SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–Plenty, the flavor-first vertical farming company with a mission to improve the lives of people, plants, and the planet, today announced it has been named a finalist and Honoree in two separate categories for Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards. Plenty was recognized in the ‘Established Excellence: 5-14 Years in Business’ category honoring the company’s launch of its popular Crispy Lettuce. In addition, Plenty was recognized as an Honoree alongside Driscoll’s, the leading consumer brand in fresh berries, in the Food category for its partnership to grow Driscoll’s proprietary flavorful strawberries year-round in Plenty’s vertical indoor farms.
“It’s an incredible honor for Plenty to be recognized not only for our achievement in food innovation, but also the work we are doing with partners like Driscoll’s,” said Nate Storey, co-founder, and chief science officer at Plenty. “2021 promises to be a year of continued innovation, as we add more crops to our indoor towers and prepare to open the world’s highest-output vertical farm in Compton, California. We are changing what we eat, how we eat and how we source and distribute our food while preserving our most precious natural resources.”
Launched in July 2020, Plenty’s Crispy Lettuce is grown in a controlled environment that allows the plant to reach its full flavor and nutrient potential while protecting it from weather, pest and pathogen threats. Plenty’s Crispy Lettuce delivers a new level of versatility. With the light, fresh crunch consumers crave, it’s the perfect salad foundation, crispy injection, or sandwich topping. Find out where to buy Plenty produce here.
The partnership between Driscoll’s and Plenty was announced in October 2020. Together, the two companies are working to bring flavorful strawberry varieties to market, leveraging the benefits of a controlled growing environment while also creating opportunity for berry expansion into regions that have historically been difficult to serve. Read more about the partnership here.
Fast Company’s 2021 World-Changing Ideas honors the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving health and climate crises, social injustice and economic inequality. Now in its fifth year, the awards showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges across transportation, education, food, politics, technology and more. Plenty was named a finalist out of a total of 4,000 nominees.
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”
The complete list of winners, finalists, and honorees can be found at fastcompany.com.
About the World-Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With a goal of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
About Driscoll’s
Driscoll’s is the global market leader of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage, Driscoll’s is a pioneer of berry flavor innovation and the trusted consumer brand of Only the Finest Berries™. With more than 900 independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s develops exclusive patented berry varieties using only natural breeding methods that focus on growing great tasting berries. A dedicated team of agronomists, breeders, sensory analysts, plant pathologists and entomologists help grow baby seedlings that are then grown on local family farms. Driscoll’s now serves consumers year-round across North America, Australia, Europe and China in over twenty-two countries. As a fourth-generation grower and the son of one of Driscoll’s founders, J. Miles Reiter serves as Chairman and CEO.
About Plenty
Plenty is an American farming technology company that frees agriculture from the constraints of land, weather, seasons, time, distance, pests, natural disasters, and climate. The company’s plant scientists, engineers, and farmers have developed its indoor vertical farming technology to grow nutrient-rich and pesticide-free plants with extraordinary flavor. Plenty’s proprietary towers and intelligent platform make it the only vertical farm that can grow multiple crops with consistently superior flavors and yield. Plenty’s flagship farm and headquarters are located in South San Francisco, and the company operates the largest of its kind Research and Development farm in Laramie, Wyoming. Plenty is currently building the world’s highest-output, vertical, indoor farm in Compton, California.
