BrightFarms Chooses Texas For Fifth Greenhouse Site

Abilene, Texas – BrightFarms, the No.1 brand in locally grown salads, will break ground on a sustainable greenhouse farm in Abilene, Texas this spring. This will be the company’s fifth facility in the U.S. and first in Texas.

The 195,000 square-foot greenhouse farm will provide locally grown salad greens and herbs that are pesticide-free, non-GMO and Texas-grown to supermarkets in the region starting in early 2019

Additionally, the greenhouse will use an estimated 80 percent less water, 90 percent less land and 95 percent less shipping fuel than West Coast salad farming operations.

According to The Food Marketing Institute’s 2017 Power of Produce, consumer demand for local produce remains strong. Data shows that when quality, appearance and price are equivalent, 60 percent of consumers chose local over organic. BrightFarms’ impact on the category in retailers across the US confirms this trend (Catalina Data).  Across all existing customers, BrightFarms sales have been largely incremental delivering 3% new category buyers and 22% category growth.      

“Meeting the demand for local produce is a challenge for grocery retailers” says Paul Lightfoot, BrightFarms CEO. “We are solving this problem by building commercial scale year-round local farms and delivering the freshest and most flavorful baby greens and herbs to our customers within 24 hours of harvest. Texas and the City of Abilene have welcomed us with open arms, and we couldn’t be more excited to serve this region.” 

Shoppers will have a variety of popular packaged salad greens on shelves next year, including spring mix, spinach, baby kale, romaine, arugula and others. With the ability to grow and test new varieties quickly, the company expects to be constantly trying new products outside of its existing lineup.

 The Abilene facility will create as many as 30 permanent “green-collar” jobs for local residents, each paying a living wage and offering health benefits. Recruiting will begin in the next coming months.

ABOUT BRIGHTFARMS:

BrightFarms grows local produce, nationwide. BrightFarms finances, builds and operates local greenhouse farms in partnership with supermarkets, cities, capital sources, and vendors, enabling it to quickly and efficiently eliminate time, distance, and costs from the food supply chain. BrightFarms’ growing methods, a model for the future of scalable, sustainable, local farming, uses far less energy, land and water than conventional agriculture. Fast Company recognizes BrightFarms as “One of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” and one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Food” in the world. Most recently, BrightFarms was listed as number 235 on Inc. Magazine’s list of the fastest growing private companies in America. www.brightfarms.com.

Source: BrightFarms