Consumers love local produce. Greenhouse-grown vegetables and herbs that are available hyper-locally appear to be increasingly high in demand – so much so that demand is exceeding supply on premium produce.
From its grassroots in Brooklyn, NY, Gotham Greens is expanding with a 140,000 square-feet location in Pullman, IL, about 15 miles south of downtown Chicago. The new facility will be growing premium vegetables and herbs year-round for its retail, restaurant and institutional foodservice customers.
Arial view/rendering of the new location in Pullman, Chicago.
Double production capacity in Midwest
The new facility will be built adjacent to their existing rooftop greenhouse (built in 2015), which happens to be known as the ‘World’s Largest Rooftop Farm’. “The new facility will more than double our production capacity in the Midwest region and reflects our success growing and selling premium quality produce year-round in technologically advanced indoor farms,” says co-founder Viraj Puri. The new facility will continue to use state-of-the art hydroponic growing methods while increasing the use of automation, climate control and data science. Puri says expansion will be complete at the end of 2018 and the facility operational in early 2019.
Distribution throughout Chicagoland
The company is growing quickly, but it’s something Puri says was not really a surprise. “We were confident that we would need additional production capacity before long. Despite producing millions of pounds of local salad greens and herbs annually for national and local grocery stores and foodservice operators across Chicagoland, the demand for Gotham Greens far exceeds supply,” he says. “The expansion comes at an ideal time to increase our ability to work with Midwest based retailers and foodservice operators.” The vast majority of produce will continue to be distributed throughout the Chicagoland area and certain areas of the Upper Midwest regions.
More expansion plans
In today’s market it may not be enough to just be ‘locally-grown’ or ‘greenhouse-grown’. Puri says there still must be a high level of consistency, reliability, value and customer service in order to be relevant. When Gotham Greens first launched in Chicago, marketing and education was required but now the company and brand are well known.” In both NYC and Chicago, Gotham Greens focuses on a diverse line of salad greens, lettuces and herbs. In addition to its newest greenhouse in Chicago, Gotham Greens has further expansion plans to several cities across the US in this year.
For more information:
Nicole Baum
Gotham Greens
Tel: (+1) 718-935-0600