AeroFarms

Based in New Jersey, AeroFarms, one of the largest disruptors, produces leafy greens using an aeroponic vertical growing system. The company sells locally grown greens to nearby restaurants and grocery stores as well as online. As of October 2021, the company supplies to over 500 grocery stores primarily across the Northeast region of the US including Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, FreshDirect, and Walmart. In October 2022, the company signed a new agreement with Whole Foods to supply all of their stores nationwide.

The company claims its aeroponics technology yields annual productivity up to 390 times greater than traditional field farming and is packaged conveniently for consumers, ready to consume without the need to wash the product. 

As of January 2023, the company operated three farms in New York, New Jersey,  and Virginia (136,000 sq. ft) and reportedly has 16 more farms in the pipeline. AeroFarms also announced plans to increase production at its Virginia facility in July 2022, which will potentially supply 50 million customers in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast markets. 

In April 2023, AeroFarms dedicated its commercial farm in Newark, New Jersey for R&D operations, moving its commercial production in New Jersey to its commercial farm in Danville, Virginia. In addition to another R&D and Engineering Prototyping facility, AeroFarms has over 100,000 sq ft of dedicated R&D space in Newark. The company plans to build a new one in Abu Dhabi (expected to open in Q1 2022). To further strengthen its presence in the Middle East, the company partnered with the Qatar Free Zone Authority (QFZA) and Doha Venture Capital in November 2022 to build a new vertical farm in the Qatar Free Zone. In addition, the company is also planning to expand to the Midwest region via a collaboration project with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and St. Louis Controlled Environment Agriculture Coalition (STLCEA). Via the project, the company plans to build its largest plant (spanning 150,000 square foot) at St. Louis MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). In January 2023, AeroFarms launched nine community farms which will make fresh and nutritious leafy greens for local settings including schools, workplace cafeterias, and community centers. In February 2023, AeroFarms, opened AeroFarms AgX, its newest indoor vertical farm, focused on bringing innovative R&D to the UAE and the Middle East. In September 2023, has announced its emergence from Chapter 11 and the completion of its restructuring process including a bankruptcy court approval of the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) with a group of existing investors led by Grosvenor Food & AgTech (GFA) and an expanded partnership with Doha Venture Capital.

Key customers and partnerships

Besides serving the retail market, the company has also entered into partnerships to further strengthen its presence in the vertical farming industry and to further develop its technology. The multi-year partnership with Nokia Bell Labs (Nokia’s industrial research arm) allows AeroFarms to integrate Nokia’s drone and AI technology into its vertical farming system. AeroFarms also entered into a multi-year research agreement with Cargills (a Minneapolis-based sustainable manufacturer of quality cocoa and chocolates) to improve cocoa bean yields and develop climate-resilient farming practices. It has also partnered with Singapore Airlines to supply greens. In January 2023, the company signed a joint venture agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to establish operations in Riyadh and build and operate indoor vertical farms in Saudi and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.

In May 2023, AeroFarms partnered with Amazon Fresh’s online marketplace to distribute Aerofarms’ line of sustainably grown leafy greens.

Funding and financials

In May 2021, AeroFarms submitted IPO documents to go public via a merger with the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Spring Valley Acquisition Corp, valuing the new entity at USD 1.2 billion. However, in August 2021, though the company received approval from Spring Valley’s shareholders, the minimum cash requirement in the merger agreement was unmet. As per the company, if additional capital requirements are satisfied, the business combination would be completed on or before September 24, 2021, with the stocks trading on NASDAQ under the ticker "ARFM". In October 2021, however, AeroFarms terminated the merger as the transaction did not meet AeroFarms shareholders' best interest, halting its IPO plans.