Urban Farming Startup Square Roots Abruptly Shutters Shepherdsville, Ky. Facility
The New York company was co-founded by Kimbal Musk, brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Jul 20, 2023
Square Roots uses shipping containers to grow herbs like parsley and cilantro.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Square Roots, a New York-based urban farming startup, abruptly shut down three of its indoor farms, including its newest in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, on Tuesday, according to an employee source.
Co-founded by Kimbal Musk, the brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Square Roots grabbed headlines for its model of refurbishing shipping containers into vertical farms that use artificial light and a controlled environment to grow greens like basil, cilantro, and parsley.
The company’s vision is "to responsibly feed every consumer on the planet with locally-grown food, all year round."
On Tuesday, Square Roots CEO Tobias Peggs told workers on a Zoom call that the company would stop production in Shepherdsville as well as at its other container farms in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Springfield, Ohio, according to the source who participated in the call.
A photo from a source shows produce being thrown out at Square Roots' Shepherdsville, Ky. facility the week of July 17, 2023.
In a statement issued Thursday, Square Roots said it's changing its business model to what it calls, "farming as a service."
"We're now operating our controlled climate farms exclusively for our strategic partners - whether that's to immediately secure the supply of high quality crops, or to explore novel ways of profitably growing high calorie food indoors. As we've made this move, we have had to pause commercial production in some of our facilities while we reconfigure them to be more suitable for servicing customers under the Farming as a Service model, and we look forward to bringing these facilities back on line in the future<" the company said. "Others are already servicing customers under Farming as a Service contracts."
The shipping container farm in Shepherdsville was announced in December and had been in operation for less than three months. The decision puts all 30 workers there — 25 of whom were paid hourly — out of work, according to the source.
"Everybody is just puzzled," the person said.
The closing of the Kenosha facility was earlier reported by the Kenosha News. The Wisconsin and Ohio farms opened in 2022.
Square Roots has one remaining farm, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It also recently closed its original Brooklyn, New York, farm, which it established in 2016, according to its website.
The source said that while Square Roots described the actions as a "pause" and that production may eventually resume at the farms, the company was retaining no employees.
Gordon Food Service, the food distribution giant, is a "partner" with Square Roots and hosts the three Square Root farms at its distribution centers. Gordon Food Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reach reporter Chris Otts at 502-585-0822, cotts@wdrb.com, on Twitter or on Facebook.
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