Kalera seeks to bring great lettuce closer to consumers

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Getting great lettuce closer to consumers is the main goal of Kalera, said Marc Jennings, senior vice president of foodservice sales for the Orlando, Fla.-based vertical farm operator.

“We are taking the world's cleanest lettuce closer to the marketplace for you and me, our kids or family. Whether it's at home, health care facilities or schools, we need to get the cleaner and better-grown, higher-nutritious products closer to the marketplace,” Jennings said at the 2022 Viva Fresh Expo.

In the U.S., Kalera operates farms in Orlando, Atlanta, Houston and Denver, according to the company's website, with production facilities under construction in Seattle, Columbus, Ohio, Hawaii and St. Paul, Minn.

Via Kalera’s merger with German indoor vertical farming company &ever GmbH in 2021, Kalera also operates farms in Germany and Kuwait, and has a mega-farm opening in Singapore in 2022, according to the company’s website.

Jennings said Kalera works with all major retailers and foodservice distributors, as it places farms local to major cities, with some distribution out to the suburbs.

“We've got ambitious plans,” he said. “We're going to have many more farms, as this is what's going to change the industry and give healthier products for each of us.”