The Kroger Co. has announced an extended distribution relationship with indoor farmer Gotham Greens to enhance its provision of vertically farmed fruit.
Kroger plans to expand Gotham Greens produce to over 1,000 shops by the end of this year, up from over 300 already, the Cincinnati-based grocery behemoth said Wednesday. Furthermore, Gotham Greens plant-based dips, cooking sauces, and dressings will be available at roughly 2,000 Kroger stores across the country.
“We’re excited to expand our partnership with Gotham Greens as we work together to offer fresh, local, high-quality, and longer-lasting food to our consumers in an ecologically friendly way,” said Dan De La Rosa, Kroger’s group vice president of fresh merchandising. “Gotham Greens’ state-of-the-art, climate-controlled greenhouses cut the amount of days the goods spend between harvest and our shop shelves, while reducing unforeseen weather difficulties and boosting product quality and shelf life. These variables, in turn, minimize food waste in both stores and customers’ homes.”
Since 2020, when the brand first released its goods at the grocer’s King Soopers division, Gotham Greens has been a Kroger supplier. As the grower adds more greenhouses around the country, Kroger expects Gotham Greens’ leafy greens and herb line to continue to spread out across King Soopers, Ralphs, Dillons, Frys, QFC, Fred Meyer, and selected Kroger banner stores. According to the firms, the Gotham Greens fresh food portfolio includes dressings, cooking sauces, and plant-based dips that are “packed with plants,” minimally processed, and employ high-quality ingredients, including sustainably cultivated herbs.
Kroger has been involved with vertically farmed vegetables, collaborating with farmers such as 80 Acres Farms and Infarm. The cooperation with Infarm, a Berlin-based urban farming network, was announced in late 2019 and introduced modular living vegetable farms to Kroger’s QFC shops in Washington state. After a 32-store trial in November 2019, Kroger expanded vertically farmed greens and vegetables from 80 Acres to hundreds more shops in 2021.
