Hamilton-based 80 Acres Farms opens new facility in Florence, Ky.

80 Acres Farms, headquartered in Hamilton, Ohio, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 13, 2023, at its new farm in Florence, Ky. The farm will help expand the indoor farming business its reach to around 1,000 Kroger locations and expand its offerings with new salad kits. PROVIDED/80 ACRES FARMS

80 Acres Farms, headquartered in Hamilton, Ohio, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 13, 2023, at its new farm in Florence, Ky. The farm will help expand the indoor farming business its reach to around 1,000 Kroger locations and expand its offerings with new salad kits. PROVIDED/80 ACRES FARMS
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Sept 14, 2023
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On Wednesday, Hamilton-headquartered 80 Acres Farms opened its largest and most advanced farm, a 200,000-square-foot facility in Florence, Ky.

The new farm, which is expected to be its most productive, is designed to serve customers across multiple states and markets, the farm can grow up to 40 million servings of produce per year, using the company’s proprietary hardware and software solutions to operate more efficiently than ever before. The farm is about three times the size of the company’s previous largest farm and at least four times as productive.

A $95 million investment into Kentucky, the new farm, which is built inside a former printing facility, will create 125 jobs in the state. The opening will also allow 80 Acres Farms to be able to reach more restaurants and retailers, and will soon be providing product to nearly 1,000 Kroger stores, which the company announced last month.

This farm will also support the company’s newly launched grab-and-go salad kits, of which there are three curated kinds:

  • Feelin’ Gouda, with red and green leaf lettuces, gouda cheese, apple chips, dried cherries, sea salt pecans, and a poppy seed vinaigrette
  • Greekin’ Out, with red and green leaf lettuces, feta cheese, marinated artichokes, pickled beets, garlic croutons, and a Mediterranean-inspired dressing
  • Rockin’ Ranchero, with crispy leaf lettuce, white cheddar cheese, black beans, crunchy corn, pickled onions, and a smoky chipotle dressing

The salad kits were first made available at the Dorothy Lane in Dayton and in Nashville.

Pictured are the new salad kits, marketed as “grab-and-go meals,” from 80 Acres Farms that will be available in Kroger stores across the region. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

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“There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “I am so proud that this level of technology, where advanced manufacturing meets farming is right here in Kentucky.”

While the company is expanding in other parts of the country, including in Georgia, company officials have said they still plan to call Hamilton home. They have facilities on Enterprise Drive and in downtown Hamilton, as well as its corporate headquarters inside One Renaissance Center at the corner of High Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

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Michael D. Pitman has been a reporter in southwest Ohio since 1999. He's covered local governments in Warren and Butler counties, as well as state and national issues. He currently covers the cities of Fairfield and Hamilton.