CINCINNATI, Sept. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 80 Acres Farms, a
fast-growing Cincinnati-based firm
in the indoor vertical farming industry, announced it is building
in Hamilton the first
fully-automated indoor farm in the U.S.
80 Acres Farms executives will join Hamilton city officials in a ceremonial
groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, September
24, 2018 at noon to mark the first phase of the
project. The ceremony will take place at 7512 Hamilton
Enterprise Drive in the southeast part of the city. The
initial phase is expected to be completed later this year. It will
feature state-of-the-art grow centers to produce specialty greens
that include microgreens, culinary herbs, leafy greens and
kale.
The company plans three additional phases at the Hamilton site. When completed the project will
comprise over 150,000 square feet of fully-automated indoor
farming, also known as controlled environmental agriculture
(CEA). The full-phase expansion will allow 80 Acres Farms to
provide more product to serve its existing customers and new ones
with just-picked, year-round
produce.
Produce grown at the Hamilton
site will supply Whole Foods Markets, Dorothy Lane Markets, Jungle
Jims, U.S. Foods, and other retailers and foodservice
distributors. 80 Acres Farms currently serves
Cincinnati-area customers from its
facility in the Cincinnati
community where it grows microgreens, culinary herbs, leafy
lettuce, kale, vine crops like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and
peppers.
"We already have demonstrated that we can provide to our
customers the freshest, best-tasting and nutritious locally-grown
produce, while using renewable energy, very little water, and no
pesticides," said Mike Zelkind,
co-founder and chief executive officer of 80 Acres
Farms. "With the Hamilton facility we will achieve the
next-generation of indoor vertical farming using best of breed
technology. This project will deliver our proof of concept
that indoor farming can be fully-automated, commercially scalable,
higher-yielding, and profitable. It will serve as a prototype for
our ambitious plans to co-locate similar facilities with commercial
customers in other parts of the country.''
Zelkind said the Hamilton site
will be automated from seeding to growing to harvesting for highest
quality and food safety standards. 80 Acres Farms
personnel will manage the Hamilton
facility, which will feature robotics, artificial intelligence,
data analytics, and around-the-clock monitoring sensors and control
systems to optimize every aspect of growing produce
indoors.
Hamilton officials worked
closely with the company for the past year on the site selection.
"The City of Hamilton is very
excited about the expansion of 80 Acres in our community," said
Joshua Smith, City Manager.
"This is a first-in-class company, whose innovations will improve
access of fresh foods to areas that need them the most."
Pat Moeller, Hamilton's mayor, also commented on the
announcement: "Hamilton thanks 80
Acres Farms for its investment in our City. 80 Acres'
high-tech indoor farm efficiently grows fresh produce that will
continue to be sold locally. I have had the opportunity to purchase
80 Acres produce and really enjoyed the fresh, flavorful
taste."
Zelkind said that 80 Acres Farms will be working with multiple
international and local partners such as Warm Construction and Open
Architecture. Site Solutions Consulting will be doing
excavation site preparation work.
"We also will be working with current technology partners,
Signify, formerly Philips Lighting and Priva," said Tisha Livingston, president of 80 Acres Farms.
"Signify supplies the company with its LED horticultural
lighting systems. Priva provides environmental control
systems and process management software for indoor farming."
80 Acres Farms is headquartered in the Spring Grove community of
Cincinnati, where the company was
founded in 2015 by Zelkind and Livingston, both veteran food
industry executives. It now employs more than 60 people in
Cincinnati and other company
R&D, engineering and production facilities in three other
states. In its mission to locally grow the best tasting, most
nutritious fruits and vegetables, the company partners in research
with many agrotechnology and academic research
institutions.
Contact:
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Rebecca Haders - 80
Acres Farms
|
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rebecca.haders@eafarms.com
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513-910-9089
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Joshua Smith - City
of Hamilton, Ohio
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joshua.smith@hamilton-oh.gov
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513-785-7002
|
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SOURCE 80 Acres Farms