Element Farms
Element Farms operates a climate-controlled hydroponic greenhouse in Lafayette, NJ, growing pesticide-free baby spinach, arugula, and spring mix year-round and wholesaling them to retail stores, restaurants, foodservice operators, and schools within roughly 140-150 miles.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Element Farms does
Element Farms is a hydroponic agriculture company founded in 2016 that operates a climate-controlled glass greenhouse in Lafayette, NJ to grow pesticide-free baby greens year-round. Its core product set consists of Baby Spinach (the flagship), Arugula, and Spring Mix, with additional SKU exploration signaled by a basil care page on the company website. The underlying production stack combines hydroponic growing in large ponds of ultra-filtered water, high-capacity intelligent supplemental lighting, carbon dioxide supplementation, multi-cycle recirculated irrigation, and custom automated machinery, achieving 90% less water use and approximately 20x the yield per square foot of conventional field farming while sourcing roughly 75% of energy needs from sunlight.
The business runs a wholesale B2B model, selling directly to retail grocery stores, foodservice operators, restaurants, and schools within approximately 140-150 miles of the Lafayette greenhouse. Element Farms handles growing, harvesting, packing, and delivery itself, achieving farm-to-store transit in under 24 hours—a meaningful freshness advantage over California-grown greens that require six days of cross-country trucking. A direct-to-consumer channel via the company website supplements wholesale. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated buyer-by-buyer.
The company is Non-GMO Project verified, markets itself as 'beyond organic' (organic certification does not apply to soilless hydroponics), and in 2017 commissioned Cornell University researchers to validate higher micronutrient and lower heavy metal content versus organic field-grown spinach. Element Farms is privately held and founder-led, with co-founder and CEO Serdar Mizrakci, co-founder and CTO Danny Janeczko, and co-founder and CMO Genna Mazor; headcount is reported at 1-10 employees and no revenue or institutional funding beyond a 2017 eLab Accelerator participation is disclosed.
Element Farms firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Element Farms
- Legal name
- Element Farms
- Website
- https://element-farms.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Element Farms operates a climate-controlled hydroponic greenhouse in Lafayette, NJ, growing pesticide-free baby spinach, arugula, and spring mix year-round and wholesaling them to retail stores, restaurants, foodservice operators, and schools within roughly 140-150 miles.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Element Farms industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Hydroponic Fresh Produce
- NAICS
- Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)
- SIC
- Agricultural Production-Crops (100)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Greenhouse Vegetable Production (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Leafy Greens) (AFAGAHAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Leafy Greens Farming (Lettuce, Spinach, Kale, Arugula, Chard) (AFAGADAA), Hydroponic / Controlled-Environment Produce Wholesale (AFAIACAM), Greenhouse Herb & Microgreens Production (Culinary Herbs, Microgreens) (AFAGAHAC)
Keywords
Where Element Farms is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Element Farms business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Wholesale Produce Sales: Element Farms generates revenue by selling their pesticide-free baby greens (baby spinach, arugula, spring mix) directly to retail stores, foodservice operators, restaurants, and schools within their local delivery radius. The company grows, harvests, packs, and delivers their greens themselves, maintaining freshness from farm to store in under 24 hours.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
Element Farms product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Element Farms grows and sells pesticide-free hydroponic baby greens (baby spinach, arugula, spring mix) year-round in a climate-controlled glass greenhouse in Lafayette, NJ. The company grows, harvests, packs, and delivers the produce itself to retail grocers, foodservice operators, restaurants, and schools within roughly 140–150 miles, achieving farm-to-store delivery in under 24 hours.
Product overview
Element Farms is a sustainable produce company operating a single unified product line of hydroponically grown baby greens. Their core portfolio consists of Baby Spinach (their flagship 'crown jewel' product), Arugula, and Spring Mix, all grown year-round in a climate-controlled glass greenhouse in Lafayette, NJ. These products are sold wholesale to retail stores, foodservice operations, restaurants, and schools, with delivery from farm to store within 24 hours. The company also offers direct-to-consumer sales through their e-commerce platform. All products are characterized by their pesticide-free growing method, tender texture, and extended shelf life compared to conventionally sourced greens.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Baby Spinach
Quantifiable outcome
- 90% less water used compared to conventional farming
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Element Farms
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Element Farms technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Element Farms partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Cornell UniversitycoreIn 2017, Element Farms commissioned researchers at Cornell University to conduct a comparative study of their hydroponically grown spinach against multiple brands of field-grown organic spinach. The study validated that Element Farms produce has consistently higher essential micronutrients (magnesium, iron, zinc) and significantly lower heavy metals (cadmium, copper, sodium). This research provides scientific backing for their nutritional claims and differentiates them from organic and conventional competitors.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Element Farms competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- BrightFarms: BrightFarms operates a network of hydroponic greenhouses growing local, pesticide-free leafy greens for retail grocers. Highly comparable in product category (baby greens, spinach, lettuce), GTM (supermarket wholesale), and sustainability positioning, but operates a multi-site national footprint versus Element Farms' single NJ facility.
- Gotham Greens: Gotham Greens runs climate-controlled urban hydroponic greenhouses producing leafy greens, herbs, and salad dressings for retail and foodservice. Direct competitor in the greenhouse-grown baby greens and herbs space with a comparable sustainability story, but at significantly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
- Aerofarms: AeroFarms is an indoor vertical farm specializing in leafy greens grown aeroponically without pesticides. Comparable in core product (baby greens, microgreens) and CEA-only positioning, though it uses vertical rather than horizontal greenhouse architecture and is more R&D-focused.
- Bowery Farming: Bowery operates indoor vertical farms producing pesticide-free leafy greens, herbs, and berries for retail and foodservice. Overlaps with Element Farms on pesticide-free, locally-grown leafy greens supply to grocers, though at much larger scale and broader product breadth.
- Revol Greens: Revol Greens grows greenhouse-produced, pesticide-free lettuce and leafy greens in climate-controlled facilities for retail and foodservice. Closely aligned business model — hydroponic greenhouse, pesticide-free, wholesale to retail — competing for the same shelf set as Element Farms.
- Pure Green Farms: Pure Green Farms operates a hydroponic greenhouse producing pesticide-free leafy greens for Midwest retail. Closely aligned with Element Farms on greenhouse hydroponic, pesticide-free baby greens positioning, but serves a different regional geography (Midwest vs. Northeast).
Emerging players
- Plenty: Plenty is an indoor vertical farming company developing leafy greens and other crops for retail. Comparable as a CEA pesticide-free leafy greens producer but uses a different (vertical tower) technology architecture and has focused on larger partnerships and capital raises.
- Local Bounti: Local Bounti operates controlled-environment agriculture facilities producing leafy greens and herbs. Comparable in CEA-grown, pesticide-free produce category and retail/foodservice distribution, though the company has pursued a more capital-markets-driven expansion path.
- 80 Acres Farms: 80 Acres Farms runs indoor vertical farms producing leafy greens, herbs, and microgreens for retail and foodservice. Overlaps with Element Farms on greenhouse/indoor-grown pesticide-free greens for grocery customers but operates multi-state at a larger scale.
Broad incumbents
- Hollandia Produce: Hollandia Produce (Live Gourmet) is a long-established greenhouse grower of leafy greens including baby spinach and other greens. Broader incumbent in the greenhouse-grown produce category with a national distribution footprint, offering overlapping products to the same retail channel.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Element Farms compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Element Farms financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Element Farms leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Element Farms funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Element Farms M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Element Farms
What does Element Farms do?
Element Farms grows and sells pesticide-free hydroponic baby greens (baby spinach, arugula, spring mix) year-round in a climate-controlled glass greenhouse in Lafayette, NJ. The company grows, harvests, packs, and delivers the produce itself to retail grocers, foodservice operators, restaurants, and schools within roughly 140–150 miles, achieving farm-to-store delivery in under 24 hours.
Is Element Farms a public or private company?
Element Farms is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Element Farms founded?
Element Farms was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Element Farms based?
Element Farms is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Element Farms make money?
One revenue line is on record: wholesale Produce Sales.
Who are Element Farms's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are BrightFarms, Gotham Greens, Aerofarms, Bowery Farming, Revol Greens and Pure Green Farms. Emerging players are Plenty, Local Bounti and 80 Acres Farms. Hollandia Produce is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Element Farms have an API?
No public API is recorded for Element Farms.
What industry is Element Farms in?
Element Farms's product category is Hydroponic Fresh Produce. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGAHAA, Greenhouse Vegetable Production (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Leafy Greens), with a secondary code of AFAGADAA, Leafy Greens Farming (Lettuce, Spinach, Kale, Arugula, Chard). Its NAICS code is 11141 and its SIC code is 100.