On Wednesday, April 30th, 2025, the ARISE consortium visited Les Nouvelles Fermes in Mérignac, as part of the 3rd General Assembly meeting, increasing the team’s knowledge in hydroponic lettuce farming, gathering data for exploitation strategies, and expanding communication and stakeholder networks.

Founded in 2019 in Bordeaux, Les Nouvelles Fermes operates a 5,000 m² greenhouse launched in 2022. Co-founder Paul Morel guided the ARISE team through the facilities and explained the mission behind the venture he and four other co-founders envisioned: growing lettuce, aromatic plants, and vegetables, and raising fish close to urban consumers using aquaponics—a technique with roots dating back over 4,000 years in Mexico.

Currently, the farm produces more than 50 metric tons of vegetables and aromatics annually, along with 12 metric tons of rainbow trout, while reducing water use by 90% compared to conventional agriculture. Plans are underway for a new 20,000 m² farm near Paris.

The discussion highlighted the physical and operational challenges of lettuce transplanting and harvesting, including:

• Rapid response to changing consumer demand
• Seasonal and weather-related variability
• The need for harvesting between 6:00–9:00 AM to ensure maximum freshness
• High physical demands on production teams, especially during weekends and holidays

The potential integration of AI, data, and robotics was explored, especially for transplanting, float handling, and lettuce processing, provided systems are accurate, reliable, and adaptable, and a Robot-as-a-Service model is used to avoid CapEx and improve ROI.