Jack Levine and his business partner Temen Kim met in kindergarten where their lifelong friendship began. Seventeen years later, in 2019, the two launched Town to Table on the day of their college graduation and they haven’t looked back since. From building a 960-square-foot hydroponic growing facility in repurposed shipping containers to finding their niche with locally grown basil year-round, it’s evident that it’s not just their lifelong friendship that makes them different, it’s the entire operation that makes the Town to Table difference.
Most store-bought basil travels thousands of miles in refrigerated trucks to reach your local grocer, so it’s no wonder it wilts and blackens so quickly. Town to Table’s hyper-local supply chain all but guarantees you’ll be able to enjoy your Town to Table basil longer than anything else you can find at the grocery store, all year round!
Hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. The basil plants at Town to Table grow indoors with the plans obtaining all of their nutrition from the water, and all of their energy from time-controlled LED lighting. With this method of growing, the farmers at Town to Table are able to grow 50,000 plants at a time in just 960-square-feet of growing and production space. Town to Table’s hydroponic farms are located in the Greater Boston area, so their basil never travels more than 30 miles to reach our store shelves, more often than not customers are buying the basil the day after harvest.
Their experienced growers seed, harvest, and package every basil plant by hand, giving them full transparency into the journey from seed to shelf. The basil seeds are sourced from one of the region’s most well-respected growers, and close tabs are kept on each harvested batch, so that growers can identify and remove any tainted product from the supply chain if needed.
Sustainability is naturally built-in to their business, from the recycled freight containers that house their hydroponic farms, to their incredibly low-impact growing technology that uses up to 95% less water compared to traditional farming methods. Finally, the beautiful basil is gently packed into recyclable containers before being sent to the store for sale.
Taste the Town to Table for yourself! Pick up a package of basil next time you’re in store or order it online with your next home delivery!
