Indoor-Farming Company Doubles Footprint
Indoor-farming and fresh food brand Gotham Greens will double the size of its greenhouse capacity from 600,000 square feet to more than 1.2 million square feet in 2022 with the development of new state-of-the-art greenhouses in Seagoville, Texas (outside Dallas); Monroe, Ga. (outside Atlanta); and Windsor, Colo. (outside Denver). The company is also expanding its existing greenhouse facilities in Chicago and Providence, R.I.
The new greenhouses will help meet the steady increase in consumer demand for greenhouse-grown produce. According to Gotham Greens, the company has achieved 28% year-over-year growth (compared with 1% growth year over year for the total pre-packaged salad and lettuce categories). Through strategic expansion, Gotham Greens has continued to grow both national and regional retail partnerships with such key food retailers as Whole Foods Market, The Kroger Co., Albertsons Cos. and Sprouts Farmers Market.
“Gotham Greens is incredibly excited to further expand our greenhouse operations across the country, including to the South for the very first time,” said Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of New-York based Gotham Greens. “Building on the continued growth and momentum that Gotham Greens has sustained over the past several years, we are proud to bring our national brand of sustainably grown salad greens and herbs, plus our versatile plant-based dressings, dips and cooking sauces, to more consumers across the country, and expand our retail and foodservice distribution in existing markets. Our goal is to deliver Gotham Greens’ fresh produce within a day’s drive from our greenhouses to 90% of consumers across the U.S., and these strategic greenhouse expansion projects bring us closer to this milestone.”
A Certified B Corporation, Gotham Greens is purposefully expanding its operations into U.S. regions affected by climate change. In California, where Gotham Greens opened a greenhouse in 2021, more than 37 million people are affected by drought with 87% of the state classified as experiencing a severe or extreme drought. By using hydroponic growing systems in 100% renewable electricity-powered greenhouses, Gotham Greens’ farms use up to 95% less water and 97% less land compared with conventional farming. The proximity of Gotham Greens’ greenhouses to key metropolitan markets also eliminates the need for long-distance refrigerated transportation while improving product quality and shelf life, and ultimately reducing food waste.
Gotham Greens also benefits local economies with the construction of the new greenhouses. For example, the approximately 150,000-square-foot facility in Colorado, located in Great Western Industrial Park, is generating in excess of 100 construction jobs and, once complete, is projected to bring 55 jobs and more than $15 million in company investment to northern Colorado.
The company will own and operate 12 high-tech climate-controlled hydroponic greenhouses across eight states when the new facilities are completed, joining its existing network already established in New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Illinois, Colorado and California.
Since its launch in 2011, Gotham Greens has grown from a single urban rooftop greenhouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., to one of the largest hydroponic leafy-green producers in North America. The company currently sells its salad greens, herbs, salad dressings, dips and cooking sauces in approximately 3,000 stores across 45 U.S. states.
