Year-round tomatoes

Tapping into a strong demand from consumers who want to “eat local” and chefs who want to cook with fresh, local ingredients, MightyVine has opened a 7.5-acre hydroponic greenhouse in Rochelle, Illinois, that services Chicago and the surrounding areas. Rather than a more traditional groundbreaking event at the beginning of construction, MightyVine hosted a “vine-cutting ceremony” on Oct. 9 that celebrated their first tomato harvest, which totaled 20,000 pounds.That day, 130 guests took a tour of the new facilities and sampled local chef’s creations —  made with MightyVine tomatoes, of course.

“We got a lot of support, and it allowed us a stage to thank our Dutch partners, the city of Rochelle, and our major retail partners, Jewel and Whole Foods, for supporting us to this point,” CEO Gary Lazarski told Produce Grower.

“It was just a nice opportunity to introduce ourselves to the world and let everybody know we're here.”