The Belvidere-based company acquired a 5-acre facility that it says puts it closer to distributors and customers, and is expected to produce capacity to support up to $20 million in annualized revenue.

Researchers conducted case studies about the producers' experiences regarding environmental damage, safety concerns, management challenges and impacts to operations as the animal's population has grown.

The initiative will create a vertical farm, allow for the creation of jobs for young adults with autism, and offer valuable learning experience for students.

The free, virtual program marks 10 years of Annie’s Project New Jersey, a risk management educational program that offers tools to succeed by focusing on five areas of farm risk: marketing and pricing, financial management, human and personal, production and legal.

New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island stores will now receive the Newark-based vertical farmer's high-quality produce all year round.

The companies are pursuing additional capital sources that must be agreeable to both parties with a goal to close the deal - if they agree - by Sept. 24, just over three weeks away.

Three N.J. spots are part of the 55 organizations across 29 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia that will receive funds from the plant-based Pure Farmland offshoot as part of the food giant's Pure Growth Project that launched last year to help increase access to fresh fruit and vegetables nationwide.

Together, the organizations will experiment with different indoor growing technologies including aeroponics and hydroponics, light, carbon dioxide, irrigation, nutrition, plant space and pruning to identify the optimal conditions for tree growth.

The move will see the development of the indoor agriculture purveyor's largest outpost as part of a project with World Wildlife Fund and the St. Louis Controlled Environment Agriculture Coalition, and to meet consumer and retailer demand in the region.

The parties began working together last year and, per an announcement, are now ready to scale their system of identifying and tracking plant interactions to the Newark-based company's crop portfolio, and all future indoor vertical farms.

The 2,000-square-foot facility, which was once home to Atlantic Products Corp. during the World War II-era in Trenton, will house the indoor hydroponics farm that is committed to conserving energy, reducing water use and providing more nutrient-rich foods.

Ken VandeVrede got the idea after years in the cannabis industry out west. Now Kaló, a hemp-infused seltzer billed as an alternative social option to alcoholic brands Truly and White Claw, from the third-generation farmer, is sold across 10 states.