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But what if the store could produce its own plants at 1/10th the cost of purchasing them elsewhere (just light and water)? It's not like they don't already have

But what if the store could produce its own plants at 1/10th the cost of purchasing them elsewhere (just light and water)? It's not like they don't already have floor space taken up with plants today - they just buy them from elsewhere.

aetherson 9y ago
They "only" cost "light and water" elsewhere, too (actually, obviously, far more than just light and water). Do you think that 90% of the wholesale cost of produce is transportation costs? If so, why do you think that?
peterjlee 9y ago
The plants taking up space in the grocery store have a pretty fast turnaround time while these basils will take few weeks to grow. Though I guess they could have these "farms" in some cheap warehouse then move it to the grocery store only when they're ready. Ok, this seems a bit more viable now.
apendleton 9y ago
These are hydroponic systems, so it'll be distilled water, power for high-intensity grow lights (where stuff grown outdoors, at least in-season, gets this from the sun), nutrient solution (in an outdoor context, some of this would be "free"-ish, from soil, and some would be from fertilizer), plus lifetime-amortized costs of the grow setup: pumps, filters, etc. And all of that besides the water you'd have to ship anyway from wherever it's manufactured. Granted, if we're talking lettuce, it's like 95% water by weight anyway, and a decent percentage of what's left is carbon that's fixed from the air, so there's probably a shipping savings, but I still don't think this whole setup would be particularly cheap.