Urban Farm DB
← Back to cases
Building interiorInactiveSince 2018

AppHarvest

Morehead, United States · Operator: AppHarvest, Inc.

Overview

A large-scale Kentucky indoor-farming startup; opened a 60-acre flagship greenhouse in 2020 but went from Wall Street darling to bankrupt in six years.

Citizen participation

Created local jobs but production was company-run, not participatory.

Operating model

Commercial model growing tomatoes and other produce in large Appalachian greenhouses, distributed nationwide via Mastronardi.

Impact

Rapid expansion ran up construction and operating costs that revenue could not cover; filed Chapter 11 in July 2023 and was ultimately liquidated, selling its four sites. Lesson: building giant facilities at once burns through working capital fast.

Crops

  • tomatoes
  • cucumbers
  • berries

Scale

Filed Chapter 11 in July 2023; liquidation plan confirmed and effective December 2023; four Kentucky greenhouses sold off

Sources(2)

Related cases

AppHarvest — Urban Farm DB