Indoor grower Nimble Farms rebrands, expands offerings to all Tops Markets

By RICK MILLER

Olean Star

A Buffalo-based locally-grown vegetables company with roots in the Southern Tier is getting a new name and branding as it announces a major retail expansion.

Nimble Farms — formerly Ellicottville Greens — a regional leader in indoor farming, is getting a chain-wide launch for its new brand identity through Tops Friendly Markets.

Nimble Farms’ Butterhead Living Lettuce is now available in all 152 Tops locations across New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, with plans to expand product offerings in the near future.

Nimble Farms’ Cattaraugus County presence is located in seven large storage containers outside the former Olean Times Herald building in Olean. It was constructed in 2023.

Inside, vertical farming techniques are capable of producing crops that would take 1.5 acres to grow in a field during the growing season.

Each of the temperature-controlled containers can produce 1,000 heads of hydroponically grown lettuce or 500 pounds of microgreens each week. The lettuce and other greens including sprouts are shipped to local schools, hospitals and restaurants.

(Photo provided)

Nimble Farms, formerly Ellicottville Greens, which has a hydroponic operation in Olean where it grows lettuce and other greens, will be sold in Tops Markets throughout New York. — (Photo provided) Nimble Farms, formerly Ellicottville Greens, which has a hydroponic operation in Olean where it grows lettuce and other greens, will be sold in Tops Markets throughout New York.

There are two Buffalo sites. One has 20 of the containers which are capable of producing 500,000 heads of lettuce and 50,000 pounds of fresh herbs a year. The second location is a large grow room dedicated to growing about 10,000 pounds of basil a year.

Nimble Farms CEO Gabe Bialkowski said, “Since our inception, we have been dedicated to providing fresh, local produce to our communities using the most effective indoor growing technologies available.”

“Today, we proudly reintroduce ourselves as Nimble Farms — an inspiring new brand identity that honors our roots while reinforcing our mission to responsibly expand access to truly local food,” Bialkowski said. “With demand for healthy, perishable produce higher than ever, and with ongoing challenges facing our fresh food supply, we look forward to scaling our impact both regionally and nationwide in the years to come.”

Bialkowski plans to double the number of the modular farm sites by the end of this year, expanding operations in New York and Pennsylvania. In the next 10 years, he has a goal of building 100 locations nationwide.

The company’s trademarked tagline is “Locally Grown – Everywhere.

“Since our inception in 2018, we have been dedicated to providing fresh, local produce to our communities using the most effective indoor growing technologies available,” Bialkowsi said.

Nimble Farms’ Butterhead Living Lettuce is now available in all 152 Tops locations across New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, with plans to expand product offerings in the near future.

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