Gordon Food Service Partners With Indoor Farming Company
Indoor farms will be built on or near Gordon Food distribution centers and retail stores
Food produced in farms will be sold through the food supplier's distribution channels
Trainees will study plant science, entrepreneurship frameworks and more
Square Roots indoor farms will be built on or near Gordon Food Service distribution centers and retail stores across North America.
Photo by Square Roots
Wyoming, Mich.-based Gordon Food Service is teaming with indoor farming company Square Roots to build indoor farms across North America, igniting opportunities to train the next generation of urban farmers.
Through the partnership, Square Roots farms will be built on or near Gordon Food distribution centers and retail stores, enabling year-round growing of herbs, greens and more. The food that is produced will be sold through the food supplier's distribution channels, according to a Wednesday news release.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Square Roots will carry out a yearlong program in which trainees study plant science and entrepreneurship frameworks, and learn how to use tech-enabled systems, according to the company's website.
The move also marks Square Roots' first "significant expansion" to new locations, the release says.
"Customers want an assortment of fresh, locally grown food all year round. We are on a path to do that at scale with Square Roots and are excited to be the first in the industry to offer this unique solution to our customers," Rich Wolowski, CEO of Gordon Food Service, said in the release.
Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business
Through the partnership, Square Roots farms will be built on or near Gordon Food Service distribution centers and retail stores. The food supplier opened a store on East Jefferson Avenue, east of downtown Detroit, last year.
Gordon Food Service has more than 20 locations in metro Detroit and 175 locations total in the U.S., according to its website.
It had $13.7 billion in revenue in 2018, according to Forbes, and 19,000 employees. The company ranked 22nd in Forbes' 2018 list of America's largest private companies and second on Crain's 2019 list of the largest privately held companies in greater Michigan by 2017 revenue.