BrightFarms partners with vendors, supermarkets and cities to build and operate local greenhouses that cut time, distance and costs in the fresh produce supply chain.

“Our model replaces long and complex produce supply chains in a way that uses much less land energy, no pesticides, and brings to consumers the freshest produce available, year-round.”

Paul Lightfoot – CEO, BrightFarms

By signing long-term purchase agreements with cities, lenders, supermarkets, and vendors, BrightFarms finances, builds, and operates local hydroponic greenhouses on top of, or close to, its partners. This enables them to harvest produce all year round and sell it to the consumer within 24 hours of harvest. Using hydroponic farming systems close to customers lowers the environmental impact of food by using 80% less water, 90% less land and 95% less transportation fuel than conventional produce, according to BrightFarms.

At the beginning of 2016, BrightFarms opened a 14,000 m2 greenhouse in Virginia, and is now supplying more than 160 Giant Supermarkets year-round with almost 500 tons of fresh and local produce. BrightFarms opened another greenhouse farm in Illinois later in 2016.

Food loss is estimated to be responsible for 6-10% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. Simply getting food from the farm to the table by conventional methods is responsible for 10% of the USA’s total energy budget. By reducing the distance food must travel, BrightFarms helps shrink both the cost and environmental impact of food production.