GERMANY'S LARGEST ROOFTOP FARM OPENS IN BERLIN

Following the opening of REWE Green Farming Berlin’s market in May, harvesting is now underway at the rooftop farm, with the first lettuces already delivered to the market. The Lankwitz loose-leaf lettuce is available in 100-gram bags as a salad mix. The initial mix consists of Batavia lettuce, green romaine lettuce, Lollo Rosso, and dark green Easy Leaf lettuce.

The plants grow in an automated, hydroponic system with virtually no soil. They are supplied with a nutrient solution several times a day and irrigated with rainwater collected in a cistern on the roof. During the 23 days until harvest, the plants rotate through the greenhouse on special trays.

After the daily harvest, the lettuce is processed and packaged directly at the market and prepared for on-site sale or transport. The rooftop farm has the potential to produce up to 900,000 salad mixes annually. Some of this goes directly to the REWE Green Farming market in Berlin, while the rest is distributed via the REWE regional warehouse in Oranienburg. This saves approximately 500,000 transport kilometers compared to imported produce from Southern Europe.

Read more about REWE Green Farming, Berlin here.