August 18, 2021

photo credit: BrightFarms

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Cox Enterprises, a leading communications, automotive, and media company, has fully acquired indoor farming company BrightFarms after being a major stakeholder in the company since it led a $100 million Series E for BrightFarms in October 2020. 

The company noted that this deal marks the first and only time to-date that an indoor farming company has been fully acquired.

Based in New York, BrightFarms is a next-generation hydroponic greenhouse farming company tapping into the farm-to-table consumer movement – financing, building, and operating local state-of-the-art commercially scaleable greenhouse farms in partnership with supermarkets, cities, vendors, and investors. In doing so, BrightFarms is able to establish a sustainable food production model that eliminates waste, time, cost, and distance from the supply chain.

BrightFarms’ growing model uses 80 percent less water, 90 percent less land, and 95 percent less shipping fuel, while yielding 10 times more leafy greens per acre compared to traditional field agriculture. And by growing its greens within the communities where it is sold, its products can be delivered to markets within 24 hours of harvest, as opposed to long shipments from California fields.

This is proving to be a key factor for consumers. A study conducted by Nielsen found that for nearly half, or 46 percent, of U.S. consumers, buying locally produced food is a priority, and food labels noting local production reflect $239 million in sales. 

However, another survey conducted by Blue Yonder found that 67 percent of consumers are dissatisfied with the local produce at their market. This dissatisfaction opens a window of opportunity for growers such as BrightFarms which focus on leveraging technologies to not only reduce its carbon footprint, but to produce the highest quality produce. 

At this point, BrightFarms operates five farms in Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Illinois, and last month acquired lēf Farms – an indoor grower based in Loudon, New Hampshire – which BrigthFarms plans to expand into a 14-acre indoor growing hub for New England supermarkets.

The company also plans to leverage its world-class production model and growing system along with its market advantage and relationships with the largest retailers in the country to provide indoor leafy greens to more than two-third of the U.S. population by 2025. 

Tied into this strategic goal is BrightFarms’ expansion plan to construct a national network of new high-tech farms designed to accelerate the shift of the salad industry to an indoor production model.

GAI News was told that Cox is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to fund this immediate short-term expansion plan of reaching 150 acres of greenhouses, and has the resources of a $20 billion private company to source the necessary capital needed to make BrightFarms a well-known brand in supermarkets around the country. 

“BrightFarms has built the most advanced network of local indoor farms in the nation. Being part of the Cox team will allow us to scale more rapidly, transforming the salad industry for American consumers,” said Steve Platt, CEO, BrightFarms. “As we embark on this new chapter, the BrightFarms team extends gratitude to our founder, Paul Lightfoot, for his bold vision and to Catalyst Investors for their early and unwavering support.”

For Cox, the deal for BrightFarms builds upon its more than $1 billion invested in sustainability and cleantech endeavors.  And with the closure of this deal, BrightFarms will no longer need to expend energy to secure investors, nor will it pursue uncertain SPAC or IPO deals.

As climate change intensifies, population numbers climb, and arable land shrinks, threats to traditional agriculture mount. Some threats are sudden and unpredictable, however, such as COVID-19, which left traditional farms and traditional supply chains unable to adjust to a new reality. BrightFarms however, with its decentralized supply chain, rapidly increased production, entering 800 new stores and increasing sales by 25 percent in the beginning months of the pandemic.

In October 2020 when Cox led BrightFarm’s Series E, Steve Bradley, vice president of cleantech for the company, said, “Cox Cleantech’s goal is to build meaningful businesses that solve fundamental problems facing society and our environment. BrightFarms provides this opportunity through its sustainable model of growing food in the same communities where it’s consumed, resulting in food that’s fresher, safer, better tasting and better for the environment.”

Today, Bradley added, “BrightFarms is a perfect example of our Cox Cleantech strategy – positively impacting the world through profitable, mission-driven businesses. Over the years, our enthusiasm for BrightFarms and the opportunity to transform the industry has increased tremendously, which led us to want to play a larger role in what they’re doing.”

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.