Macon, GA |

It’s farming with a modern twist in Macon, where BrightFarms has blended old-school growing principles with cutting-edge greenhouse technology. The company recently opened its nearly half-million-square-foot facility, designed to deliver fresh leafy greens to families across the Southeast year-round.

“This facility opened about nine months ago at the very beginning of 2025 to grow leafy greens for the entire Southeast,” says Jess Soare, Vice President of Marketing for BrightFarms. “Here, we package our leafy greens into ready-to-eat containers as well as ready-to-eat crunch kits that are perfect meal solutions for families.”

While the operation may not look like traditional farming, the mission remains the same—caring for the plant from seed to harvest.

“The whole process really starts from the seed and then comes all the way through to this mature, beautiful product that you see here,” Soare explains. “We really want to make sure that the babies, as we call them, our little sprouts, are given all the nutrients, the water, the sunlight, everything they need to thrive. And happy plants result in really fresh, delicious, crunchy products.”

Thanks to the controlled greenhouse environment, BrightFarms can deliver consistency and quality regardless of weather conditions outside.

“We in the greenhouse are not dealing with the harsh weather conditions that many of us have become accustomed to,” Soare says. “So, no matter if it’s a hundred degrees outside or a crazy cold, random snowy day in Atlanta that shuts the highway down, we can still grow our leafy greens here in the greenhouse at a seventy-two-degree environment with perfect levels of humidity.”

Choosing Macon for the new greenhouse wasn’t by accident. Its central location ensures quicker delivery to nearby markets, cutting down on transportation time.

“Here at BrightFarms, we’re growing just a couple of hours—or just a couple of minutes—down the road before it gets to your retailer,” says Soare. “Those leaves arrive to your grocery stores in as little as twenty-four hours after they were packaged. And so, the consumer actually gets the benefit of that shelf life in your fridge so that you have really fresh, long-lasting greens.”

That speed-to-shelf, paired with an uncompromising focus on quality, is what the team takes pride in every single day.

“Having oversight over the entire process—from seed all the way to harvesting—allows us to really control the quality of our products,” Soare says. “Every single BrightFarmer you see here is dedicated to quality, safe produce coming from BrightFarms. And that’s really our mission every single day.”

By: Damon Jones