An indoor farming company is expanding to the Louisville area with a facility focused on growing herbs, leafy greens and microgreens.
Brooklyn-based Square Roots announced Tuesday it’s opening an indoor farm in Shepherdsville that is expected to grow enough greens to fill more than 3.1 million packages each year.
The company was founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 2016 by Kimbal Musk (the younger brother of Elon Musk) and Tobias Peggs and has since opened indoor farms in Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Springfield, Ohio.
The Shepherdsville location is the third in a partnership with food distributor Gordon Food Service in which the farms are located at Gordon’s distribution centers.
“Working with Gordon Food Service, we’ve tripled our aggregate growing capacity this year while entering three new strategic markets across America’s heartland,” said Peggs, co-founder and CEO, in a release. “This rapid expansion is purely driven by customer demand for our locally-grown food.”
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First commercial harvests are expected to start in the spring, with products bound for stores, restaurants and more across the Midwest, according to the company.
The climate-controlled indoor farm is housed in modular shipping containers and uses a hydroponic growing system that grows crops in water instead of soil. The system recirculates water, using less water and land than traditional farming. Automation technology is used for seeding, harvesting and sanitization.
Square Roots locates in or near cities, aiming to shorten supply chains and provide fresh produce year-round. Each farm typically employs about 20 people, with nearly all hires coming from the local region.
This story may be updated.
Reach business reporter Matthew Glowicki at mglowicki@courier-journal.com.
