Roundy's partners with BrightFarms for greenhouse to supply local produce

BrightFarms, New York, said it partnered with Milwaukee-based Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. to supply local produce exclusively to Roundy's stores, breaking ground on the 160,000-square-foot BrightFarms Chicagoland Greenhouse in Rochelle, Ill. Slated for completion in early 2016, the greenhouse will provide more than a million pounds of produce annually for Roundy’s stores. It is being built in partnership with Clean Feet Investors.

Said to be a model for the future of local low-impact farming, the BrightFarms Chicagoland Greenhouse will be the most productive farm in the Chicagoland market, the most sustainable source of year-round baby greens and tomatoes in all of Illinois, and among the most productive salad greens farms, per square foot, in the world. It will create permanent "green collar jobs," significantly reduce food miles and improve the environmental impact of the food supply chain.

"Consumer demand for local is growing exponentially — and for good reason: Long-distance produce hurts the environment and compromises freshness, quality and taste," said Paul Lightfoot, BrightFarms CEO. "This greenhouse farm will allow Roundy’s to provide its customers with year-round produce that is not only garden-fresh, but [also] conserves land and water, eliminates agricultural runoff and reduces greenhouse gas emissions."

The greenhouse will grow salad greens, herbs and tomatoes, BrightFarms said, using 80 percent less water, 90 percent less land and 95 percent less shipping fuel than conventional produce companies. All produce will be pesticide-free.

"We're thrilled that our stores will be able to deliver consumers the freshest, most local greens, herbs and tomatoes possible," said Bob Mariano, CEO and chairman of Roundy's. "BrightFarms is a model for the future of food, and we look forward to exemplifying, together with them, what that future should look like."