Minnesota lettuce grower Revol Greens may remain open as it postpones planned closure, layoffs
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Revol Greens, which grows lettuce and other greens in a massive greenhouse near Owatonna and had planned to close this weekend, is now going to remain open for at least a few more weeks as it works to finalize a deal to stay in business.
The lettuce grower told state regulators in August that it planned to permanently close its facility Oct. 4 and lay off nearly 100 employees, but in a new filing with the state this week, the company said it is postponing the closure and that it hopes to continue operations.
“The postponement is due to ongoing efforts to close a transaction that may allow operations at the facility to continue,” Revol Greens Interim CFO Michaele Gobel wrote. “If those efforts are unsuccessful, the plant closing and related employment losses are expected to occur during the 14-day period beginning Oct. 15, 2026, and ending Oct. 29, 2026.”
Revol Greens has not yet responded to MPR News’ request for comment.
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If the Medford-based company is able to close the deal, dozens of jobs could be saved. In August, Revol Greens said that it anticipated 89 employees would be laid off if the company did not secure financing or find a buyer for the business by October.
The Minnesota company, which grows its lettuce in a huge, climate-controlled, 10-acre greenhouse, opened in 2017 and has an additional greenhouse in Texas.
Its original decision to close came at a time when demand for lettuce and other greens slumped as many consumers across the country were avoiding lettuce because of a national outbreak of a parasitic infection linked to iceberg lettuce. While none of Revol Greens products were contaminated, Revol Greens vice president of operations explained in its August press release that the Cyclospora outbreak was one of the challenges the company was facing.
“While Revol Greens greenhouse-grown products have continued to meet rigorous food safety and quality standards and were not implicated in the outbreak, the resulting uncertainty in consumer demand has created challenges throughout the leafy greens sector and has impacted ongoing financing discussions for many companies serving the category,” Carkoski wrote when the planned closure was announced in August.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has been investigating the multi-state outbreak of cyclospora infections linked to iceberg lettuce. Since May, it has identified nearly 20,000 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.
“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.”
