Square Roots Celebrates New Indoor Farm in Kenosha With Gordon Food Service

Co-founded by Kimbal Musk, Square Roots is investing in climate-smart agriculture solutions, while creating tech-enabled jobs for the next generation of local farmers

August 16, 2022 (Kenosha, WI) — 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.

“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.”

“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.
  

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. For more information, please visit www.squarerootsgrow.com.

About Gordon Food Service

For 125 years, Gordon Food Service has delivered uncompromising quality and heartfelt service for our customers. Beginning as a simple butter-and-egg delivery service, we’ve grown to become the largest family business in the foodservice industry by upholding the same approach since 1897—remaining passionately committed to the people we serve. Today, we serve foodservice operators in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the United States and coast-to-coast in Canada. We also operate more than 170 Gordon Food Service Store locations in the U.S. By partnering with organizations from across industries—healthcare to education, independent and chain restaurants, and event planners—we help our customers create food experiences that people choose, enjoy, and remember.

Contact:

John Kell, Square Roots, john.kell@squarerootsgrow.com, 856-816-7113
Mark Schurman, Gordon Food Service, media@gfs.com