Gotham Greens

Gotham Greens
Private
Industry Agribusiness
Founded 2008
Founder Viraj Puri
Eric Haley
Headquarters Brooklyn, NY
Key people
 Viraj Puri
(CEO)
Eric Haley
(CFO)
Jennifer Nelkin-Frymark
(Chief Agriculture Officer)
Number of employees
 100 (2014)[1]
Website gothamgreens.com

Gotham Greens is an American urban agriculture company founded in Brooklyn, New York, that grows produce year-round in greenhouses, sold locally in New York City and Chicago under its brand name. The company owns and operates four greenhouse facilities in the United States.

History

Gotham Greens was founded by Viraj Puri and Eric Haley in 2008,[2][3] aiming to bring fresh, local and pesticide-free vegetables, grown using ecologically sustainable methods, to urban areas.[4] Puri has a sustainable development and environmental engineering background, and Haley has a banking and finance background and focuses on the business side of the venture.[5] The company is headed by Puri, Haley and Jennifer Nelkin-Frymark, who joined in 2009 to lead greenhouse operations.[6]

After three years of planning, in May 2011 Gotham Greens opened its first location, a 15,000 square-foot greenhouse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.[7] The company opened its second location in 2013, a 20,000 square-foot greenhouse, atop a Whole Foods Market in Gowanus, Brooklyn;[8] its third in 2015, a 75,000 square foot greenhouse in Chicago, Illinois, the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world;[9] and its fourth location, a 60,000 square-foot greenhouse in Queens, New York, in late 2015.[10] Its produce is packaged and sold in local stores under the Gotham Greens brand name, and also sold to local restaurants.[11]

Locations

Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY

The 15,000 square-foot rooftop facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, opened in 2011,[11][12][13] becoming the first commercial urban hydroponic farm in the United States.[14] It was built on the roof of a former bowling alley.[15] The company harvested its first vegetables in May 2011, which it began selling the following month.[5] Within a year, it was on track to deliver 100 tons of produce,[15] expanding in its second year from salad greens and basil to include tomatoes.[13]

Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY

In 2013, Gotham Greens teamed up with the grocery chain Whole Foods Market to build a 20,000 square-foot greenhouse on the roof of the new Whole Foods location in Gowanus, Brooklyn.[8][16] Opened on December 18, 2013,[17] it is the first and only supermarket in the world with a commercial rooftop farm integrated into it.[1][16][18] The hydroponic farm, owned and operated by Gotham Greens, produces leafy greens, tomatoes and herbs, sold in the Whole Foods downstairs,[8] delivered by elevator within hours of being picked.[1] The produce is also distributed to other New York City Whole Foods locations, in addition to other stores and restaurants.[16][19] The half-acre space produces 10 acres worth of food, or 200 tons of produce per year.[19][20][21]

Chicago, IL

On October 7, 2014, Gotham Greens announced plans to expand to Chicago, Illinois, with a 75,000 square-foot hydroponic rooftop greenhouse, to be opened in the city's Pullman neighborhood,[22][23] on the roof of personal care products company Method's building. The greenhouse opening was announced on November 19, 2015.[24][25] Powered by 100% renewable energy,[24] it produces an estimated 10 million heads of leafy greens, herbs and other vegetables per year, to be sold to local restaurants, stores and farmers' markets in Chicago.[22][26][27] It is the world's largest rooftop farm[9][28] and one of the largest commercial-scale urban farms in the world.[27] The two-acre greenhouse produces the same crop yield as a 50-acre farm.[28]

Hollis, Queens, NY

In 2009, Gotham Greens announced plans to start building a 12,000 square-foot hydroponic rooftop farm in Queens.[29][30] The company started construction in 2014 on a 60,000 square-foot rooftop greenhouse,[26] occupying a facility that once housed the Ideal Toy Company factory.[10][31] It was opened in Hollis, Queens, in late 2015, and formally announced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2016. The project will grow over 5 million heads of leafy greens annually.[10][32]

Farming process

Gotham Greens produce is grown in greenhouse facilities using hydroponic techniques, renewable energy, and water conservation techniques.[29][30] The greenhouse facilities use automated climate control systems run from computer rooms adjacent to the greenhouse, which maintains an ideal climate for the greenhouse through the use of sun shades, vents, lights, heaters and fans.[5][15] The enclosed greenhouse protects against inclement weather, allowing the company to grow food year-round, and helps control pest infestation.[7][16] The company uses organic, non-GMO seeds and beneficial insects, such as ladybugs or bumblebees, so that when a crop-eating bug is found, its natural enemy is unleashed.[2][3][20]

Gotham Greens states that its water-efficient hydroponic farming process uses 10 times less water and 20 times less land than traditional soil-based agriculture, and offers higher and more consistent crop yields.[12][33] Without soil, there is no fertilizer or pesticide runoff, helping to leave a minimal environmental impact.[12] Some have said hydroponic farming costs more than conventional farming.[34]

Products

The company's first harvest was in June 2011,[35] resulting in five types of packaged salad greens and herbs, with butterhead lettuce, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce and basil.[36] Later harvests included tomatoes, baby kale, arugula, bok choy and Swiss chard.[21][33] The produce is pesticide-free but is not certified organic.[1] The company focuses on growing highly perishable crops that are typically shipped from the farthest distances to urban areas.[21][37]

Honors and awards

Gotham Greens won the grand prize in New York's 2009 Green Business Competition.[29][38] Business Insider named the company one of the 50 Coolest New Business in America in 2014.[39] That year, Gotham Greens received a "Best" rating from Whole Foods Market's Responsibly Grown Rating System, which takes into accounts a variety of farming practices.[40] In April 2014, Maria Vargas, senior program advisor of the US Department of Energy, praised the company's environmentally conscious energy-saving strategies.[18]

Milestones

Year Event
2008 Gotham Greens founded by Viraj Puri and Eric Haley.
2009 Jennifer Nelkin Frymark joins as greenhouse director.
2011 First greenhouse opens on rooftop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
2013 Second greenhouse opens on rooftop of Whole Foods Market in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
2014 Announces plans for third and fourth rooftop greenhouses, in Jamaica, Queens, and Chicago, Illinois.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lisa Fickenscher, “Veggies take the elevator from farm to market,” Crain's New York Business, March 31, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Will Halsey, “Urban Farm Gotham Greens Gives Us Brooklyn Lettuce,” Bloomberg Businessweek, January 10, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Anthony Ha, “Built In Brooklyn: Gotham Greens Turns Rooftops Into Urban Farms,” TechCrunch, November 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ Tim Donnelly, “5 Predictions for the Future of Your Business,” Inc., December 6, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Julie Zeveloff, “Tour The Hi-Tech Farm That’s Growing 100 Tons Of Greens On The Roof Of A Brooklyn Warehouse,” Business Insider, July 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ “City’s first hydroponic rooftop farm,” Queens Courier, June 23, 2009.
  7. 1 2 “Can Farming Make It in the Big City?” Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Adrianne Pasquarelli, “Gotham farmers sprout cash crops,” Crain's New York Business, July 28, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Adele Peters, "This Is The World's Largest Rooftop Greenhouse," Fast Company, January 4, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Laura Drotleff, "Gotham Greens CEO Outlines Queens, Chicago Expansion Projects," Greenhouse Grower, April 18, 2016.
  11. 1 2 “Vertical farming: Does it really stack up?” The Economist, December 9, 2010.
  12. 1 2 3 Emily Geminder, “Greenpoint Next Frontier in Commercial-Scale Rooftop Farms,” New York Observer, October 2, 2009.
  13. 1 2 Morgan Clendaniel, “Gotham Greens: Brooklyn’s New High-Tech Rooftop Farm,” Fast Company, June 28, 2011.
  14. ↑ Whitney Pastorek, “Gotham Greens Brings Local Lettuce To New Yorkers Year Round,” Fast Company, June 11, 2012.
  15. 1 2 3 Dave Mosher, “High-Tech Hydroponic Farm Transforms Abandoned Bowling Alley,” Wired, October 27, 2011.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Ariel Schwartz, “This Super Local Brooklyn Whole Foods Will Have A 20,000-Square-Foot Rooftop Greenhouse,” Fast Company, April 3, 2013.
  17. ↑ “Gotham Greens opens new rooftop greenhouse in Brooklyn,” Fresh Plaza, December 19, 2013.
  18. 1 2 Lore Croghan, “Up on the Roof: Obama administration gives props to Whole Foods’ Gowanus greenhouse,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 30, 2014.
  19. 1 2 Virginia K. Smith, “You Can Now Buy Produce Grown on the Roof of the Gowanus Whole Foods,” Brooklyn Magazine, April 23, 2014.
  20. 1 2 Brianna Elliott, “Gotham Greens Is Pushing The Scale Of Urban Agriculture With Their Tasty, Pesticide-Free Veggies,” Huffington Post, April 24, 2014.
  21. 1 2 3 Jordan Galloway, “No ceiling for local farming,” New York Daily News, May 2, 2014.
  22. 1 2 Sandra Guy, “South Side Soapbox celebrates first factory opening in Pullman in 3 decades,” Chicago Sun-Times, April 28, 2015.
  23. ↑ Blair Kamin, “Innovative Method soap factory shows historic Pullman has a future,” Chicago Tribune, April 24, 2015.
  24. 1 2 Christine Escobar, "World's Largest Rooftop Farm Opens on the South Side of Chicago," Huffington Post, December 7, 2015.
  25. ↑ Cole Mellino, "World's Largest Organic Rooftop Farm Powered 100% by Renewables Opens in Chicago," EcoWatch, November 24, 2015.
  26. 1 2 Adrianne Pasquarelli, “Brooklyn’s Gotham Greens to sprout big Chicago farm,” Crain's New York Business, October 7, 2014.
  27. 1 2 Patrick Sisson, “Manufacturing’s Green Future Taking Shape at Method Pullman Plant,” Curbed Chicago, February 23, 2015.
  28. 1 2 Ashleigh Schmitz Morley, "Take a Peek Inside the World's Largest Rooftop Greenhouse," The Weather Channel, March 11, 2016.
  29. 1 2 3 Ariel Schwartz, “Gotham Greens Building First Hydroponic Rooftop Farm in NYC,” Fast Company, June 15, 2009.
  30. 1 2 John Lauinger, “Jamaica church is home to New York’s first hydroponic rooftop farm,” New York Daily News, June 14, 2009.
  31. ↑ Ruth Simon, "Farming Gets High Tech in Bid to Offer Locally Grown Produce," Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2016.
  32. ↑ Nicole Jewell, "Gotham Greens opens 60,000-sq-ft rooftop farm atop former toy company in Hollis, Queens," Inhabitat.com, February 26, 2016.
  33. 1 2 Abby Lieberman, “Urban jungle: Gotham Greens brings sustainable farming to new heights in Brooklyn,” New York Daily News, August 21, 2011.
  34. ↑ “The Local, Fresh Farming on New York City Roofs,” Bloomberg TV, July 31, 2014.
  35. ↑ Sara Eckel, “Rooftop farms sprouting in Brooklyn,” Crain's New York Business, August 28, 2011.
  36. ↑ Jesse Sposato, “Gotham Greens’ Guide to Greens,” Greenpoint Gazette, August 11, 2011.
  37. ↑ Hadley Malcolm, “Rooftop greenhouses make produce hyperlocal,” USA Today, June 19, 2014.
  38. ↑ Christiana Wyly, “New York’s Green Business Competition,” Huffington Post, September 8, 2009.
  39. ↑ Melissa Stanger and Emmie Martin, “The 50 Coolest New Businesses In America,” Business Insider, December 29, 2014.
  40. ↑ “Gotham Greens Rates a Whole Foods ‘Best’,” The Gourmet Retailer, December 4, 2014.

External links

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