Revol Greens may shutter, layoff workers near Owatonna
Revol Greens, which grows lettuce and other greens near Owatonna, may lay off nearly a hundred employees and close its massive greenhouse in October if it can’t find a buyer for the company or an infusion of funding.
The lettuce grower told state regulators Wednesday that it would be forced to close its Medford facility about an hour south of the Twin Cites and layoff approximately 89 employees if the site or company does not secure funding or get bought out before Oct. 4.
The Minnesota company, which grows its lettuce in a climate-controlled, 10-acre greenhouse, opened in 2017 and has an additional greenhouse in Texas. Revol Greens did not respond to a MPR News interview request in time for publication.
This announcement comes at a time when many consumers across the country have been avoiding lettuce because of a national outbreak of a parasitic infection linked to iceberg lettuce, although the potential Revol Greens closure appears to be unrelated.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention is currently investigating a multi-state outbreak of cyclospora infections linked to iceberg lettuce. Since May, it has identified at least 10,000 cases of the gastrointestinal disease — and likely many more that have yet to be confirmed. At least one outbreak has been linked to Taylor Farms, which sells its products in grocery stores and to fast food restaurants and other eateries.
On the homepage of its website, Revol Greens explains that its products are not impacted by the current cyclospora outbreak.
“Our leafy greens are grown year-round in our controlled-environment greenhouses in Minnesota and Texas, where every step of the growing process is designed with food safety in mind,” the company wrote on its Facebook page in mid July. “From treated water and plant and mineral based fertilizers, to automated harvesting that minimizes human handling, our growing practices help us maintain a highly controlled environment from seed to harvest.”
All job losses are expected to occur on Oct. 4. There is no union at the facility.
