US Foods to source restaurant greens from hydroponic vertical grower Kalera

Rosemont, Ill.-based US Foods Holding Corp. will source greens for its foodservice operators from Orlando, Fla.-based Kalera, a hydroponic indoor vertical farming company — the largest vertical farming partnership for US Foods to date.

The agreement will expand the portfolio of local farms that US Foods is sourcing from in various markets for its Serve Local program, according to a news release.

“Our agreement with Kalera will fundamentally change the manner in which vertical farmed products are made available to restaurants and other foodservice operators across our footprint,” Josh Waters, US Foods senior vice president of produce category management, said in the release.

As part of the agreement, Kalera and its wholly owned seed technology business Vindara, will collaborate with US Foods to develop and launch new products to US Foods customers nationwide.

Kalera will sell fresh produce — such as whole head lettuce, salad mix blends, microgreens, burger leaf toppers and arugula — year-round to US Foods through its network of controlled environment, indoor farms.

“This relationship will help set a [precedent] for the foodservice industry by providing customers with accessible fresh produce all year-round, thanks to US Foods,” Kalera Chairman-elect and former CEO Curtis McWilliams said in the release.

For Kalera, the partnership represents an opportunity to allocate up to 50% of its U.S. production capacity to the restaurant and food service industry. Kalera operates farms in Atlanta, Denver, Houston and Orlando, as well as in Munich and Kuwait. The company also has five farms under construction in Seattle; Columbus, Ohio,; Honolulu; St. Paul, Minn.; and Singapore.

As a foodservice distributor, US Foods has about 250,000 restaurant and foodservice operators as customers. The publicly traded company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange as

USFD, has 69 broadline locations and more than 80 cash-and-carry stores.

In 2018, US Foods launched the Serve Local program in select markets to better connect its customers with regional farmers, producers and/or manufacturers. Products offered through Serve Local are sourced within 400 miles from the location where US Foods ships the product or within the state from where US Foods ships the product.