Austria/UK: Therme Group & Agritech Company IGS Ltd. Announce Strategic Partnership
This week, Vienna-based Therme Group and UK-based agricultural technology company Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) officially announced their partnership to develop sustainable vertical farms directly at Therme Group’s various thermal spa and wellness destinations worldwide.
Over the past year, both companies have been working on the new concept called “Therme IGE” (IGE: Intelligent Growth Ecosystems), which envisages the local and sustainable cultivation of various food products at Therme facilities worldwide, so that the products can be harvested directly on site and processed for the respective F&B offer. According to the companies, significant amounts of water and energy consumption can be saved with the Therme IGE concept compared to traditional agriculture: Specifically, the urban vertical plantations would use about 80 percent less water, and space efficiency would be 400 percent higher than with traditional field cultivation. Initially, vegetables and herbs would be planted, and no pesticides would be used. In addition, faster plant growth could be achieved, so that the development cycle for cultivated crops could be reduced from normally seven to ten years to two to three years.
Professor David Russell, CEO of Therme Group’s incorporated Therme RPC food and nutrition business unit, comments: “At the heart of Therme IGE’s vision is the ability to produce ‘more with less impact’. Our partnership with IGS fully embraces the use of leading-edge technology to drive the optimisation of on-site, sustainable, secure and nutrient dense fresh produce for our guests. Therme IGE’s incorporate interactive and immersive learning, new era farm shops and filtered water production – this is an exciting, of the moment, industry first at this scale and reach.”
David Farquhar, CEO of IGS, adds: “This innovative partnership marks a radical gear-shift for vertical farming – integrating it clearly into a sustainable lifestyle and wellbeing approach. The importance of nourishing and nurturing people through Therme IGE is a fantastic idea, combining the best of green technology and plant science as well as expert culinary and wellbeing expertise. […].”
The new Therme Group destination Therme Scotland to be built in Glasgow, which was also announced this week, and Therme Canada in Toronto, which is already under development (c.f. EAP News of 16 Aug 2021), are also to have their own vertical farming areas for on-site food production. In Germany, Therme Group is involved as a partner of the German Josef Wund Thermengruppe in the realization of the Thermewelt Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt am Main – read all about this mega project in our current EAP issue. (eap)
