Gordon Food Service, one of North America’s leading food service providers with distribution operations spanning North America, as well as 175 retail locations in the U.S., and Square Roots, the technology leader in urban indoor farming, announced that together they will bring the latest advancements in locally-grown, fresh produce to customers, all year-round. The strategic partnership will ultimately see new campuses of Square Roots’ indoor farms built on or near Gordon Food Service distribution centers and retail stores across the continent, enabling year-round growing of premium quality herbs, greens, and more, and made available to Gordon Food Service customers.
This partnership reflects a shared vision and commitment by both organizations to invest in a modern, unique offering to meet growing customer demand for local food across North America. It also signifies the first, significant expansion to new locations for Square Roots and its unparalleled farmer training program, enabled by the company’s scalable “farmer first” technology platform. The Square Roots and Gordon Food Service exclusive partnership comes at a time when customer tastes and palates are seeing an increasing demand for fresh, high-quality, local food.
“Customers want an assortment of fresh, locally grown food all year round. We are on a path to do that at scale with Square Roots and are excited to be the first in the industry to offer this unique solution to our customers,” said Rich Wolowski, CEO of Gordon Food Service.
Square Roots’ mission is to bring local, real food to people in cities by empowering the next generation of leaders in urban agriculture. The company combines a high-tech farming platform with a unique “Next-Gen Farmer Training Program” to train passionate people to become future leaders in the food industry.
Meanwhile, Square Roots’ Transparency Timeline enables customers to trace exactly how and where their food was grown and who grew it, simply by scanning a QR code on its packaging. Now, having partnered with Gordon Food Service, this unique ability to bring technology-enabled local food will soon become a reality for food-conscious consumers across North America. And the Next-Gen Farmer Training Program will soon open up doors for even more driven young people, arming them with the skills to take part in building a better food system for our future.
Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Square Roots, continued, “This partnership means we will grow delicious, local, real food at huge scale. We’re so happy to be working with a mission-aligned partner in Gordon Food Service – leveraging technology to bring real food to a huge number of people across the country, while delivering real social impact by empowering thousands of young people to become our country’s future farmers.”
More information about Square Roots can be found on the company website.
About Gordon Food Service
Since 1897, we have delivered uncompromising quality and heartfelt service for our customers. We began as a simple butter-and-egg delivery service, and have grown to become the largest family business in the foodservice industry by upholding the same approach for over 120 years—remaining passionately committed to the people we serve. Today we serve foodservice operators in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the United States and coast-to-coast in Canada. We also operate more than 175 Gordon Food Service Store locations in the U.S., which are open to the public and provide restaurant-quality products and friendly, knowledgeable service without a membership fee. By partnering with organizations from across industries—healthcare to education, independent and chain restaurants, and event planners—we help our customers create food experiences that people choose, enjoy and remember.
About Square Roots
Square Roots is the technology leader in urban indoor farming. Its scalable “farmer first” technology platform brings fresh, healthy food to urban areas year-round, while simultaneously training future generations of farmers.
Founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneurs, Tobias Peggs and Kimbal Musk, Square Roots has a mission to bring local, real food to people in cities across the world while empowering the next generation of leaders in urban farming.
Central to the Square Roots mission is a “Next-Gen Farmer Training Program”—a year-long program that puts participants at the forefront of the indoor urban farming industry while they are growing food as part of the Square Roots farm team. Using a unique and scalable technology platform, these young farmers are armed with intuitive tools, enabling them to quickly learn how to grow food that is more sustainable, healthy, and profitable. During their year at Square Roots, they’re also educated on plant science, food entrepreneurship frameworks, and engaging local communities—preparing them for successful subsequent leadership roles in urban agriculture.
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