Image Credit: AFP

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The farm consists of two towers, each about the surface area of a small studio apartment, one eight stories high and the other 10. Image Credit: AFP

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Using soil-less growing technology, an irrigation system that recycles its own water, and red and blue LED lights - which combine to make pink - the towers supply around 100 times more food than a similar surface area of farmland, with 95 percent less water, according to co-founder Gerardo Maia. Image Credit: AFP

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Maia, a 29-year-old engineer, launched the project in 2018 with two colleagues, and started production last year. Image Credit: AFP

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The company soon carved out a niche for itself selling fresh, hyper-local produce to restaurants. Image Credit: AFP

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Everything was going well until the coronavirus pandemic hit. Image Credit: AFP

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As cases soared in Brazil, now the country with the second-highest death toll worldwide after the United States, Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the outbreak, went into lockdown - including Pink Farms' clients. Image Credit: AFP

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"The pandemic has been really hard. We had to find another path. But we've come up with other opportunities. Image Credit: AFP

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It's all about constantly improving," said Maia, as employees in protective masks, gloves and caps carefully sorted and packaged produce. Image Credit: AFP

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To respond to the pandemic, Pink Farms shifted its sales online and developed a new product line, "microgreens" - early-harvest leaf vegetables packed with nutrients and flavor. Image Credit: AFP

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Maia says he does not believe vertical farming will replace traditional farming. Image Credit: AFP

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But as Brazil struggles with the encroachment of farms and ranches on the Amazon rainforest and other environmental problems linked to agriculture, he says the idea of "growing up," not out, represents a valuable alternative. Image Credit: AFP

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"We're closer to the end-market, so we pollute less with transportation, and we don't use toxic chemicals of any kind. Image Credit: AFP

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Our products are much cleaner, with less risk for consumers," he told AFP. "That's why we say this is the productive process of the future." Image Credit: AFP

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