Bowery Farming was a New York-based

vertical farming Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically and horizontally stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics ...

and

digital agriculture Digital agriculture, sometimes known as smart farming or e-agriculture, are tools that digitally collect, store, analyze, and share electronic data and/or information in agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ha ...

company with farms in New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It grew and delivered pesticide-free lettuce, leafy greens, and herbs. The largest vertical farming operation in the United States, it served major retailers at over 850 locations throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, including

Whole Foods Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. Examples of whole foods include grains such as oatmeal and rice, fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts, seeds, unprocessed meats, and fish. Depending on the context this may sometimes refe ...

and

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, and supported local, fresh produce supply for a number of food-delivery companies.

History

Bowery Farming was founded in 2015 by entrepreneur Irving Fain, who earlier in his career co-founded CrowdTwist, acquired by

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

for $100 million. Irving brought on entrepreneurs David Golden and Brian Falther as cofounders. Henry Sztul, joined shortly after as part of the founding team and led the development of the BoweryOS; he now served as the company’s Chief Science Officer. The company raised a total of $472 million from

Google Ventures GV Management Company, L.L.C. (file no. 4726690) is a venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc., founded by Bill Maris, that provides seed, venture, and growth stage funding to technology companies. Founded as Google Ventures in 2010, th ...

, General Catalyst,

GGV Capital GGV Capital was an American venture capital firm. The firm was established in 2000 and was headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Formerly known as Granite Global Ventures, the firm had become one of the most active American investors in the C ...

and Temasek. Its latest round of funding in 2021 was led by Fidelity Investments. Investors in the company include Lewis Hamilton,

Tom Colicchio Thomas Patrick Colicchio (; born August 15, 1962) is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Crafted Hospitality, whic ...

, Chris Paul,

José Andrés José Ramón Andrés Puerta (; born 13 July 1969) is a Spanish-American chef and restaurateur. Born in Spain, he moved to the United States in the early 1990s and since then, he has opened restaurants in several American cities. He has won a num ...

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

, and

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

. In 2021, Bowery opened Farm X, an innovation hub for plant science in Kearny, N.J., to grow crops beyond leafy greens and focusing on seed breeding specifically for indoor farming. The company added a third commercial smart farm in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

in 2021. Bowery Farming operated three commercial farms and two R&D facilities in

Kearny, NJ Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 41,999, an increase of 1,315 (+3.2%) from the 2010 census cou ...

. It grew its produce inside industrial warehouses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, using proprietary technology and vertical farming techniques, and without

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...

and minimal

water footprint A water footprint shows the extent of water use in relation to Consumption (economics), consumption by people. The water footprint of an individual, community, or business is defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods an ...

. Its locally grown products were delivered to

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...

, Giant Food,

, Albertson's Companies (ACME and

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

stores), and

Weis Markets Weis Markets, Inc. (, ), doing business as Weis and stylized as weis, is an American Grocery store, food retailer headquartered in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. It currently operates 200 stores with over 23,000 employees in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New ...

, among others. Bowery Farming also supported Hungryroot and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

delivery options. Bowery Farming's technology relied on automation,

sensors A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

, AI and a proprietary operating system, BoweryOS, that took photos of crops and analyzes data in real time. The company hired former

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

Chief Technologist, Injong Rhee, to accelerate the integration of Bowery's proprietary technology across its network of vertical smart farms. In 2022, the company bought farming robotics firm, Traptic, especially for

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

crops. Bowery Farming ceased operations in November 2024, laying off staff at facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The company faced financial difficulties, probably because of weak demand for its high-priced products and yield losses caused by widespread infection of a plant disease in several facilities.

References

External links

Bowery Farming CEO Irving Fain on Cheddar TV

Bowery Farming CEO on NPR Radio
{{Online food ordering American companies established in 2015 Transport companies established in 2015 Online food retailers of the United States Experimental farms in the United States Farms in New Jersey Farms in Pennsylvania Farms in New York City 2015 establishments in New York City Agriculture companies established in 2015 Companies based in New York City Research institutes in New York (state)