Gordon Food Service, Square Roots Officially Open New Indoor Farm

Food distributor Gordon Food Service and indoor-farming company Square Roots held an Aug. 16 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Kenosha, Wis., to mark the official opening of their largest indoor farm built to date. The strategic partners have embarked on a plan to construct indoor farms across North America, ultimately enabling locally grown food at a global scale. 

“Together, we can deliver high-quality, pesticide-free, fresh produce to local customers, all year round, often within hours of being harvested,” noted Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Square Roots, whose “modular, smart-farm platform allows us to rapidly deploy capital-efficient, commercial-scale farms at strategic locations across the country, to meet the increasing demand for locally grown food everywhere.” 

Added Rich Wolowski, CEO of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Gordon Food Service: “We love food. By partnering with Square Roots, we are delivering on our intentions to make locally grown, nutritious produce available to all our customers, regardless of the local climate or time of year. With each farm, we are a step closer to our goals of locally grown and delicious food across the continent.” 

Located at the Gordon Food Service distribution center in Kenosha, the new Square Roots facility grows a wide variety of fresh greens, including herbs such as basil, dill, parsley and cilantro; microgreens; and salad mixes. Square Roots produce is available at local retail stores across Wisconsin and Illinois, including Gordon Food Service Stores, as well as Gordon Food Service customer restaurants and on e-commerce platforms.

The new Square Roots farm in Kenosha employs Square Roots’ modular, smart-farm technology platform. To manage the farm, the company uses proprietary, cloud-connected software to constantly monitor and control various climates, allowing its farmers to grow a broad range of crops to meet local market needs. As well as the facility in Kenosha, Square Roots operates commercial-scale indoor farms in Michigan, New York and Ohio. 

Founded by Peggs and Kimbal Musk, Square Roots produces greens carried in about 300 retail locations around the United States, including Gordon Food Service Stores, Whole Foods Market, SpartanNash corporate stores, Fresh Thyme Market, Meijer’s market-format stores and Busch’s Fresh Food Market, as well as e-grocers FreshDirect and Getir.

Gordon serves foodservice operators in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest regions of the United States and coast to coast in Canada. The company also operates more than 170 Gordon Food Service Store locations in the United States.