The world leader in indoor lettuce production is expanding its Banks Township campus to keep up with demand.

Little Leaf Farms opened its third 10-acre greenhouse this month on the Carbon County site near McAdoo.

And, the company recently broke ground for a fourth greenhouse that it expects to have operational by the fall of 2025.

“Our continued expansion in Pennsylvania will advance our progress against our goals to grow our capacity and bring our lettuce to more and more consumers throughout the country,” said Paul Sellew, Little Leaf’s founder and CEO.

Little Leaf Farms opened its first greenhouse in Banks Township in 2020, and has since become the country’s leading brand of sustainably grown packaged lettuce.

The business uses captured rainwater, sunlight and solar-powered energy in its soil-free hydroponic farming. The baby greens are harvested without touching human hands and are free of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

And less than 24 hours after harvest, the leafy greens are available to customers — something that Sellew said fits the company’s goal of providing the freshest greens possible.

“Our process and the controlled environment agriculture movement stands in stark contrast to most lettuce on shelves today, which travels thousands of miles before reaching stores, sacrificing freshness and fuel with each day spent in transit,” he said.

By building its greenhouses near major urban centers, Sellew noted that the company minimizes the amount of time the greens have to travel to consumers.

“By delivering our lettuce to grocery stores within 24 hours of harvesting, we’re providing consumers with a fresher, more nutritious lettuce that lasts longer and tastes better,” Sellew said.

The company, he said, has even developed a fan base of those who agree that the taste of the Romaine, iceberg, baby red leaf lettuce and arugula is second to none.

“We’ve received hundreds of positive emails and voicemails from them about how our leafy greens have changed the way they think about lettuce,” Sellew said.

The expansion will support Little Leaf Farms’ rapid growth, as the brand is now the fastest growing packaged salad brand in the country, according to Nielsen data. Its products are available from 7,000 grocery stores in the eastern United States, and plans are to increase retail presence throughout the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest.

“We’re incredibly excited about this new milestone of being the fastest growing packaged salad brand and believe it’s true evidence of not only the promise of controlled environment agriculture, but also our efficiency in scaling our operations to enable the broadening of our retailer footprint,” Sellew said.

In July 2023, the business received a $501,136 state grant to support its efforts to build four new 10-acre indoor greenhouses in Banks Township, resulting in at least 300 new jobs.

The awarded funds through the Pipeline Investment Program will reinforce the natural gas pipelines at the site. The grant will be matched by an equal investment by UGI Utilities.

The two newest greenhouses mark Little Leaf Farms’ sixth and seventh greenhouses across its campuses in Banks Township and Devens, Massachusetts. Little Leaf Farms also continues to explore new site opportunities in the Midwest and Southeast regions.

“We’re committed to providing consumers with food that’s good for both the plate and the planet,” Sellew said. “That means every step of our growing process, from the seeds we plant to the package our customers open, was designed to limit our impact on the planet.”