US Foods and Kalera Partner Up to Expand Vertical Farming

5/20/22

It was announced earlier this week that US Foods and Kalera will be entering into a partnership that will not only be good for restaurants, but great for the two companies. Although, one must imagine what a boon this is to Kalera’s business in particular. It’s one that has been growing at breakneck speed.

The partnership will provide US Foods customers with the current micro greens, lettuces, and herbs Kolera specializes in, as well as any products that are born out of the creative development process the two companies will share. Those products will be exclusive to US Foods customers and will provide Kalera with the opportunity to shift up to 50% of its production capacity to restaurants and food service.

Kalera was founded in Orlando in 2019 and quickly became the world’s leading vertical farming company. By 2020, they had acquired a second farm in Atlanta, a third farm in Houston in 2021, and a fourth this year in Denver. Seattle, Columbus, Honolulu, and St. Paul are all currently under construction. But that incredible growth is not limited to domestic locations.

Internationally, Kalera is in Munich and Kuwait, with a site under construction in Singapore. This is undoubtedly why US Foods chose them over other, similar businesses. They were a global player before the partnership, and with their plans for the near future, the meteoric growth they’re enjoying doesn’t look to be slowing down.

In the end, Kalera will get the better end of the deal. US Foods will build reputational credit with sustainability enthusiasts and the growing meatless culture, along with some added revenue. They will no doubt enjoy the addition of more farms to the portfolio of sites that support their Serve local program.  But Kalera will get to dive head first into restaurant and food service accounts, an industry that can bring transformative amounts of cash.  But, just as important, their brand will experience exposure few other rookie businesses ever see.