Smile Farms Inc

Name

Smile Farms Inc

Legal name

Smile Farms Inc.

Website

https://smilefarms.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability Employment Services

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Chili & Heat Ingredients (Chili Powders, Flakes, Paprika, Capsicum Extracts) (AFAJANAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty Seed & Flavoring Crop Farming (Vanilla, Sesame, Mustard) (AFAGAGAN)

Keywords

• Disability employment services
• Vocational training programs
• Social enterprise agriculture
• Nonprofit greenhouse operations
• Cause-based consumer products

Headquarters

HQ city

Jericho

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Gifts: Tax-deductible donations from individuals, monthly giving program (Perennial Partners), donor-advised funds, and matching gift programs. EIN 46-5360466 confirms 501(c)(3) status.
2. Product Sales - Heat with Heart Hot Sauce: 100% of proceeds from hot sauce sales fund jobs and training for individuals with disabilities. Sold online, at retail locations, farmers markets, and wholesale to businesses.
3. Agricultural Product Sales: Sales of plants, flowers, fresh produce, hanging baskets, mums, and poinsettias grown at Smile Farms campuses. Profits reinvested into programming.
4. Corporate Partnerships: 1-800-Flowers.com donates 20% of net proceeds from Smile Farms Collection. Savings.com shopping affiliate program. Corporate gift orders and wholesale hot sauce orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Smile Farms Inc. operates twelve farm, greenhouse, and cooperative garden campuses on Long Island, New York that grow peppers, plants, flowers, and produce while providing paid employment and vocational training to adults with developmental disabilities. Its primary commercial product is Heat with Heart hot sauce, made entirely from peppers harvested by program participants across six campuses and sold direct-to-consumer, through wholesale partners, and at retail locations. The organization supplements product revenue with charitable donations, monthly giving, fundraising events, and corporate partnership programs such as the Smile Farms Collection sold through 1-800-Flowers.com.

Product overview

Smile Farms Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that creates meaningful work and training opportunities for people with developmental disabilities in agriculture and hospitality. The organization operates multiple farm campuses across Long Island and beyond, growing peppers, plants, flowers, and produce. Their primary consumer product is Heat with Heart™, a hot sauce made entirely from peppers grown by their farmers, sold directly and through retail partners. Additional revenue streams include the Smile Farms Collection (a curated gift collection sold through 1-800-Flowers.com with 20% proceeds donated), plants and flowers retail, and fresh produce. The organization also runs a recipe platform showcasing hot sauce usage and accepts donations through various programs including monthly giving (Perennial Partners), donor-advised funds, and matching gifts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Heat with Heart™: Hot sauce product line made entirely from peppers grown by Smile Farmers with disabilities. Includes red and green hot sauce varieties. 100% of proceeds fund jobs and training for individuals with disabilities.
• Perennial Partners
• Smile Farms Collection

Products and services

• Heat with Heart Hot Sauce Hot sauce made entirely from peppers grown by adults with developmental disabilities across six Smile Farms campuses. Available in Red Hot and Green Hot varieties; 100% of proceeds fund jobs and training for individuals with disabilities. Sold online, at retail stores, at farmers markets, and wholesale to restaurants.
• Smile Farms Collection (1-800-Flowers.com Partnership)

Quantifiable outcome

• 300+ Farmers employed through pepper project
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• 1-800-Flowers.comflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerSignature philanthropic partner. 1-800-Flowers.com sells Smile Farms Collection with 20% of net proceeds donated. Founded by Jim and Chris McCann of 1-800-Flowers.com in 2015. Co-founder provides ongoing strategic support and brand visibility.
• Catholic HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare system partnership creating cooperative gardens at Mercy Hospital behavioral health clinics. 12th campus opened May 2023 at Mercy Behavioral Health Center in Garden City. Second garden opened June 2024 at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre for patient vocational training.
• Independent Group Home Living (IGHL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst partnership in 2015 to create Smile Farms at IGHL - the organization's inaugural campus in Moriches, NY. Serves people with intellectual disabilities through vocational programming at greenhouse/farm location.
• Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus in Oakdale, NY where Heat with Heart hot sauce is fulfilled by paid employees. Provides packaging and shipping operations for the hot sauce product line.
• Skills Unlimited Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus in Oakdale, NY where hot sauce orders are fulfilled by paid participants learning new skills. Local delivery available to surrounding zip codes.
• Nassau BOCEScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner10th campus at Nassau BOCES where crops grown by special needs students are supplied to food pantries, senior centers, and group homes.
• The Tap Room (Upstream Hospitality)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerRestaurant partner procuring produce planted, grown, and harvested by Smile Farms participants. Produce pilot program at Center Moriches location.
• The Bungalow BarminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRockaway Beach restaurant partnership creating opportunities for people with disabilities. Growing collaboration for farm-to-table initiatives.
• Savings.comminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSavingsCares partnership enabling shoppers to support Smile Farms while saving money. Savings.com donates a portion of purchases to the nonprofit.
• The Viscardi CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership announced May 2017 during Hicks Nurseries Spring Flower & Garden Show to expand employment opportunities for adults with disabilities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Cholula Hot Sauce: Major premium hot sauce brand competing in the same consumer category as Heat with Heart. Comparable as a product-category peer rather than mission peer—relevant for benchmarking pricing, distribution, and shelf competition for Smile Farms' hot sauce line.
• Yellowbird Foods: Premium small-batch hot sauce and condiment brand. Comparable as an adjacent competitor in the specialty hot sauce category, useful for understanding positioning and pricing strategy for Heat with Heart's national ambitions.

Broad incumbents

• Easterseals: One of the largest national nonprofits serving people with disabilities through employment programs, vocational training, and community services. Represents a broader incumbent with mission overlap but operates across many disability service categories rather than specializing in agricultural employment.
• The Arc: National organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through advocacy, employment support, and community programs. Comparable in mission focus on developmental disabilities, though operates primarily as an advocacy and service-coordination network rather than direct employer.
• SourceAmerica: National nonprofit that connects people with disabilities to meaningful employment through the AbilityOne program and a network of nonprofit agencies. Operates as a larger, established player in the same disability employment mission space as Smile Farms, with broader scope across industries.
• Goodwill Industries International: Global nonprofit operating a network of employment programs for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. Represents a broad incumbent in the disability employment space with overlapping mission but retail-donations-based revenue model rather than agricultural operations.
• Best Buddies International: National nonprofit creating opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through friendship, leadership, and jobs programs. Comparable in targeting the same demographic (developmental disabilities) with employment-focused initiatives, though broader in scope and more advocacy-oriented.

Direct peers

• Melwood: Nonprofit social enterprise providing employment, vocational training, and support services for people with disabilities through horticulture, food services, and other business lines. Operates farm-to-consumer agricultural programs analogous to Smile Farms' campus model, making it the closest comparable in mission, structure, and operations.
• Challenge Unlimited: Nonprofit social enterprise employing people with disabilities across landscaping, food service, manufacturing, and agricultural operations. Directly comparable to Smile Farms in mission, structure, and operational model of running businesses that employ individuals with disabilities.

Emerging players

• Brooklyn Grange: Urban rooftop farming operation in New York City and a current Smile Farms partner assisting with pepper production for the Heat with Heart line. Comparable as an urban agriculture operator with overlapping crop production and NYC-area distribution footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SmileFarmsInc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCLlqxiXHnsGv3InypdzW5pw
• Facebookfacebook.com/SmileFarmsInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smilefarmsorg
• Instagraminstagram.com/smilefarmsinc

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smile Farms Inc