277: Joseph Martinez on Microgreens

Building a business on the tiniest greens.

In This Podcast: As a young adult with an unfocused passion, Joseph Martinez was looking for something that he could feel good doing.  His travels gave him little nudges in the right direction, but things did not really come clear until he decided to start a business with his brother and got some unexpected advice from a client. Just a few years later, they have a thriving business growing microgreens and he’s loving the difference he is making and the meaningfulness that exists in his life.

Joseph is a co-founder of Arizona Microgreens, an urban farm in Phoenix which produces microgreens for restaurants, schools, and individuals throughout the state of Arizona. 

Using a DIY approach of starting small and growing incrementally, Joseph and his brother built their start-up from a 200-square-foot self-built greenhouse, to a social enterprise model operating out of a 13,000-square-foot greenhouse today.

Initially focused on the fine-dining market, Arizona Microgreens is now producing microgreens for farm-to-school programs, naturopathic clinics, and a much broader range of diverse customers. 

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/22/277-joseph-martinez/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.