BrightFarms Announces Aggressive Growth Strategy for National Expansion
IRVINGTON, NY - BrightFarms is kicking its expansion plan into high gear to ensure more consumers in markets across the U.S. have access to local produce. This week, the grower announced more details of its plans, including new sustainable greenhouse farms in New England, New York, and North Carolina. In addition, BrightFarms revealed it will be exploring acquisitions and partnerships with existing greenhouse growers as it dives into the new markets.
“We are committed to transforming the produce category to provide the freshest, tastiest, and most responsibly grown produce,” said CEO Paul Lightfoot. “Consumers are placing high demand for locally grown, fresh salads. With local greenhouses across the Mid-Atlantic and growing, BrightFarms is well positioned to meet those demands for national retailers.”
The new 280,000-square-foot greenhouses are aimed at bolstering BrightFarms’ network of local and sustainable farms, particularly across the Mid-Atlantic and into the South. The grower currently operates greenhouses in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with the new facilities upping that tally and meeting the needs of shoppers in Central Massachusetts, Hudson Vally, and North Carolina.
According to a press release, BrightFarms plans to break ground on the greenhouses by the end of 2019, with production starting in the spring of 2020. The greenhouses, which will sit on 20 acres and create 55 of what the company calls “green-collar” jobs, will produce more than two million pounds of leafy salad greens and herbs per year while meeting BrightFarms’ sustainability goals by using approximately 80 percent less water, 90 percent less land, and 95 percent less shipping fuel than competitors.
Since the turn of the new year, BrightFarms has upped the ante on its national expansion by appointing a new CFO, teaming up with five new retailers, and landing $55 million in Series D financing.
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