February 2020 - 12

BrightFarms continues growth with greenhouse locations
By Gary Pullano
Managing Editor
New York-based packaged salads
company BrightFarms entered 2020
with plans to open a 250,000-squarefoot
greenhouse in Snyder County,
Pennsylvania - its second greenhouse
in the state.
The greenhouse will produce more
than 2 million pounds of leafy salad
greens and herbs a year, to be delivered
to Pennsylvania supermarkets within
24 hours of harvest, according to a
BrightFarms news release.
BrightFarms' North Carolina
greenhouse, for which construction was
set to begin early this year, will be the
company's sixth and one of its largest
locations to date.
" Today's consumers are searching
for produce that's fresher, safer and
responsibly grown. It's the reason that
locally grown food has become the
No. 1 purchase driver in produce for
supermarkets, " said Steve Platt, CEO
of BrightFarms. " We are incredibly
grateful for the support from Governor
Cooper and the North Carolina
Department of Commerce and look
forward to bringing local, pesticidefree
leafy greens to North Carolina and
neighboring states. "
Platt took over as CEO in August
2019, while the company's founder,
Paul Lightfoot, continues as the
company's president and founder. Both
Platt and Lightfoot are members of the
board of directors.
In early 2019, BrightFarms announced
plans for new greenhouse farms to be
built in Massachusetts, New York and
North Carolina by the end of 2019.
BrightFarms also has operations in
Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania; Wilmington,
Ohio; Rochelle, Illinois; Elkwood,
Virginia and Yardley, Pennsylvania.
The business model for each
greenhouse is to supply the surrounding
urban area, shortening the supply chain.
BrightFarms grows leafy salad greens
and herbs including spring mix, spinach,
baby kale, romaine and arugula. The
company describes its local greens,
which are grown in a safe, secure and
clean indoor environment without the
use of pesticides, as beyond organic.
By growing produce close to its
consumers, BrightFarms' produce is
delivered to supermarkets in as little as 24
hours of harvest, about a week faster than
leafy greens grown on the West Coast.
A natural setting
Josh Norbury, vice president of
operations for BrightFarms, is playing a
part in the growing company's day-today
greenhouse operations.
" Greenhouses utilize the natural
resources a little better, " Norbury told
Vegetable Growers News. " Sunlight is
free and abundant. We want to take
advantage of that. "
The production method allows
BrightFarms to control inputs so
customers get what they need - healthy
and tasty products.
10 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
An artist's rendering of BrightFarms' 280,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse in North
Carolina's Henderson County.
field-grown produce. This coalition
provides an opportunity for all brands
in the space to collaborate in an
effort to further protect consumers
by establishing standards and sharing
insights, " said Lightfoot at the time
of the announcement. " This is a
critically important step in maintaining
consumer confidence and supporting
the growth of our industry. "
Both the United Fresh Produce
Association and the Produce Marketing
Association have come forward to show
their full support.
BrightFarms uses blockchain
In October 2019, BrightFarms
announced it is incorporating
blockchain technology as a member of
the IBM Food Trust network.
Food Trust, a blockchain-based
information-sharing platform, securely
connects supply chain data across the
ecosystem to enable unprecedented
trust and transparency. In addition to
providing provenance insights, network
members such as BrightFarms are
realizing benefits around optimized
supply chain processes, increased
freshness, improved food safety,
minimized waste and fraud and more.
" BrightFarms is committed to
The interior of a Bright Farms' greenhouse. Images: BrightFarms
BrightFarms operates near major
population centers, getting fresh
produce on trucks and on shelves
within 24-48 hours.
The hydroponic growing process of
leafy uses an estimated 80% less water,
90% less land and 95% less shipping
fuel than West Coast farms.
The produce for the most recently
developed facility will be delivered to
Pennsylvania supermarkets within 24
hours of harvest, roughly five to seven
days faster than conventional leafy
greens grown on the West Coast.
The hydroponic approach " gives the
plants exactly what they need to thrive -
not more than they need, " Norbury said.
" We've
developed over
time a good
algorithm that
takes certain types
of nutrients and
plant varieties
to produce high
yields, " he said.
The goal is to
Having a stable labor force is a
priority for the company, which
concentrates on providing good
treatment to workers, including a
competitive benefit package.
" All employees are paid health
benefits, " Norbury said. " The CEO
has the same benefit practices as the
greenhouse laborers. We encourage
promotion and advancement and we
work to bring in the right people, with
most coming from the local areas. We
have a pretty diverse workforce and
offer a robust training program. "
Food safety prioritized
Hydroponic greenhouse growers
seek to avoid getting caught up in the
negative impact of foodborne illness
outbreaks that have plagued some parts
of the industry.
" Our food is safe, " Norbury said. " We
have a really robust food safety program.
Nobody should get sick eating salads. We
want the industry to be safer. "
When leading controlled
" use technology
to create the perfect environment, "
Norbury said.
Features like supplemental grow
JOSH NORBURY
lights and an automated conveyance
system for packing and ideal
postharvest climate and environments
are constantly monitored.
Water recycling is one of the tenets
of the system, along with a farmcontrolled
environment that doesn't use
pesticides or foliar applications.
" Each farm uses beneficial insect
programs, with a plan that changes
seasonably based on pest pressure, "
he said.
environment agriculture (CEA) growers
joined together in 2018 to establish
the first food safety group geared
specifically toward CEA produce
brands, BrightFarms was one of the first
companies to sign on.
The goal of this group is to establish
food safety standards to protect
consumer health.
CEA growers including BrightFarms,
Aero Farms and Little Leaf Farms
joined the coalition as founding
members, with numerous others
expected to join.
" The growing methods in our
industry are different as compared
to centralized and long-distance
providing our retail partners and
consumers with the safest, cleanest and
most responsibly grown produce, " said
Jackie Hawkins, senior manager of food
safety at BrightFarms. " Local, controlled
environment supply chains already
maintain a higher degree of structural
safety benefits when compared to field
grown produce form the West Coast,
and Food Trust will be a valuable tool for
highlighting those benefits. We're giving
our retail partners the trust and assurance
that's needed in today's market. "
" By joining IBM Food Trust, we
are establishing an enhanced level of
transparency to guarantee greater trust for
retail partners. With Food Trust, partners
such as Walmart can easily and reliably
trace our leafy greens to their source in a
matter of seconds,' Lightfoot said.
BrightFarms is deploying the
technology to its retail partners that
also opt into the network.
Organic outlook
Norbury said the company is " looking
into becoming organic certified. We're
open to the possibility. In general, two
biggest areas of growth are local and
organic. We're looking at the feasibility
of becoming organically certified within
the next 18 months. "
" We're working with some suppliers
to get the right inputs, " Norbury said
of the complicated process. " We're
running a feasibility study now, and
will test it if it works out that's what
consumers want. People are going to
want to continue to eat healthier. I
believe that, yes, (the organic) sector
will continue to grow and be there. "
BrightFarms is constantly innovating
to stay ahead of the curve, Norbury
said. " We're proud of what we're
doing. " VGN
http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020
