Today we’d like to introduce you to Colleen Derrico, Brian Gorman, and Rose Neely.
Colleen, Brian, and Rose, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Chicago Indoor Garden was started in 1987, and purchased by the current owner, Brian Gorman, in 2002. We’ve been at our current location on Division Street since 2007. We are a certified organic farm that grows sprouts, micro greens, wheatgrass, and sprouted beans indoor all year round. We currently sell to most Whole Foods stores across the midwest; as well as other local juice bars, restaurants, and wholesale produce businesses. Although we sell to a large territory; we are a very small family business of only nine employees that includes the owner and his two children (Colleen Derrico and Brendan Gorman).
After many years of working in the industrial packaging business, Brian Gorman purchased Chicago Indoor Garden on a whim. He’d always had an interest in healthy foods, and jumped at the chance to trade in a suit for blue jeans and rubber boots when the business came up for sale. Needless to say he has learned a lot along the way!
Our office manager Rose has been with the company for nearly 12 years, and is a woman of many talents who wears many hats. She does everything from managing the office to determining how much product we need to grow on a daily basis. She has quite the green thumb and knows exactly how to grow and take care of all of our products.
After years of working as a trainer in the horse industry, Brian’s daughter Colleen has recently returned to the family business. She handles everything from marketing and product demos, to food safety. Colleen is known as the “wheatgrass girl” at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park, and also performs product demos in stores across Chicaoland.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The Urban Farming movement comes from a place filled with good intentions and great ideas, but these small urban farms fail as quickly as they are popping up across the city. Indoor farms are just as much work as conventional outdoor farming; just in a different way. There are still daily unexpected challenges that any business owner can relate to. Equipment breaks, logistical challenges, high overhead costs, ect.
We get several young people who call us looking for work and say that they are “passionate about the local food movement and want to get involved”. This is great!..but let’s be real – very few have what it takes to be a farmer. It means getting up at 4:00 AM to load a truck for a farmers market, unload, set up, stand in the rain all day and make no profit due to inclement weather, pack up, go home, and cry into your pillow because no one was there to buy the micro greens you spent the last two weeks babying and caring for yourself (because your customers kept asking for new micro greens), and now they’re going to go bad before the next market.
One of our greatest challenges is that sprouts are considered a “hazardous food items” by the FDA. Remember when there was a bad Salmonella outbreak from Alfalfa Sprouts in the 90’s? Well after that the FDA rushed and pushed through a bunch of rules and requirements for sprout growers, and then listed sprouts as a hazardous item. Since then sprout growers have fought to have this removed, and have performed several studies and done tons of research on how to make the sprout industry better and safer. With the new measures growers take to produce sprouts, they really are a safe and extremely nutritious product for the public. Unfortunately the uphill battle of clearing our beloved sprouts’ name continues, and we work everyday to educate the public about our products.
Chicago Indoor Garden – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We grow Wheatgrass, Barley Grass, a variety of sprouted beans such as Garbanzo, and then a variety of Sprouts that we grow Hydroponically. Wheatgrass and Micro Greens are becoming a popular item that several urban farms grow and carry at farmers markets, but it is difficult to find Sprouts. Due to the hazardous food item listing of sprouts not many people want to grow them. Not only do we grow several varieties of sprouts (Alfalfa, Red Clover, Radish, Broccoli, Onion), but our sprouts are known for having the best shelf life compared to our competitors. Our sprouts are so fresh, and many times they have been harvested within 24 hours of their delivery to a local store.
Many people don’t realize how extremely nutritious sprout are, and we love having the opportunity to touch people’s lives with our products. For example: 2 ounces of broccoli sprouts have as much nutrition as two pounds of actual broccoli! We hear so many success stories about tumors shrinking (or even disappearing!), arthritis improving, and immune systems strengthening from our customers. We work with a holistic health institute in Florida, and when Chicagoans return home from their stay there, they come to us for their sprouts and wheatgrass to continue on with what they’ve learned from the clinic. We love that we in a sense are holistic healers – not just your average urban farm!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There are too many to list, but I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude every time my dad and I do our final walk through of “The Garden” at the end of the day. As we check on the sprouts before we leave and turn off the office lights; I am always to thankful for this time I get to spend with my dad growing something that truly helps people.
Pricing:
- Organic Wheatgrass Tray – $22.35
- 1lb. Organic Wheatgrass – $13.80
- 1lb. Organic Sunflower Greens – $12.10
- 1lb. Organic Snow Pea Shoots – $12.10
- 1lb. Broccoli Sprouts – $11.70
- 1lb. Alfalfa Sprouts – $5.90
Contact Info:
- Address: 4459 W. Division Street, Chicago, IL 60651
- Website: www.chicagoindoorgarden.com
- Phone: 773-772-5858
- Email: colleen@chicagoindoorgarden.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicagoindoorgarden/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoIndoorGarden/
- Other: https://chicagoindoorgarden.wordpress.com/
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