SOUTH BEND, IN - When consumers think of their next meal, nutrition is often one of the top priorities. And with foodservice operators opening up more, finding nutrition in convenient offerings is now a key combination to win consumer dollars. Pure Green Farms, a Midwest hydroponic greenhouse, is making healthy produce a more convenient option as it announced a new partnership with Cincinnati-based LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria. The foodservice operator will now be offering Pure Green Farms Baby Green Leaf lettuce on its menu beginning today.
“It’s the right time to be expanding into foodservice,” said Joe McGuire, Chief Executive Officer of Pure Green Farms. “Just as LaRosa’s has served its local guests for nearly 70 years, we are proud to serve our local community sustainable, healthy, and fresh greens. It’s what our brand stands for.”
Pure Green Farms will provide over 10,000 lbs of Baby Green Leaf lettuce per week to LaRosa’s 66 pizzerias serving Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, to be featured in all of LaRosa’s side and entrée-style salads.
The Baby Green lettuce is grown at one of the most high-tech, sustainable indoor farms in the country. Located in South Bend, Indiana, the farm uses advanced technology to seed, grow, harvest, and pack greens all hands-free.
“While we’re best known for pizza, we also serve tens of thousands of salads a year,” said Mark LaRosa, President and Chief Culinary Officer of LaRosa’s and son of Founder Buddy LaRosa. “We’ve used iceberg lettuce in our salads for years. But recently, we’ve experienced inconsistent product quality primarily from California growers due to weather conditions there as well as difficulty getting timely delivery. The Baby Leaf Lettuce from Pure Green Farms solves both issues. It’s fresh and tastes great. It’s got the same robust crunch that our guests loved about our iceberg lettuce.”
According to the release, the Pure Green Farms greenhouse is equipped with the best technology in the industry, which makes growing fresh lettuces year-round a cleaner and safer endeavor. The farm uses significantly less water and never uses any pesticides or herbicides. Pure Green Farms practices clean and environmentally conscious growing, all the time.
Keep tabs on the next partnerships to hit foodservice and buy-side operations with AndNowUKnow.
