Square Roots, the technology leader in indoor farming, and Gordon Food Service, one of the largest food distributors in North America, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Kenosha, WI, to celebrate their largest indoor farm built to date, taking another step in their shared journey to build indoor farms together across the continent—ultimately enabling locally-grown food at a global scale.
Kenosha, built with our strategic partner Gordon Food Service, is our largest and most advanced farm yet. Together, we can deliver high-quality, pesticide-free, fresh produce to local customers, all year round, often within hours of being harvested,” said Tobias Peggs, Co-Founder and CEO of Square Roots. “Square Roots’ 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.”
“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,” said Rich Wolowski, CEO of Gordon Food Service. “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, Square Roots grows a wide variety of fresh greens, including herbs like 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. Square Roots is addressing the $37.3 billion total packaged produce category at retail.
The new Square Roots Kenosha farm was deployed using Square Roots’ modular, smart-farm technology platform. To manage the farm, Square Roots uses proprietary, cloud-connected software to constantly monitor and control multiple climates, enabling its farmers to grow a wide range of crops to meet local market needs.
In addition to Kenosha, Square Roots operates commercial-scale indoor farms in Michigan, New York, and Ohio.
Key Stats:
Kenosha is the largest farm Square Roots has built to date. It has the capacity to produce more than 2.4 million packages of herbs and leafy greens annually.
Square Roots created more than 20 jobs in the Kenosha region, recruiting locally to open new pathways for more young people to enter the high-tech agriculture industry.
Square Roots offers extensive ongoing training opportunities for employees, in addition to a compensation package that is competitive and equitable, when it comes to pay, benefits and stock options. Square Roots also offers all employees accelerated career paths to propel professional advancement.
The Square Roots Kenosha farm is a USDA, Harmonized GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) Plus+ certified facility. The farm is in line with a GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) Standard and operates to strict COVID-19 protocols to keep farmers and the local community safe.
The Square Roots Transparency Timeline can be accessed via QR code on every package of Square Roots produce sold, connecting consumers to the local Kenosha farm and showing the complete journey the company’s greens take from seed to shelf.
Square Roots farms are built in cities to drastically reduce food miles. The company’s hydroponic growing systems re-circulate the water used to grow crops, allowing for the use of 95% less water than conventional farming methods. All Square Roots produce is in 100% recyclable packaging.