Square Roots, an indoor farming company, and Gordon Food Service, one of the largest food distributors in North America, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Kenosha, Wisconsin, 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.
“Our new farm in 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.”
Square Roots grows a wide variety of fresh greens, including herbs like basil, dill, parsley, and cilantro; microgreens; and salad mixes. Fresh greens grown at Square Roots’ largest farm are now sold throughout Wisconsin and Illinois, meeting increasing demand for locally grown food.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
In addition to Kenosha, Square Roots operates commercial-scale indoor farms in Michigan, New York and Ohio.
About Square Roots
Square Roots is the technology leader in indoor farming with a mission to responsibly bring its locally grown food to people in cities around the world, all year round. Square Roots is setting new standards for transparency and responsibility, while training a new generation of leaders in agriculture to create a more sustainable food system. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs, its range of fresh produce is available in approximately 300 retail locations around the country, including Gordon Food Service Stores, Whole Foods Market, SpartanNash corporate stores, Fresh Thyme Market, Meijer’s market format stores, Busch’s Fresh Food Market, Fresh Direct, and Getir. Square Roots’ strategic partnership with Gordon Food Service reinforces a larger shared ambition to build commercial-scale, climate-controlled indoor farms together across the continent - enabling local food at a global scale, year round.
