First lettuce will be planted this winter at new facility
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
Revol Green’s 20-acre greenhouse likely will be completed during the first quarter of 2023 and the first planting is scheduled for January or February, according to Tom Thompson, the company’s chief revenue officer.
“It has been a busy year but we are finally catching our breath a bit,” Thompson said. “The Temple facility will be completed soon.”
The facility is located along FM 436 south of Heidenheimer.
“Full production will generate 165 jobs, and we have begun the hiring process,” Thompson said. “Many of our leadership roles have already been filled.”
“Our system allows us to grow 365 days a year with planting and harvesting daily,” he said. “We anticipate having our first harvest two or three weeks after the first planting.”
Thompson said Revol Greens is investing in Texas in a big way.
“We’ve moved our corporate headquarters to Austin,” he said. “As part of the Temple facility launch, we will focus our company’s Research & Development efforts in Texas.”
Revol previously was headquartered in Minnesota, and the company operates greenhouses in that state and California.
The Temple facility will represent the company’s first venture in the South.
Currently, Revol’s greens are available in stores and restaurants across the Midwest. The new Temple operation will allow the company to distribute its products throughout Texas and the South.
Products from the Temple greenhouse will move from the facility to market three to four days faster than food products coming from the West Coast, enhancing freshness.
“We selected Temple for our new facility in order to expand our production and distribution capabilities,” said Mike Wainscott, CFO of Revol Greens. “Temple’s central location in Texas means our products will reach shelves and tables throughout the southern US efficiently.”
“We’re eager to begin production in Temple,” he said.
According to Thompson, the Temple facility will specialize in organic and conventionally grown lettuces.
“We will have head lettuce and baby-leaf products, including Romaine, butterhead, salad kits and several baby-leaf blends,” he said.
“Revol Greens is a company with global roots, leveraging the best-in-class technology and agricultural practices from around the world,” Thompson said. “We were founded in 2017, and we’re excited to extend our roots to Temple, bringing a diversity of organic and conventional lettuces to grocers across the entire South.”
Thompson called the Temple facility “our most advanced and largest to date.”
“Each Revol Greens salad bought by Texas consumers will save more than 11 gallons of water versus a salad produced in the West,” he said. “That means the Temple facility will save nearly a half-billion gallons of water annually.”
