RICHMOND — Leafy greens in packages with the tagline “Grown with love in Goochland County VA” will soon hit store shelves across the Mid-Atlantic now that a Richmond-area company has completed a deal with a mainstream grocery brand.
Greenswell Growers, in partnership with Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, will start selling a three-product line of leafy greens at Kroger locations in the Mid-Atlantic in April.
The operation, which covers 1.5 acres, produces leafy greens in a climate-controlled and highly automated environment using recycled rainwater and natural or indoor lights.
Carl Gupton, president of Greenswell Growers, is shown at the greenhouse of the company in Goochland, Va., on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Greenswell Growers, an automated indoor farming, can produce 28 times more greens per acre than traditional farming. They just sealed a deal with Ukrops and will start selling on Kroger shelves all across the mid-Atlantic.
Daniel Sangjib Min/TIMES-DISPATCH
Greenswell Growers opened its $17 million automated commercial greenhouse in 2021 in Goochland County in the West Creek office park.
Daniel Sangjib Min photos, TIMES-DISPATCH
Greenswell Growers, in partnership with Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, will start selling a three-product line of leafy greens at Kroger locations in the Mid-Atlantic in April.
Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
Silas Hensley, a lab technician, works on testing water nutrients.
Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
An employee works on the automated packing machine at the company.
Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
“The greenhouse is completely full with product, and we’re hitting retailers of scale,” said Carl Gupton, president of Greenswell Growers.
Greenswell Growers, in partnership with Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, will start selling a three-product line of leafy greens at Kroger locations in the Mid-Atlantic in April.
The operation, which covers 1.5 acres, produces leafy greens in a climate-controlled and highly automated environment using recycled rainwater and natural or indoor lights.
