Square Roots, an indoor farming company, and Gordon Food Service, one of the largest food distributors in North America, announced the opening of a new climate-controlled, indoor farm in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
Since establishing their strategic partnership in 2019, Square Roots and Gordon Food Service have been building indoor farms together across the continent—with the ultimate aim of bringing locally-grown food to customers at a global scale. In the past year alone, Square Roots has deployed new, co-located farms on Gordon Food Service distribution centers in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Springfield, Ohio; and now Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
“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 Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Square Roots. “This rapid expansion is purely driven by customer demand for our locally-grown food. And it’s been enabled by our scalable smart-farm platform — which we’ve shown can be replicated in multiple new locations, quickly and cost effectively.”
The new Shepherdsville facility showcases the latest version of the Square Roots platform, which increases yields by 30% and features a range of automation technologies for key functions including seeding, harvesting, and sanitization. Inside the farm, the local team uses Square Roots’ proprietary software to manage every aspect of growing—from planning production tasks to monitoring plant health. Meanwhile, all Square Roots farms are USDA Harmonized GAP+ Certified for the highest levels of food safety.
Square Roots grows a wide variety of fresh greens, including herbs like basil, dill, parsley, and cilantro; microgreens; and salad mixes.
“Together, Gordon Food Service and Square Roots are making locally grown, fresh produce available to our customers all year round, regardless of outdoor weather conditions,” said Rich Wolowski, president and CEO of Gordon Food Service. “Each new farm we open gets us closer to our shared goal of enabling local food at a global scale.”
Square Roots’ recirculating hydroponic system uses far less water, and requires far less land, in comparison with conventional field farms. And by deploying a distributed network of local farms in strategic locations like Shepherdsville, Square Roots creates less distance between people across America and their food, reducing food miles and minimizing food waste.
The Square Roots team in Shepherdsville will soon be harvesting and has been sized to produce over 3 million packages of herbs and leafy greens annually. All Square Roots produce has at least 14 days of extended shelf life, is completely free of pesticides and GMOs, and is sold in recycled and 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 retail locations around the country, including Gordon Food Service Stores, Whole Foods Market, SpartanNash corporate stores, Meijer, Fresh Thyme Market, Busch’s Fresh Food Market, Fresh Direct, and Getir. Square Roots has strategic partnerships with Gordon Food Service and United Natural Foods Inc., co-locating commercial-scale, climate-controlled indoor farms across the continent - enabling local food at a global scale, year-round.
