Swegreen's farming as a service takes place at ICA Focus in Gothenburg

The agreement between Swegreen and ICA Focus means that the Gothenburg store will be the first in Sweden to offer its customers hyperlocally produced crops grown from seed to finished plant inside the store. The cultivation facility itself, which is provided by the Swedish startup company Swegreen, is based on so-called hydroponic cultivation technology, which is both efficient and climate-smart. The technical solution also includes the company's special light and nutritional recipe, air conditioning for controlling heat, humidity and carbon dioxide, digital monitoring and control - as well as data-driven intelligence for optimizing the cultivation processes.

Through Swegreen's subscription-based business model Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS), the collaboration between the parties is based on a long-term commitment where Swegreen ensures efficient production to agreed volumes.

- Our FaaS model means that every shop and restaurant owner can offer their customers hyper-locally grown, fresh and high-quality crops that have fantastic nutritional content and taste - at competitive prices, says Swegreens CEO Andreas Dahlin.

- We are very proud and happy to start this collaboration with ICA Focus. It is a store that wants to be at the forefront, and I think there are many who want to follow their example.

Ica Focus is located in the Gårda district in central Gothenburg, a stone's throw from Liseberg and the Swedish Fair. The store has always had a large assortment of organic products.

- Our customers have been asking for more locally produced and sustainable products in our range - and it doesn't get any closer and greener than this, says Daniel Åkerhage, store manager at ICA Focus.

- Now we are looking forward to our first harvest, which we expect to take place later in August, he says.

At full capacity, it is possible to harvest close to 300 units of fresh lettuce and herbs every day in the cultivation facility in the ICA Focus store.

With hydroponic cultivation technology, where the crops grow without soil with lighting from special LED lamps, it is possible to grow vegetables in an urban environment - and thus produce food very close to the consumer. It removes expensive and climate-damaging transport. In addition, the crops do not need to be sprayed - so they can be eaten directly from the store. Up to 95% of the water is recycled in the irrigation system, which works as a cycle. Nutrients are also recycled, while the plants receive carbon dioxide through a filtered air intake from the store.

Swegreen has developed the cultivation module to be able to create integrated plant environments together with partners in the food and restaurant sector, and has therefore developed a cloud-based control and monitoring system to make the cultivation easy to manage. Through data collection of current factors in the cultivation environment, the system can continually refine and optimize the cultivation process.

For more information, contact:

Andreas Dahlin, CEO Swegreen, 070-924 00 32, andreas.dahlin@swegreen.se

Daniel Åkerhage, store manager ICA Focus, 076-117 16 20, daniel@icafocus.se

Swegreen is a Swedish FoodTech company that combines advanced technology, data analysis and cultivation knowledge to efficiently produce high-quality and climate-smart crops in an urban environment. The company offers a subscription-based farming service called Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS). It gives shops and restaurants the opportunity to offer their customers locally produced, fresh, nutritious and tasty crops all year round. www.swegreen.com

ICA Focus is a unique grocery store that for over 25 years has been a meeting place for food-loving Gothenburgers. With an assortment of over 35,000 items, you have about twice as much to choose from as in an ordinary Ica store. ICA Focus also has its own bakery, charcuterie and restaurant. The store also has one of Gothenburg's best fishmongers, Fisk i Focus. The store is located in Focushuset, Gårda, in central Gothenburg.