An indoor vertical farm on Detroit’s east side is back in business after shutting its doors and laying off more than 70 employees last year due to financial issues.
Planted Detroit, located at Mt. Elliott and E. Lafayette, reopened in late December with new operational partnerships, cheaper salads, and a fraction of its original staff.
The business originally opened in 2018 using hydroponic technology to grow produce indoors year-round. It also packaged and distributed salads. In 2022, Planted Detroit had a record year and, by 2023, had begun construction to expand operations by 10,000 square feet.
But the company closed abruptly in August after operators said it couldn’t sell enough salads to keep up with costs.
As it ceased operations, Tom Adamczyk, chief executive officer and founder, said he needed to secure $4 million in investment to reopen. The company was unable to secure the $4 million, meaning some changes had to be made.
In a written statement to BridgeDetroit, Adamczyk said that his team secured “strategic partnerships” over the past few months that will allow the company to “focus on being a farm.”
“Our partnerships are the reason Planted Detroit was able to re-open,” he said.
Prior to the shutdown, Planted Detroit was handling all business aspects in-house, from growing, sourcing, packing, and distributing. Now, new partners will handle everything but farming. The new partners include Meijer, Carmela Foods, Lipari, Fulfilld, Cindy’s Kitchen, Frog Holler, Aramark, the University of Michigan, as well as Detroit-based LaGrasso Brothers Produce.
With the reopening, Planted Detroit rehired 10 of its workers. Once sales pick up, Adamczyk said he looks forward to bringing back more former employees.
“As positions open up, it is our intention to look first to our former employees to fill those positions,” he said.
For now, the company’s expansion plans are on hold.
A new website went live Dec. 27 and the company sold 500 salads within a week, according to Adamczyk. The first new delivery will be made Jan. 5, and every Wednesday thereafter. So far, the salads are sold online and in Meijer’s small format stores. Additional locations will be announced soon with Carmela Foods.
Several product changes were made in the reopening. Each salad now costs $10.50, down from $14, a price reduction Adamczyk attributes to the partnerships.
“One of the primary drivers of lowering the cost of our salads is through leveraging our partners’ cost savings, size, and efficiencies for our non-core business,” he said. “When we focus on our core business of farming, we have been able to increase our average yields per tray, streamline farm tasks, and reduce waste.”
The menu is all new too, with protein fusion, spicy avocado, gold sesame, sweet and savory, and pearled couscous salads. All of the dressings are made by Cindy’s Kitchen, a Massachusetts-based dressing and sauce company.
Cindy’s Kitchen spokesperson Justin Kane said the company is excited about the partnership.
“Cindy’s Kitchen is excited and honored to be the salad dressing cup selected to be a part of the newly designed Planted salad bowls,” Kane said by email. “They have been great to work with and a perfect fit for our products.”
Planted Detroit’s August closure came shortly after Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm Bedrock announced plans to open its own indoor vertical farm in Detroit. A spokesperson for Bedrock said there were no updates as of January 2023.
Prior to closure, Planted Detroit was revered by some community members for its salad donations to local, free community fridges, while others challenged the company’s claims to address food insecurity given that it sold $14 salads and didn’t have a retail store in the neighborhood.
Jennine Spencer is president of Field Street Block Club Association, which received salad donations from Planted Detroit. She said she’s excited about the reopening and hopes to see more community members hired back and a deeper relationship between Adamczyk and residents.
“Since this is the community they are opening back in, them being able to have more of a community presence (is a priority), not just with the community fridge,” she said.
Spencer said she’d like to see Adamczyk working with neighborhood leaders like herself to identify needs and extend donations to community meetings or shelters.
Even amid financial swings, Adamczyk said the company has and will continue to donate food.
“We remain committed to donating any excess product to the local community,” said Adamczyk, adding that he’s working on a salad donation to the community for next week.
In 2023, Planted Detroit donated 9,701 pounds of excess product through Food Rescue US and continued to provide free produce to the Field Street community refrigerator during the company hiatus, Adamczyk said.
“Community is a key part of our culture,” Adamczyk said. “The love and support Planted Detroit has received from the community is a reason for our comeback! Thank you supporters and believers!”
The salads can be purchased online and at Meijer Rivertown Market.