Oishii, the Jersey City-based Japanese vertical farming company best known for its strawberries, is partnering with the Yaskawa Electric Corp., an industrial robotics company based in Japan, to develop new automation solutions to optimize vertical farming methods and scale output.
A series of Yaskawa robotic arms will power Oishii’s indoor vertical strawberry farm. The robots will work in together with Oishii’s infrastructure, technology and urban farmers to harvest strawberries at the peak of freshness.
“Yaskawa is one of the most respected names in industrial robotics today. Like Oishii, they are guided by the pursuit of quality and believe technology can solve some of the world’s most pressing issues,” Hiroki Koga, co-founder and CEO of Oishii, said. “We’re honored to partner with a company that is invested in our mission to reinvent the future of agriculture. Together, we will deliver forward-looking solutions to bring clean, delicious produce to more people.”
Yaskawa will provide industrial robots and other products as well as systems for Oishii’s ongoing project to automate the entire process from sowing, raising seedlings and harvesting, to inspecting, boxing and shipping at a factory to be constructed.
The technology, Oishii says, will “deliver new efficiency to reduce food, energy and water intake.”
