A massive produce grower across the U.S. is officially shutting down after months of buyout negotiations. Now, nearly 170 San Antonio workers are immediately out of work – a move that could have lasting impacts on H-E-B grocery shopping lists and employment figures in the Alamo City.
The Ohio-based vertical farming company 80 Acres Farms owned and operated a produce plant on the Southeast Side of San Antonio for years. Back in 2024, it was touted as the first soil-based, vertical farming operation in the Alamo City. Now, it’s closing its doors.
“This has been a difficult situation for the Company and we are giving you as much notice as practicable,” 80 Acres Farms executives and co-founders Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston said in a mass layoff letter. “Until immediately before this notice was issued, the Company was actively engaged in negotiations regarding a potential acquisition that, if completed, was expected to provide the funding necessary to continue operations and void or postpone the closure.”
However, the company heads say this unnamed buyer unexpectedly withdrew from negotiations on the evening of August 2. Without the deal, they say the company simply didn’t have the money to keep its facilities running.
This means 166 San Antonio workers at the site near Brooks, at 3315 Global Way, will be out of work between August 3 and August 12. The company acquired the Southeast Side building from Soli Organics almost exactly one year ago. The vertical farming operation had been in operation since 2024.
The layoffs began the same day the notice was filed, on August 3, and some employees affected by the sweeping national shutdowns say they learned in real time of their job loss as the news broke online and on television screens across the country.
“Didn’t say a word to their employees until they completely shut down,” Heather Wade responded online to word of the news. “A friend of mine worked at the one in [Kentucky]. He just found out today he no longer has a job, and nobody will ever respond back on how to collect his [money] that he’s paid into for the past 4 years.”
Deborah Elfers Schroeder, the former executive assistant to the CEO of 80 Acres Farms, is now taking to social media to help secure a new job.
And it’s not just the job losses that will affect San Antonio. A search in the H-E-B app shows that 80 Acres Farms supplied microgreens and salads to Texas’ favorite grocer.
Some shoppers have taken to social media to say 80 Acres Farms was their go-to for greens, especially as cyclospora outbreaks in iceberg lettuce caused widespread concern about affected produce sold in stores across the country.
