Mar 11, 2021

Tanimura & Antle acquires Boston-based Green City Growers

Employee owned grower-shipper, Tanimura & Antle announced March 9 the acquisition of Boston, Massachusetts, based Green City Growers.

According to a news release, the merger of the two companies is based on a common commitment and passion to provide communities, organizations and individuals with a hands-on educational experience to increase awareness, build engagement and provide education about where food comes from.

By providing a path to engagement with hands on experience, Green City Growers will assist Salinas, California-based Tanimura & Antle with reaching individuals of all ages, promoting a long-term healthy lifestyle with consumers. The combined goal of this partnership is to access and serve individuals and local communities not ordinarily provided with the opportunity to connect with their food while strengthening the food supply by providing a supplemental, healthy and independent food source.

Founded in 1982, the Tanimura and Antle families created a partnership centered on equality, trust and ownership. Since their foundation, Tanimura & Antle has been an industry leader in innovating how food is produced and delivered as well as their first-to-market product offerings. The Company’s foundation on partnerships has built a culture that carries forward with its employees, customers and suppliers, creating an environment that fosters innovation and willingness to succeed or fail forward.

“Our investment in Green City Growers is our next level of engagement to continue our efforts to impact the lives of all. Our philosophy has always been a learning by doing approach. By reaching children, charitable organizations, corporations, wellness and community outreach programs, we can have a strong impact on promoting a healthy lifestyle,” said Scott Grabau, president and CEO of Tanimura & Antle. “This partnership and acquisition will also provide our retail and foodservice partners their own opportunity to have an impact in the communities they serve by partnering with us on these programs.”

Founded in 2008 and a certified benefit corporation (B-Corp), Green City Growers started its business by installing and maintaining raised garden beds at people’s homes. From there, the business expanded to include schools, non-profits, corporate clients and real estate companies.

The company provides their customers with the infrastructure, tools, and educational tools required in order to grow their own fresh produce using the principles of organic, regenerative and pesticide free agriculture practices. Green City Growers also offers consulting on design, workshops, virtual engagement and educational opportunities. With this certification comes a mission that combines bottom-line success with environmental and social responsibility. Green City Growers reaches thousands of children and adults with hands on educational programs about growing healthy food.

As of 2021, Green City Growers has installed hundreds of garden spaces using organic, regenerative and pesticide free agriculture practices and currently services over 150 unique farm and garden locations. The current farms and gardens range from small raised garden beds to rooftop farms and are located throughout New England, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. The Company is proud to service New England’s largest roof top farm on top of Whole Foods Market in Lynnfield, MA, and be the Red Sox’s “other farm team”, maintaining the rooftop farm at Fenway Park since 2015. In addition to these unique farm and garden locations, Green City Growers also manages garden education programs for Public Schools, Boys and Girls Clubs and supports wellness and sustainability programs for property management, real estate companies and corporations with their own gardens.

“We see innovation in the food production and distribution chains as a societal and environmental necessity. We are implementing creative and realistic solutions that help to meet the multiple challenges food systems currently face. We work towards this while at the same time providing local jobs, sourcing local materials, and supporting local economies”, said Chris Grallert, President and equity partner of Green City Growers. “With a solid business foundation in our proven and robust soil growing technologies, we can now thoughtfully look into how we can expand our custom services in other areas of urban agriculture including vertical and other indoor technologies. I could not be more excited about this new partnership.”

Under the new ownership, the company will continue doing business as Green City Growers with Chris Grallert as president of this new partnership.