Gotham Greens opens its 1st indoor greenhouse in Georgia

Indoor farming company Gotham Greens has opened its first high-tech hydroponic greenhouse in the Southeast region, the Brooklyn, New York-based company announced Wednesday. 

The 210,000-square-foot facility located in Monroe, Georgia, is the company’s 12th operation and the second of three greenhouses Gotham Greens has scheduled to open in 2023, the company said in a statement. The company now operates indoor farms in California, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, New York and Rhode Island.

Their leafy greens and herbs will be available regionally to retail, restaurant and foodservice operations, including grocers such as Whole Foods Market, Publix, Harris Teeter, The Fresh Market and others. 

“As we celebrate National Farmer’s Day, this expansion into the South is a pivotal moment for Gotham Greens and brings us one step closer to our goal of being able to deliver Gotham Greens fresh produce within a day’s drive from our greenhouses to 90% of consumers across the U.S.” said Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of Gotham Greens, in a statement. “Our new Georgia greenhouse is the largest, most technologically advanced we’ve ever built and uses enhanced automation, climate control and data science capabilities to ensure that our greens are not only delicious, but also consistent and reliable for our customers.” 

The company noted that the Georgia greenhouse is its most technologically advanced and aims to “overcome the region’s hot, humid climate."

Gotham Greens touted its environmental sustainability capabilities in the announcement, noting that its farms typically use 90% less water and 97% less land than traditional outdoor farms. The greenhouse also is protected from harsh weather conditions such as drought and heavy rains, the company added. 

“Gotham Greens’ new, state-of-the-art greenhouse facility in Monroe will deploy the latest, cutting-edge agricultural technology, while creating almost 100 jobs in Walton County and providing consumers across Georgia with sustainable, Georgia-grown produce year-round,” said Tyler Harper, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, in a statement.  

The announcement is good news for the struggling indoor and vertical farming industry, which has witnessed setbacks for large companies such as AeroFarms Inc., which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, and AppHarvest, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July.  

Both Newark, New Jersey-based AeroFarms and Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest had to sell off substantial portions of their operations during the restructuring of their businesses.  

Other high-tech farms appear to be thriving, though, with indoor vertical farm company Plenty securing $400 million in funding from Walmart in early 2023 and opening a new indoor farm in Compton, California, in May.

Gotham Greens also scored a big client in February with the announcement that Cincinnati-based supermarket giant Kroger would expand its relationship with the indoor farming company by increasing the number of locations where it sells the products from approximately 300 to nearly 1,000 by the end of 2023.