The loss of confidence in romaine lettuce after multiple food safety recalls encouraged baby leaf and head lettuce greenhouse grower Revol Greens, Owatonna, Minn., to add a chopped romaine program.
The three new retail products available at select retailers throughout the Midwest are 7.5-ounce packages of Premium Romaine Salad, Leafy Romaine Chop and Vibrant Romaine Blend, according to a news release. There also will be channel-specific packaging available for foodservice, made from the Minnesota greenhouse.
“Frequent industry recalls of field grown lettuce have driven consumer demand for a safer alternative,” cofounder Brendon Krieg said in the release. “We began the extensive research and development process into perfecting our greenhouse grown chopped romaine over three years ago, so that we could provide this reliable romaine product for consumers and retailers.”
As one of the largest sub-categories within the salad and lettuce category, romaine has been negatively impacted by multiple E. coli outbreaks linked to irrigation water tainted by nearby livestock farms.
In 2018 and 2019, E. coli contaminated field-grown romaine, which spread across the country and sickened many across dozens of states, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In 2019, greenhouse romaine was quickly cleared by the FDA for any risk of E. coli, according to the release.
In October 2020, the FDA investigated two more E. coli outbreaks.
At Revol’s indoor farms, the water is ultraviolet-sterilized and its nutrient source is free of any animal byproducts, according to the release. Revol created a patented Grown Clean and Green process.
These latest romaine products are chopped, washed and blended with other fresh ingredients, including carrots and radicchio.
This romaine has no yellow-white core, which can be susceptible to a rusting look.
The three new stock-keeping units join other romaine offerings and other baby leaf blends.
The chopped romaine line will be grown and distributed out of Revol’s Owatonna headquarters and in its new Tehachapi, Calif., location starting in June.
This product addition follows Revol’s $68 million funding round led by Equilibrium Capital. With a strategy of five locations in five years, the company will pursue its first California harvest by summer 2021 and Texas by early 2022.
In early March, Revol Greens introduced its trademarked Plant Fed organic nutrient source alongside its organic lettuce varieties;
