80 Acres Farms is ready to roll at its newest, largest — and most technologically advanced — farm to date. The facility, anchored in Boone County, Kentucky, equals a $95 million investment with the promise of 125 new jobs.
The Hamilton, Ohio-based company, a vertical farming startup, rolled out the red carpet to visitors this week, thus marking the supersized farm’s formal debut. The 200,000-square-foot facility, first announced in January 2022, converts a former printing facility near Florence Mall.
80 Acres said it will be able to grow up to 40 million servings of produce on site per year, using its proprietary hardware and software.
The farm measures about three times the size of the company's previous largest farm in its home base of Hamilton — and is at least four times as productive.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was among the visitors Tuesday, Sept. 12, marking his second visit this year, following a walk-through in February. The company hosted a number of dignitaries, both local and abroad, during a ribbon-cutting event Sept. 13.
80 Acres has been shipping only basil from the farm since December. The majority of the remaining crops are coming online now to meet demand.
"There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world," Beshear said. “When you’re a governor, you get to be part of announcements, and that’s great. That’s hope. You get to be part of groundbreakings, and that’s wonderful. That’s progress. But when you truly do the ribbon-cutting, and the opening, that’s the realization. Those are the jobs. That’s the stability for your family and the sense of pride in what we’re doing here.”
The farm's addition means 80 Acres Farms will be able to reach more restaurants and retailers, including the approximately 700 new Kroger stores it announced last month, marking a significant ramp up. 80 Acres has been serving about 300 Kroger stories over the last two years across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
The farm will also support the company's new grab-and-go salad kits.
The ready-to-eat salads, billed as a convenience for customers, rolled out this month at more than 200 locations in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, including Jungle Jim's International Market, Pipkin's Market and Kroger in Cincinnati.
There’s three offerings:
- Feelin' Gouda, with red and green leaf lettuces, gouda cheese, apple chips, dried cherries, sea salt pecans and a poppy seed vinaigrette
- Greekin' Out, with red and green leaf lettuces, feta cheese, marinated artichokes, pickled beets, garlic croutons and a Mediterranean-inspired dressing
- Rockin' Ranchero, with crispy leaf lettuce, white cheddar cheese, black beans, crunchy corn, pickled onions and a smoky chipotle dressing
"To support our expansion into new markets and new products, we need more capacity," said 80 Acres Farms CEO and co-founder Mike Zelkind. "That said, this is a lot more than just capacity. This is our most efficient farm yet, allowing us to keep improving our unit economics and keep growing this company sustainably."
The Boone County farm runs on 80 Acres’ proprietary “Loop” platform, developed by the company's tech-focused subsidiary, Infinite Acres. Loop encompasses crop management software, algorithms, environmental controls, robotics and automation and is supported by partnerships with several international technology companies.
With the completion of the Kentucky farm, 80 Acres said its construction team will turn its attention to Covington, Georgia, about 25 miles east of Atlanta, where the company will open another 200,000-square-foot farm in 2024.
That project, announced in June 2022, was initially a $120 million build out. 80 Acres said the site will create 150 new jobs.
80 Acres, founded in 2015, is Greater Cincinnati's third-best-funded startup, with more than $260 million in capital raised.
Besides Kroger and Jungle Jim's, the company also sells its greens, herbs, fruits, and vegetables to Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Dorothy Lane Markets, Markets and foodservice distributors including Sysco and US Foods.
