AeroFarms emerges from Chapter 11, plans for future profitable growth
Indoor vertical farming company AeroFarms has “officially emerged” from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder Marc Oshima told The Packer.
AeroFarms has announced the successful completion of its restructuring process and exit of its business from Chapter 11 (Case No. 23-10737). AeroFarms’ emergence from Chapter 11 includes the approval from the bankruptcy court for its Asset Purchase Agreement with a group of existing investors, led by Grosvenor Food & AgTech, including an expanded relationship with Doha Venture Capital.
This restructuring substantially strengthens AeroFarms’ balance sheet, injecting the necessary funds to reach profitability at its flagship operation in Danville, Va., Oshima said.
With upcoming retail launches this fall and a strong existing presence in traditional grocery, natural food stores, mass markets and e-commerce, “AeroFarms is positioned with the market leader in every single retail channel,” Oshima said.
Since last year, the vertical farmer was the first indoor grower to be nationwide with Whole Foods Market and had recently expanded further with Walmart and Stop & Shop stores across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, Amazon Fresh nationwide, and regionally with H-E-B stores and more. The company says AeroFarms microgreens currently can be found in over 2,000 retail locations in the U.S.
“This incredible marquee lineup of selling partners puts us in a really good position for today and for future farm development,” Oshima said. “It’s exciting in terms of what that unlocks.
“As we think about the near future, it's about demonstrating the profitability of the farm operations and setting the stage for continued expansion here in the U.S., and as we evaluate opportunities in the international arena,” he added.
To lead AeroFarms through its next stage of growth, the company has appointed Molly Montgomery — a veteran of the food and agricultural industry and a venture partner with Grosvenor Food & AgTech — acting CEO and executive chairperson of the AeroFarms board of directors, according to a news release.
Montgomery currently serves as a board director for companies across the agricultural supply chain, including Wilbur-Ellis, The Wine Group, Custom Made Meals, and Benson Hill. She brings operational experience from successfully scaling profitable businesses within the fresh food sector, the release said.
Most recently, she served as a CEO of CMM, a private-equity-owned company in the fresh protein sector. Prior to CMM, she served as CEO of Landec Corp., a public company with Curation Foods, Landec’s largest business unit, a provider of fresh, packaged vegetables and salad kits.
“As we face the mounting challenges of climate change and food insecurity, we need to rethink our global food supply chain,” Montgomery said in the release. “AeroFarms is a testament to the innovative thinking required to deliver highly nutritious food in a more sustainable and cost-efficient manner.
“The Danville Farm is an impressive operation, leveraging proprietary technology to deliver a fresh product that is less vulnerable to climate-related threats,” she continued. “I am looking forward to working with Guy Blanchard, the newly named AeroFarms president, and the rest of the AeroFarms team to complete the ramp-up of the Danville facility and to deliver a profitable operation that will enable future growth.”
To accelerate its path to profitability, AeroFarms has eliminated spending on all projects that do not contribute to the ramp-up of the Danville farm, the release said. The company says its recent completion of several automation projects has further increased the throughput and efficiency of the farm. AeroFarms has targeted completing the ramp-up of its Danville operation by the end of 2023 and reaching profitability at the farm soon thereafter, the release said.
Court filings and other documents related to the reorganization proceedings are available on a separate website administered by the company's claims agent, Omni, at omniagentsolutions.com/aerofarms or deb.uscourts.gov, the official Bankruptcy Court website. The company will continue to provide regular updates as specific elements of its strategic plan and Chapter 11 filing meet targeted milestones, the release said.
Related: AeroFarms’ Marc Oshima ‘optimistic’ in face of Chapter 11 filing
