FarmedHere, a indoor vertical farm that grows organic produce and sells it to several hundred grocery stores throughout the Midwest, announced the appointment of Matt Matros as CEO.
Founded in 2011, FarmedHere is the first commercial-scale vertical farm in the United States that produces organic produce using hydroponic and aquaponic technologies in all-weather conditions 365 days per year.
Matros founded leading healthy fast-casual chain PROTEIN BAR® in 2009 and served as CEO until November 2014, upon which Samir Wagle, a Chipotle Mexican Grill ® veteran, was appointed as PROTEIN BAR's CEO. Matros will remain on the PROTEIN BAR Board of Directors and will continue his involvement with the business in an advisory capacity.
"I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to help lead FarmedHere in to the next generation," Matros said. "This business literally will change the world with our organic, locally-grown produce by solving the tremendous water use, unpredictable weather, and high-pollution conditions plaguing the agriculture and farming industries."
Matros will take over as CEO from Mark Thomann, who had been operating as interim CEO since April 2014. Thomann, an early FarmedHere investor and CEO of Chicago-based River West Brands, will become Chairman of the Board.
"We at FarmedHere are very excited to have Matt joining our leadership team as the new CEO," Thomann said. "He brings a breadth of experience to our farm and will draw upon his success as an entrepreneur to lead and improve our company moving forward."
As part of the transition, FarmedHere has also promoted Megan Klein to President from General Counsel.
For more information visit www.FarmedHere.com