A Vertical Farm Where Robots Do All the Growing
AutoStore adapted its warehouse robotics into Opollo Farm, a Phoenix vertical farm growing crops in 15 days using 95 percent less water than traditional fields.
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vertical-farming
A Vertical Farm Where Robots Do All the Growing
In Phoenix, Arizona, a warehouse that would
normally store retail inventory instead grows leafy greens, herbs and
microgreens. The site, called Opollo Farm, is a partnership between AutoStore,
a warehouse robotics company founded in Norway with more than 1,650 systems
deployed across nearly 60 countries, and OnePointOne, a vertical farming
developer, and the two describe it as the world's first vertical farm operated
entirely by robots. The crops it grows are sold at select Whole Foods Market
stores in the Phoenix area under the store's Willo produce brand.
Robots That Move Plants Instead of Packages
AutoStore's technology was originally built to
store and retrieve inventory bins inside a Rubik's cube-like grid, with robots
traveling across the top of the grid to pull bins out for warehouse orders. At
Opollo Farm, that same grid and robot system is adapted to hold plants instead
of packages, with thousands of herbs and vegetables growing entirely indoors
and around the clock inside robot-powered bins, as robots adjust each plant's
position in real time as it grows. The bins move in and out of the grid through
a single port design, a setup AutoStore says cuts down on the labor needed to
run the system, while software continuously monitors and adjusts the environment
inside.
Growing Without Soil, Pesticides or Wasted Water
Opollo Farm grows its crops hydroponically,
without soil, inside a fully enclosed system that AutoStore and OnePointOne say
removes the need for pesticides entirely. The system recirculates water in a
closed loop, cutting water use by up to 95 percent compared with traditional
farming. Because the crops grow inside AutoStore's cube grid rather than across
open fields, the farm can grow at high density within the same footprint as a
distribution center, allowing it to sit next to the same hubs that ship the
produce out, rather than the roughly 2,000-mile journey AutoStore says
traditional farming often travels before reaching one.
Fifteen Days From Seed to Store Shelf
A crop cycle at Opollo Farm takes about 15
days, roughly half the time traditional farming takes to bring a crop to
harvest. AutoStore reports this approach has also lowered production costs
compared with conventional methods, citing a 60 percent reduction for
microgreens, 40 percent for basil and 20 percent for packaged salads.
A 2026 Robotics Award and What Comes Next
In May 2026, The Robot Report named AutoStore a
winner of its RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards for Opollo Farm, recognizing the
company for "extending its proven cube-based automation platform into
agriculture, helping enable a new model for high-density, autonomous crop
production." AutoStore Chief Product Officer Parth Joshi said the project
"shows what's possible when proven automation meets global challenges like
food supply resilience." OnePointOne CEO Sam Bertram said the technology
means "we can grow food almost anywhere using a fraction of traditional
resources," while Whole Foods Market's Chris Petroulakis said advanced
technology like this "can revolutionize local agriculture, helping deliver
high-quality, locally grown produce." AutoStore and OnePointOne say they
are evaluating how to scale the system commercially and have imminent plans to
expand the crops it grows beyond leafy greens, herbs and microgreens to include
strawberries and mushrooms. The RBR50 award follows AutoStore's robotics suite
being named among TIME's Best Inventions of 2025.
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