Kalera opening vertical farming leafy greens facility outside Denver

Colorado residents will soon be able to shop local for lettuce and microgreens from vertical farming producer Kalera, thanks to the opening of the company’s new Denver-area farm.

The nearly 90,000-square-foot facility, located in large Denver suburb Aurora is the company’s fifth domestic farm, joining a U.S. footprint that includes farms in Atlanta and Houston, as well as two in Orlando. Globally, Kalera operates farms in Munich and Kuwait, with a farm set to open in Singapore later this year.

With the recent announcement, Kalera has officially started operations at the new Denver facility where the first harvest is scheduled for May.

“Increasing our national and global footprint has been a priority for our team as we seek to serve our major retail and food service customers,” said Curtis McWilliams, Kalera’s interim chief executive officer. “Opening this facility is an exciting step toward this goal, and we’re proud to serve urban communities like Denver with clean, nutrition-dense leafy greens that are accessible to local consumers.”

Kalera greens are pesticide-free and non-GMO, offering consumers fresh, clean, great-tasting lettuce. The climate-controlled environments at Kalera facilities allow for sustainable farming methods, such as water recycling and optimization of plant nutrient formulas that maximize production.

Currently, Kalera’s large-scale farms in Atlanta, Houston and Orlando are operating above the company’s 80% throughput yield target. Additionally, the Atlanta and Houston facilities have achieved this performance well ahead of schedule.

The Denver opening follows the news of Kalera’s recent merger with special purpose acquisition company, Agrico Acquisition Corp. The partnership will result in Kalera becoming the first vertical farming company to go public on the NASDAQ market, which the company plans later this year.