Business Community

Initially called Backyard Fresh Farms, Wilder Fields was based at The Plant from 2017 to 2022 in what now feels like a tiny little 1800sf space. From there, this vertical farm focused on microgreens expanded into a 135,000sf former Target in Calumet City. Redevelopment of the vacant building brought much-needed jobs and investment into to the south suburban community. And we love this story of one of the former Target employees who got a job with Wilder Fields!

Sacred Serve started up in a shared kitchen space at The Plant in 2016 as a part-time producer of coconut-based vegan gelato. They were ready to take on their own kitchen within a year and expanded further in 2019. Sacred Serve outgrew their space at The Plant in 2023 thanks to their success expanding into nationwide markets, which required them to engage a third-party co-packer to handle the quantities produced. This small business is a notable industry leader, packaging its product in the first recyclable/compostable packaging in the U.S.

Back in 2011, Pleasant House Bakery began producing their savory Royal Pies and operating a farm at The Plant to support their operations in their modest restaurant space at 31st & Morgan Streets. Later, they launched a line of breads and pastries that had a cult community following. In 2016, they consolidated operations at their beautiful, much larger Pleasant House Pub in Pilsen. Pleasant House continued with a presence at The Plant until 2019, operating the pizza kitchen in Whiner Beer's taproom.

Formerly called Komunity Kombucha, RMBR started out at The Plant in 2020 under Kombuchade’s shared kitchen license. They quickly outgrew the arrangement and shifted to a co-packing arrangement elsewhere in the City by 2022. Their craft kombuchas strive to normalize the consumption of healthy non-alcoholic beverages in social settings. (And don’t miss their Ginger Limeade – we’ve got it at the Turtle Stop.)

Rumi Spice was founded by Army veterans who served in Afghanistan to help support sustainable economic development by creating jobs for Afghan farmers and women. They started up at The Plant in 2015, handling processing and packing of their delicate saffron. This women- and veteran-owned Certified B Corp appeared on Shark Tank in 2017 (and, ultimately, did not accept the deals they were offered).  Distribution of their saffron and wild-foraged spices expanded through Whole Foods nationwide in 2018. Rumi Spice’s processing shifted abroad in 2019, and they moved on from The Plant when they no longer required a production space state-side.

After completing Argonne National Laboratory’s Chain Reaction Innovations Entrepreneurship, the founders of Meati moved into laboratory space at The Plant in 2018. They were then working on BTRFY, a snack product made from mycelium and byproducts from Whiner’s brewing process. In 2019, they moved back to their home state of Colorado and launched Meati; its nutrient-rich mycelium steaks and cutlets are now available coast-to-coast.

An early business at The Plant, the Urban Canopy launched a pilot rooftop farm with a small growing space indoors in 2011. Their outdoor farming operations shifted to large plots elsewhere; they now farm two acres in Auburn-Gresham. The Urban Canopy continued growing wheatgrass in their indoor space at The Plant until 2022, when they consolidated their indoor growing operations with their many other initiatives, including their LUCSA (Local Unified Community Supported Agriculture), Compost Club offering compost pick-up service throughout the City, and other efforts.

Established in 2011 by John Edel, the non-profit Plant Chicago leased space at The Plant from 2013 to 2019. Their demonstration aquaponic systems were initially developed at Bubbly by John and a group of engineering students from IIT – several of whom went on to join the Bubbly Dynamics team – and moved over to The Plant. Today, Plant Chicago operates from a former firehouse a few blocks away from The Plant, where they hold monthly markets, workshops, and other programs.