Hardee Fresh

Hardee Fresh is a Florida-based hydroponic indoor vertical farming company. Its certified organic farm offers pesticide- and herbicide-free lettuce, power greens, and herbs, which are grown year-round. The company operates its organic vertical farm in Wauchula, Florida and provides a variety of organic greens, herbs, and power greens, including different types of lettuce, such as butterhead, green leaf, mini romaine, red oak leaf, and green oak leaf. It also offers organic herbs, such as basil, thyme, cilantro, rosemary, parsley, and dill, and power greens like rainbow chard, white Swiss chard, and kale.

Hardee Fresh offers custom orders and claims to have a longer shelf life for its products, stating its organic lettuce lasts twice as long in the fridge. Its indoor vertical farming system consumes significantly fewer resources than traditional farming, with 95% less water, 97% less fertilizer, and 99% less land. It uses renewable energy from solar generation and has sustainable packaging. Hardee Fresh reports to harvest 500 acres worth of produce with just one acre of land. The company reports that it has provided fresh, organic produce to over 20,000 local families in 2020 to address food insecurity in Florida.

The company operates a tech-enabled farming facility that maintains ideal growing conditions by processing one million data points per minute. It uses renewable solar energy and remote monitoring via a 10GB fiber backbone. The facility conducts daily plant inspections, implements safety protocols, and optimizes the growing environment for every stage of plant growth.

In March 2023, the company secured a USD 56 million loan from X-Caliber Rural Capital for a vertical farming facility in Americus, Georgia. Hardee Fresh's new vertical farm, which would cover 340,000 sq ft, was expected to use only 1% of the water required for traditional outdoor operations while producing over 15 million heads of lettuce annually with the help of more than 50,000 internet-connected devices. The construction was expected to be completed by late 2024.