Giant Food Stores, BrightFarms Break Ground on Greenhouse

Giant Food Stores and BrightFarms celebrated the May 20 groundbreaking for a new 250,000-square-foot greenhouse in Selinsgrove, Pa., located in the state's Snyder County.

Following the ceremony at the construction site, attendees went on to an event at Susquehanna University, among them Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, and, from Giant Food Stores, SVP of Merchandising John Ruane, VP of Fresh Dave Lessard, Director of Floral and Produce Chris Keetch, and Category Manager Matt Novosel.

Amid rising consumer demand for local produce, Irvington, N.Y.-based BrightFarms, a top brand of locally grown packaged salads that operates hydroponic greenhouses in the areas it serves, is a key partner of Giant Food Stores, which operates nearly 180 stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

“BrightFarms has long been one of our valued supplier partners, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the groundbreaking of their new greenhouse in Snyder County,” noted Ruane. “Each week, thousands of Giant customers purchase BrightFarms’ fresh greens, and this new facility will help them continue to do so, ensuring we deliver on our promise to deliver the very best local produce available. We are proud to do business with BrightFarms and look forward to doing so for years to come.”

Added Abby Prior, BrightFarms’ VP of marketing: “We have developed a year-round local salad program with Giant, and their efforts to source from local farms [are] remarkable. They are truly taking a consumer-centric approach to meeting the needs of their produce shoppers.” 

Slated to open early next year, the greenhouse will deliver fresh local produce to Pennsylvania supermarkets within 24 hours of harvest.

Giant Food Stores’ parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, is No. 4 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.