Elizabeth Saulsbury is Senior Manager of Content and Social Media at Cox Enterprises. Elizabeth manages creative and content strategy for brands across the Cox family of businesses, including content development for Cox Farms. Prior to joining Cox Enterprises, she focused on insights and market intelligence at Cox Automotive, leading product and marketing research for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. Elizabeth’s research and content work has been recognized by Quirk’s Media, Writer’s Digest, and the Public Relations Society of America.
A Summer of Growth for Cox Farms and BrightFarms
Ensuring a steady supply of fresh produce is an ambitious goal—one that calls for an agile, future-focused growth strategy.
It’s a challenge that Cox Farms—a business entity of Cox Enterprises and one of the largest greenhouse operators in North America—is uniquely equipped to tackle with grower partner BrightFarms, who is known today as one of the largest producers of leafy greens in the U.S.
Cox Farms and BrightFarms are strategically expanding into three major regional hubs that can serve new areas of the U.S. and provide better access to fresh, pesticide-free, locally-grown lettuce and salad kits.
Good Things Come in Threes
Yorkville, Illinois, was the first of the three greenhouses to open in the summer of 2024.
When fully built, the Illinois facility—which is located in the Chicago metropolitan area—will add 32 acres for growing leafy greens and boosts BrightFarms’ capacity to meet rising demand for fresh, locally grown salads.
Greenhouses in Lorena, Texas, and Macon, Georgia, are slated to follow the Yorkville facility’s lead and open before the end of 2024. Once all three new greenhouses are fully operational, BrightFarms’ growing capacity will increase seven times: That means a capacity of 150 million pounds of produce to be harvested and delivered annually.
Tech-Driven. Flavor-Forward.
This dramatic increase in capacity is supported by an investment in the most advanced technology including precise climate control and a fully automated planting system designed to create the world’s most perfect lettuce that is pesticide-free and locally grown, shipping to retailers in the area within as few as 24 hours.
That means more families getting better access to locally grown, fresh, and clean salads to enjoy and feel good about.
A Fruitful Partnership
In addition to our nationwide BrightFarms expansion, our vine crops grower partner, Mucci Farms, announced two notable expansions in 2024 with the acquisition of Hacienda North Farms in Ontario and the addition of a state-of-the-art greenhouse in Tehachapi, California.
“This is a pivotal moment in the Cox Farms and Mucci Farms journey,” said Steve Bradley, president of Cox Farms, about the acquisition. “This strategic investment underscores our dedication to leading the industry to ensure we meet the evolving needs of consumers. Together, we are committed to scaling operations and enhancing access to sustainably grown produce.”
Learn more about Cox Farms here. 