Known for its ready-to-eat, pesticide-free specialty greens, AeroFarms has deals with several major chains, including Whole Foods Market and Harris Teeter. - AEROFARMS
Known for its ready-to-eat, pesticide-free specialty greens, AeroFarms has deals with several major chains, including Whole Foods Market and Harris Teeter. - AEROFARMS
Kimberly Redmond//August 7, 2023//
AeroFarms’ line of sustainably grown leafy greens will soon be available at leading Asian supermarket chain H Mart and through S. Katzman Produce, a top New York City-based wholesaler and distributor.
The Newark-headquartered indoor vertical farming company – which filed for bankruptcy protection in June – unveiled its newest retail partnerships in an Aug. 2 news release, saying the deals will enable the company to better meet demand.
The expanded distribution comes a few weeks after AeroFarms said it wants to conduct an auction to sell company assets under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code while continuing day-to-day business operations.
Although the bidding procedures and auction timeline are subject to approval by the bankruptcy court, AeroFarms hopes to “promptly” sell its assets “to provide better clarity” on the venture’s future and will seek entry of an order confirming the results of the 363 sale on or before Aug. 22.
While the process plays out, the company said it will operate as usual, servicing its customer base and key selling partners. It also moving forward with retailer expansions, forging deals last month with Walmart locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Stop & Shop supermarkets in the Northeast.
In addition, AeroFarms is continuing to scale its state-of-the-art commercial indoor vertical farm in Danville, Va., an operation that the company has described as “critical” for meeting retail growth and microgreens category expansion.

Alongside its partnerships with H Mart and S. Kaztman, AeroFarms announced the hiring of Josh Ballard, an industry veteran with over 30 years in the food and manufacturing space, as Danville’s plant manager.
Before joining AeroFarms, Ballard held positions at companies including Conagra Brands, AppHarvest, Impossible Foods and Miyoko’s Creamery.
In a statement, Guy Blanchard, president and chief financial officer of AeroFarms, said, “As we expand our commercial production to profitably meet customer demand, we are investing in key team members like our new plant manger in Danville, Virginia … in order to service more of our customers across the country.”
Blanchard, who took the helm of the company last month after co-founder and CEO David Rosenberg stepped down from his leadership role to serve as a special advisor to the board, also said, “We are excited to partner with fellow leading companies known for their innovation and produce expertise, like S. Katzman Produce and H Mart.”
Stefanie Kaztman, executive vice president at S. Kaztman Produce, said, “We are always looking for new products that will help our customers grow. We see a lot of potential with the microgreens category and are impressed by the ingenuity that AeroFarms has demonstrated through its growing process, marketing approach and flavorful, high-quality product.”
“By launching with AeroFarms, we plan to get consumers even more excited about microgreens and help our retail customers grow their produce departments,” she stated.
Known for its ready-to-eat, pesticide-free specialty greens, the 19-year-old company has deals with several major chains, including Whole Foods Market and Harris Teeter, as well as multiyear strategic partnerships with entities ranging from government agencies to Fortune 500 companies to solve agriculture supply chain needs.
Billions of dollars have been put into vertical farming ventures in recent years to help produce and distribute fresh food closer to urban markets. Now faced with a pullback in venture capital funding, the already costly venture of indoor vertical farming is starting to experience growing pains.
In filing for Chapter 11 relief, AeroFarms cited “significant industry and capital market headwinds” within the industry.