Technology

Chipotle invests in regenerative farming robots

Greenfield Robotics' fleets of autonomous robots are lightweight and cut weeds between rows of broadacre crops, day or night, reducing dependence on herbicides while supporting regenerative farming practices and reducing risk for farmers. Photo: Chipotle

December 13, 2023

Through its $50 million Cultivate Next venture fund, Chipotle Mexican Grill is investing in Greenfield Robotics, a company focused on making regenerative farming more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable by leveraging AI, robotics and sensing technologies. The Denver-based restaurant chain is also funding Nitricity, a company seeking to tackle greenhouse gas emissions by creating fertilizer products that are better for fields, farmers and the environment.

"The work of Greenfield Robotics to build out a tech-forward alternative to herbicides plays an important role in ensuring a more sustainable future for the agricultural industry," Chipotle CTO Curt Garner said in a company press release. "We will help Greenfield Robotics scale their robotic offerings and explore how their robots can be deployed on farms within our supply chain."

Cultivate Next makes early-stage investments into strategically aligned companies that further Chipotle's mission to Cultivate a Better World and help accelerate the company's aggressive growth plans.

Greenfield Robotics

Conventional farming destroys weeds with chemicals and soil tillage, resulting in escalating costs, soil erosion and degradation of soil, resistant weeds and health risks for both wildlife and humans, according to Greenfield Robotics founder Clint Brauer.

"Like Chipotle's commitment to Food with Integrity, we believe in the future of real, responsibly and sustainably raised food," he said in the release. "In partnership with Chipotle, we can continue to explore creative solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing farmers across the United States."

The company provides regenerative agriculture solutions without chemicals. Its fleets of autonomous robots are lightweight and cut weeds between rows of broadacre crops, reducing dependence on herbicides while supporting regenerative farming practices and reducing risk for farmers.

With its Cultivate Next investment, Greenfield Robotics will build its fleet of autonomous agricultural robots and develop additional capabilities for forthcoming iterations of its robots, including micro-spraying, cover crop planting and soil testing.

Nitricity

Inspired by the natural occurrence of lightning breaking down nitrogen in the air and rainwater bringing it to the soil as nitrate to create natural fertilizer, Nitricity has pioneered the practice of creating artificial lightning, said Nico Pinkowski, co-founder and CEO of Nitricity.

"Nitricity is committed to producing fertilizer that is optimized for farmers, not factory production or freight distribution," he said in the release. "Partnering with Chipotle will unquestionably accelerate our path toward disrupting the industry with climate-smart technology."

The company leverages air, water and renewable energy from artificial lightning to produce a cleaner, more sustainable and cost-efficient fertilizer. The current process of producing, distributing and using nitrogen fertilizer by way of the Haber-Bosch method requires a large amount of fossil fuels and emits significant amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to 5-7% of total global greenhouse gases. Nitricity's nitrogen fertilizer has five to 10 times less GHG emissions due to its electrified production and field application process. Nitricity is building its production model of fertilizer on or near its end customers to limit the emissions from fertilizer distribution and application. Currently, up to 20% of fertilizer in the U.S. is imported through an expensive and complex supply chain, according to the release.

Nitricity has started field trials for its fertilizer product with Salinas Valley farmers, including Chipotle suppliers in the region. Funding from Cultivate Next will be used to scale up Nitricity's production of nitrogen, build out the company's infrastructure, and support the launch of its first commercial product within the next two years.

"We're proud to support Nitricity's pursuit of a product innovation whose environmental benefits are complimentary to Chipotle's approach to Food With Integrity," said Jack Hartung, chief financial and administrative officer, Chipotle. "Fertilizers have experienced steep price increases in recent years due to supply chain issues, fossil fuel price volatility, and rising distribution costs. Nitricity's fertilizer offering not only has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the fertilizer industry, but it can be a cost-effective solution for growers in our supply chain."

Tim McAfee, a Cultivate Next Venture Collaborator and Chipotle produce supplier said he has visited the facilities of both Nitricity and Greenfield Robotics and was "optimistic and enthusiastic about the impact these innovations could have on the growing community."

Chipotle has over 3,300 restaurants.