IKEA to serve self-grown salads

IKEA is preparing to serve lettuce in its own restaurants which are grown in high-tech containers outside its stores.

As a pilot project, the world’s biggest furniture retailer starts serving home-grown salad in its restaurants at two stores in Sweden next month. According to Catarina Englund, innovation manager for the Ingka Group, ’the conditions are perfect for maximum taste and growth and you also have the sustainability advantage because you don’t have the transport.’

Lettuce will be grown by a system, known as hydroponic farming. It means, that there is no need for either soil or pesticides, and the whole process requires 90 percent less water than traditional farming.  A single container can provide 15-20 kilograms of salad a day, while the amount of the lettuce  grown can be precisely tailored to the demand of a store. (Reuters)