{"id":119378,"date":"2023-09-28T13:32:37","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T13:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/?p=119378"},"modified":"2023-09-28T13:32:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T13:32:37","slug":"farm-market-hydroponic-retail-farm-opens-at-edge-of-rino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/world-news\/farm-market-hydroponic-retail-farm-opens-at-edge-of-rino\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm & Market hydroponic retail farm opens at edge of RiNo"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the edge of Ballpark and RiNo, two brothers have debuted a twist on the classic hydroponic farm.<\/p>\n

Farm & Market, which Davis and Austin Breedlove opened Sept. 16, has the typical vertical \u201ctowers\u201d — 1,080 of them, specifically — with lettuce and other greens sprouting from them through a soil-less system.<\/p>\n

But unlike most similar operations, which sell to restaurants or grocery stores, the Breedloves are selling their produce onsite, in resealable plastic bags. They pick a small amount of most varieties each day, as opposed to harvesting the entire crop of a particular green and then waiting weeks for the next one. The only restaurant they supply is the one they run at the rear of the building, which serves vegetable-heavy soups, salads and bowls.<\/p>\n

Davis, 32, is the CEO. The University of Southern California graduate worked in tech but was always a \u201cbackyard farmer.\u201d Now he\u2019s gone pro and runs the farm, which takes up about half the building at 2401 Larimer St.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved growing plants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Austin, 30, runs the restaurant side. He got a degree in psychology at Texas Christian University, then later went to Boulder\u2019s Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and worked at Denver restaurant Root Down.<\/p>\n

Davis said the pair expected to have to educate their customers on \u201cwhy\u201d their business does what it does. Produce loses nutrients in the days or weeks they sit waiting to be sold and eaten, they note. The items sold at the grocery store are the items that can stand the rigor of being shipped hundreds of miles.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurns out the \u2018what\u2019 we are is the first thing we\u2019d need to educate on,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three parts in one is kind of a hard thing for people to wrap their head around,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n

Part 1 is the farm, which is accessible only to employees but can be seen through glass by anyone who walks into the building. Growing under bright lights are eight types of head lettuce, eight types of kale and a half-dozen mustard greens, as well as herbs and microgreens.<\/p>\n

The setup cost about $300,000 to build. At max capacity, the operation is expected to grow enough for 900 to 1,000 salads a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grow a lot of varieties that most people haven\u2019t heard about, because they don\u2019t have good shelf life, so grocery stores don\u2019t carry them,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Some of the lettuce and herbs are packaged for sale in Part 2, the market on the other side of the glass. On Friday, a sizable 3.85-ounce bag of wasabina mustard greens — whose flavor profile ends with a hit of wasabi — set a reporter back $4.18, including tax.<\/p>\n

The market also includes a couple of refrigerated cases, which sell drinks, house-made dressings and various other items that one might throw on a salad at home.<\/p>\n

Additionally, each day a tower or two of unharvested plants, along with a couple types of microgreens, are moved from the farm to the checkout counter, where they can be picked on demand for customers in what Austin called \u201ca butcher shop for herbs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting it as fresh as possible,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Part 3 is the aforementioned restaurant in the back, where bowls and salads topped with a protein such as chicken, tofu or salmon are generally in the $16-to-$22 range.<\/p>\n

The pair expect two-thirds of revenue to come from the restaurant, with the farm and market providing the remainder. The market opens at 9:30 a.m., and the restaurant opens at 11 a.m. Both close at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

The brothers were born in the Denver area, where their parents Bill and Stephanie started a firm called Breedlove & Associates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey grew up in an entrepreneurial household,\u201d Stephanie said.<\/p>\n

When the boys were around 6 and 7, the family moved to be closer to family in Texas, and in 2012 the company — described at the time as \u201cthe largest provider of comprehensive household payroll, tax and compliance services in the U.S.\u201d — was acquired and rebranded.<\/p>\n

Austin moved back to the Denver area about five years ago. His brother and parents followed. In 2021, their new family office, Breedlove Capital,\u00a0paid $3.38 million for the building and a small parking lot\u00a0across the alley. SRS Real Estate Partners represented the firm in the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an 87-year-old building that was dying,\u201d Stephanie Breedlove said.<\/p>\n

Stephanie said the building just off Broadway was originally built to store potatoes, which were then ferried to various neighborhood grocery stores. It eventually was converted into office space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we bought it, it had about three dozen cubes in it, a leaky roof and a small bathroom,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Stephanie estimated the family office, which is also the only investor in Farm & Market, spent another $2 million fixing up the building. The floors are original, as are the brick walls, although the brick has been painted. For a time, Stephanie said, it appeared Denver\u2019s Landmark Preservation Commission might force them to remove the \u201cfin\u201d that rises from the roof — a key reason the family bought the building — but it was ultimately decided it could stay.<\/p>\n

Davis said he\u2019d love to expand the operation beyond greens in the future, to things like cucumbers and tomatoes, although those wouldn\u2019t grow vertically and would have to be planted at another location.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur dream is to have a full produce section,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.<\/em><\/p>\n

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