US restaurant chain Chipotle has invested in Greenfield Robotics, an autonomous farming robot specialist, and Nitricity, a climate-smart fertiliser developer. Both investments are aimed at using smart technologies to reduce greenhouse gases from farming.

Greenfield Robotics develops lightweight autonomous robots that cut weeds, reducing dependence on herbicides while supporting regenerative farming practices and reducing risk for farmers.

Nitricity leverages air, water, and renewable energy from artificial lightning to produce a cleaner, more sustainable, and cost-efficient fertiliser.

With its investment, Greenfield Robotics will continue its efforts to build out 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.

“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,” said Curt Garner, Chief Customer and Technology Officer, Chipotle. “We will help Greenfield Robotics scale their robotic offerings and explore how their robots can be deployed on farms within our supply chain.”

“Like Chipotle’s commitment to Food with Integrity, we believe in the future of real, responsibly and sustainably raised food,” said Clint Brauer, founder of Greenfield Robotics. “In partnership with Chipotle, we can continue to explore creative solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing farmers across the United States.”

Nitricity’s nitrogen fertiliser has 5 to 10 times less GHG emissions due to its electrified production and field application process. Nitricity is building its production model of fertiliser on or near its end customers to limit the emissions from fertiliser distribution and application. Currently, up to 20% of fertiliser in the US is imported through an expensive and complex supply chain.

Nitricity has started field trials for their fertiliser 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. He added, “Fertilisers have experienced steep price increases in recent years due to supply chain issues, fossil fuel price volatility, and rising distribution costs. Nitricity’s fertiliser offering not only has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the fertiliser industry, but it can be a cost-effective solution for growers in our supply chain.”

“Nitricity is committed to producing fertiliser that is optimised for farmers, not factory production or freight distribution,” said Nico Pinkowski, co-founder and CEO of Nitricity. “Partnering with Chipotle will unquestionably accelerate our path toward disrupting the industry with climate-smart technology.”