Montel transforms VF sector with mobile vertical racking

Added on 11 April 2023

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Montel transforms VF sector with mobile vertical racking

The vertical farming sector is relatively new, with just over ten years of innovation. The sector itself has created many operators, suppliers, and tech companies, yet there have also been companies entering from outside the sector with transferable technology. Montel is an exciting success story that meets this profile.

Founded in 1924 as an industrial steel manufacturer and equipment supplier in Quebec, Montel has transformed over the last century to become a leader in high-density mobile storage systems and intelligent storage equipment like shelving, racking, carts, and art racks for a variety of markets and applications, including cannabis and indoor farms. Henry Gordon-Smith spoke with Montel’s CEO, Jérôme Doucet, to learn more about their journey into indoor agriculture and where they are looking to expand next within the industry.

Montel’s racking at the Grove. Credit: Montel.

Montel received their first indoor grow lead in 2016 from Kevin Biernacki who, at the time, was working for the Grove, the first licensed cannabis growing operation in the United States. As their Cultivation Manager, he was searching for highly developed equipment to optimize space horizontally and vertically and was particularly taken by the mobile capability of Montel’s racking units. Montel provided the Grove with an electrically powered, mobile vertical rack system, the first of its kind in a vertical farm in North America.