80 Acres Farms is expanding its yearslong relationship with Kroger Co. For the Hamilton-based vertical farming startup, the deal will land its produce at nearly three times as many stores by the end of this year.
80 Acres, one of the region’s best-funded startups, and downtown Cincinnati-based Kroger (NYSE: KR), the nation’s largest operator of traditional supermarkets, announced Aug. 15 a new deal that will supply about 1,000 stores across the Midwest and Southeast with 80 Acres leafy greens, cucumbers and famed Fireworks tomatoes.
That’s up from more than 300 Kroger stores 80 Acres has been servicing the last two years across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
The announcement comes several months after 80 Acres commenced operations at its newest farm in Boone County in December 2022. That $74 million, 200,000-square-foot facility, located a few miles from Florence Mall, will supply approximately 40 million servings of produce annually.
The company is also preparing to open another farm in Georgia, about 25 miles east of Atlanta, with more locations on the way. Construction at that site, its largest to date, is ongoing.
80 Acres CEO Mike Zelkind said retailers are attracted to indoor farming because the produce is fresher and more environmentally sustainable.
80 Acres uses a pesticide-free, indoor environment, and its farms run using a combination of LED lighting, artificial intelligence, robotics and more.
“Kroger is putting its weight behind us at an important time for the industry, which has been going through some difficulties,” Zelkind told me (80 Acres in January went through a round of layoffs; other high-tech indoor farming companies have declared bankruptcy).
“Kroger doesn’t do these things lightly, and they’re doing a nice job getting ahead of the trends. Demand isn’t going anywhere. Consumers want this stuff.”
Much of the 80 Acres Kroger rollout is already in motion. 80 Acres is now in 10 states and will ramp up to 15 states by fall.
The deal includes a number of new geographies, including Michigan, Tennessee and Georgia, while reaching into the Mid-Atlantic and Delta regions in the coming months, Zelkind said.
80 Acres has been a supplier to Kroger dating back to 2019, when the two companies partnered to supply Kroger’s downtown “On the Rhine” store with basil, baby cucumbers, tomatoes and salads.
80 Acres celebrated its most recent expansion with Kroger in 2021.
"At Kroger, we believe everyone deserves access to fresh, delicious food," Dan De La Rosa, Kroger's group vice president of fresh merchandising, said in a news release. "80 Acres' unique approach and technology enables us to offer fresh, nutritious produce to our customers while advancing sustainable growing practices."
Kroger is Cincinnati's largest public company, with $148 billion in revenue in 2022, according to Business Courier research. It operates 2,700 stores and 430,000 employees.
80 Acres, founded in 2015, is Greater Cincinnati's third best-funded startup, with more than $260 million in capital raised.
Besides Kroger, the company also sells its greens, herbs, fruits, and vegetables to Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Dorothy Lane Markets, Jungle Jim's Markets and foodservice distributors including Sysco and US Foods.
Zelkind said the company's recent release, strawberries, which were introduced to specific Greater Cincinnati grocers last year, have been rolled back, and the company continues its research and development efforts.
