Beanstalk Farms celebrates opening of high-tech indoor farm in Fairfax County

Beanstalk Farms in Herndon celebrated the grand opening of their new indoor farm and distribution facility on Tuesday. The farm was joined by state and local public officials including Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The new facility expands Beanstalk Farms’ current operation and represents more than $2 million of new capital investment to a long-vacant warehouse facility, in an area Fairfax County has targeted for development.

Beanstalk Farms will hire 29 new employees for various jobs in the new indoor farm and distribution facility.

“Jack and I started Beanstalk to build a new food system based on locally grown fresh produce. We’ve come a long way, and we are honored to be celebrating this achievement with the people who helped us get here,” said Mike Ross, Beanstalk Farms co-founder and CEO. “With the incredible support of our community leaders and loyal customers, we know we can continue to grow and deliver on our promise to bring fresh, healthy produce to everyone’s door.”

Beanstalk is matching its advances in growing technologies with innovations in product delivery. Initially selling wholesale primarily to grocery stores, the company now offers online sales and direct delivery to individuals and restaurants. This dual market approach and supply-chain infrastructure enables the company to deliver fresh product to customers at the same price as retail, according to a news release.

“Founded by fellow Virginians Mike and Jack Ross, today’s celebration represents so much of what makes the Commonwealth the best place in the country to start and grow a business,” said Matthew Lohr, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. “From the world-class education Beanstalk’s founders received here in the Commonwealth, to Virginia’s surging spirit of entrepreneurship, to Northern Virginia’s exceptional environment for innovation; all of it coming together to bring new economic vitality to this community and better, fresher food to its residents. I congratulate Mike and Jack for today’s success and am excited to see how tall Beanstalk Farms will grow.”

Engineers by training, who enjoyed early success in aerospace and software engineering, the founders  sought to apply their skills to address environmental issues created by the modern food system.

Beanstalk Farms sources seeds from around the world to grow an incredible variety of fresh and flavorful leafy greens. As the company is located in the heart of the markets they serve, Beanstalk Farms can optimize its varieties and production for flavor and nutrition, not transport. Their proprietary soil-based, vertical growing system and robotics allow for year-round production of nutritious, pesticide-free leafy salad mixes, herbs, and microgreens.

In 2021, Fairfax County was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Governor’s agriculture and forestry industries development fund to help fund the Beanstalk Farms project. Funding and services to support the company’s job creation will be provided through Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia jobs investment program.