Agricool: When a Container Box Comes Ashore

Containers get a Second Life in the Agriculture Sector.

‘Green’ initiatives continue to sweep the globe, with companies such as #Agricool leading the way with its plan to  revolutionize urban agriculture while giving containers a second life.

Enter CMA CGM Group, one of the world’s largest containershipping companies, which is supporting Agricool not only with recycled containers, but also investing in the company and sharing its experience in logistics with the sapling company as is matures and enters its industrialization phase.

What is Agricool?
Founded in 2015 in Paris, Agricool is developing an urban agriculture system based on recycled containers, aiming to used the old boxes to create urban farms, producing fruit and vegetables without pesticides, picked and sold on the same day and prioritizing short circuits. Today several containers are in the ‘test’ phase.

Bringing its ‘green’ mandate beyond the simple reuse of containers, In Paris Agricool grows strawberries by saving 90% of water and nutrients compared to classical agricultural methods and uses renewable energy only. Not only are these fruits more environmentally benign, according to the company the strawberries contain an average of 20% sugar and 30% vitamin C more than retail store strawberries.

In 2018, the CMA CGM Group provided its first concrete support to Agricool by offering technical and logistical support for the delivery and installation of a "cooltainer" in Dubai.

In December, Agricool completed a €25 million fundraising campaign to finance the industrialization of its innovative project. On this occasion, CMA CGM acquired an equity stake in the company through its investment fund, CMA CGM Ventures.
This collaboration is part of the innovation support strategy implemented by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, through equity investments and ambitious commercial partnerships with start-ups with strong entrepreneurial values and innovative industrial projects.