Pepper Joe’s in Urbana’s Clickstop complex is expanding its production with a new greenhouse and plans to have it completed by mid-March of 2021.
“Despite the state the country and the world is in, there’s been an uptick in gardening with an estimated 20 million new gardeners this year,” Keaton Wanninger, Business Unit Fanatic for Pepper Joe’s said. “With that much growth, we couldn’t keep things in stock. We’ve had to hire extra help this year, which is a great problem to have. Our sales have doubled from the year before and we want to capitalize on this opportunity.”
The new facility will take up 8,000 sq feet. Pepper Joe’s will have rooms to crossbreed their selection peppers and be able to grow their produce at a level they can meet demand. Anything not used will be ground into powders or dry pods to be sold.
“This new greenhouse opens the door to so many different possibilities for us and the company,” Wanninger said. “We’ve already got our start on the facility and they will be working on it through the winter. Pending bad weather that crews can’t work during a period of time, mid-March is what we are hoping for.”