Includes AK, CA, HI, OR, and WA
How I Reinvented Fresh Produce
Lettuce Grow, No. 11
Los Angeles, California
Jacob Pechenik, co-founder and CEO
Two-year revenue growth: 1,665%
Jacob Pechenik, 50, had founded and exited three companies by the time his then-partner, actor Zooey Deschanel, was pregnant with their first child. As many do in such circumstances, the family adopted healthy eating habits—only to be astounded by the cost of organic produce, and disappointed by the quality. Pechenik, seeing an opportunity, decided to launch an aquaponic organic farm. It was inspiring, grounding, and—ultimately—unsustainable. Grocery store margins were just too slim. He chalked it up to our inefficient system of bringing food to market, and in 2017
