Sustainable agricultural products developer, Terra Tech Corp. announced today that it has signed a distribution deal with GroRite Garden Centers, a New Jersey-based greenhouse farming retail superstore. According to the deal, GroRite will purchase a majority of their plants for retail sale from Terra Tech’s Edible Garden brand. Edible Gardens anticipates the sales resulting from this contract will be worth close to $500,000 in annual revenue.
The deal also states that Edible Garden will convert 35,000 square feet of existing greenhouse space at GroRite’s Lincoln Park store into a hydroponic lettuce cultivation facility. The facility will produce close to 12,000 heads of hydroponically grown lettuce weekly, which will be sold in their store and throughout the northeast. It is believed that the facility can generate up to $800,000 in sales with the first crop ready to be harvested by the end of 2013.
Terra Tech’s COO, Ken Vande Vrede, remarked, “The beauty of this deal is that we will have commercial production taking place within a retail setting. Consumers will be able to purchase this product at GroRite a few feet away from where it is being grown. What we don’t sell in Lincoln Park will be distributed to local grocers and other specialty retailers within a few hours drive of the facility.”
This deal follows Terra Tech’s efforts to expand the Edible Garden brand throughout the US. The company hopes to partner with local farmers who grow sustainable produce using hydroponic methods in order to increase distribution and market penetration. Even though the brand will be national, each region throughout the US will have local farmers who produce and distribute within their local market. The company is currently in talks with urban farmers in multiple locations throughout the US.
“Our model has actually simplified quite a bit. We have no intention of purchasing additional farms, which would dilute shareholders. We will however partner with other urban farmers throughout the US who wish to cultivate under our standards and our brand. Utilizing distribution contracts we will market and sell their locally grown, sustainable produce in their respective markets,” said Derek Peterson, Terra Tech’s CEO. “Under this structure Terra Tech would see 100% of the revenue stream while earning a healthy distribution fee without the overhead, capital expense and cultivation risk associated with owning multiple farms.”
Let us hear your thoughts below:
