Little Leaf Farms Hires New Senior Vice President of Sales to Lead U.S. Expansion

Chris Hill brings more than 20 years of management and sales experience to the country's #1 brand of CEA packaged lettuce

DEVENS, Mass., July 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Little Leaf Farms, the country's #1 brand of packaged lettuce sustainably grown through controlled environment agriculture (CEA), is proud to announce the addition of Chris Hill as its new Senior Vice President of Sales. Hill joined Little Leaf Farms in April 2022 and comes to the company with more than 20 years of experience within the Produce and Packaged Salad industries, having previously led sales efforts for Fresh Express and Dole. In his new role, Hill is leading Little Leaf Farms' expansion efforts as they invest in new greenhouse operations up and down the East Coast and across the United States. Hill joins a growing sales team at Little Leaf Farms, which has grown its retail sales by more than 50% in the past year. 

"Chris is a great addition to the team and his years of experience and customer relationship expertise will lead us forward as Little Leaf Farms continues on its mission to bring fresh, delicious, and sustainably grown lettuce to consumers," said Tim Cunniff Co-Founder and EVP of Sales. 

"I'm very excited to join the talented team at Little Leaf Farms to share my years of experience within the packaged salad space. CEA is a highly sought-after, emerging segment of the industry and I'm looking forward to building on Little Leaf Farms' leadership in the space through continued expansion," said Hill.

Earlier this year, Little Leaf Farms raised $300 million in new capital, with equity financing led by The Rise Fund, TPG's multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and additional committed debt funding from Bank of America. The capital will support aggressive growth and expansion of farms and distribution, making Little Leaf Farms' local lettuces accessible to more than half of the country's population by 2026. Immediate expansion and a doubling of acreage comes with the opening of a new greenhouse in McAdoo, Pennsylvania this summer.

Little Leaf Farms' new state-of-the-art hydroponic greenhouse will open in July on 180 acres in McAdoo, Pennsylvania. This is the fourth greenhouse for Little Leaf Farms and will expand the brand's distribution of delicious, fresh lettuce - all free of harmful pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides - throughout the Northeast. The farm will increase the brand's retail presence by 50%, with products available in more than 3,500 grocery stores. 

The new greenhouse will integrate Little Leaf Farms' best-in-class technology, including energy efficiencies across heating, cooling, lighting, advanced data analytics and hands-free automated grow systems. Little Leaf Farms employs hydroponic production for its lettuce that is grown under glass and uses captured rainwater, natural sunlight, up to 90% less water than field-grown greens and solar panels to generate electricity.

The brand plans to open several more greenhouses in both Pennsylvania and North Carolina to serve its growing customer base.

Little Leaf Farms is on a mission to transform the way food is grown through peri-urban agricultural practices that are rebuilt for the modern world. Using advanced greenhouse technologies, Little Leaf Farms is growing fresh, sustainably farmed lettuce 365 days a year. Little Leaf Farms utilizes captured rainwater, natural sunlight that shines through high transmission glass, and solar-powered energy in their precise, soil-less hydroponic farming. The crispy, flavorful baby greens are harvested without ever touching human hands and are never treated with chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. For more information, visit littleleaffarms.com or @littleleaffarms.

SOURCE Little Leaf Farms