Little Leaf Farms announces new Pennsylvania greenhouse

Packaged lettuce brand Little Leaf Farms has announced plans to open a new ‘state-of-the-art’ greenhouse in McAdoo, Pennsylvania this autumn.

Based in Massachusetts, US, Little Leaf Farms produces fresh lettuce grown through controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

The new greenhouse will be the brand’s fifth in total (three are located in Devens, Massachusetts) and its second in Pennsylvania. With the expanded capacity of ten additional acres of indoor production, Little Leaf will increase its retail presence to nearly 5,000 grocery stores. The brand owns 180 acres in McAdoo and opened its first ten-acre greenhouse in July 2022, expecting to employ over 170 by the end of 2023.

In a statement, Little Leaf Farms said the additional ten acres represent a significant capacity increase, enabling the brand to harvest more than 20 million lbs of leafy greens yearly across its sites.

The new greenhouse will employ Little Leaf Farms’ modern technology including advanced heating, cooling and lighting systems as well as utilising the power of the natural sun and fresh rainwater. It will also integrate the brand’s hands-free automated grow system, which means the leafy greens are untouched from seed to packaging and never require washing.

Paul Sellew, founder and CEO of Little Leaf Farms said: “We believe in the CEA industry’s role in the path to more sustainable produce production and are focused on our mission of delivering fresh and delicious leafy greens to consumers.”

He added that the brand is building on ‘ambitious’ growth plans and that its expansion in Pennsylvania is testament to how it has continuously scaled efficient production and operations.

The news was shared at a ceremony the brand hosted on 31 May. The brand also presented a $10,000 donation to Feeding Pennsylvania, a local non-profit organisation that works to secure food and other resources to reduce hunger and food insecurity across the state. The funds will be distributed to Feeding Pennsylvania’s member food banks.