Green Circle Growers in Ohio: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Green Circle Growers is a family-owned greenhouse company west of Oberlin, Ohio, and one of the largest wholesale greenhouse operations in the country. State economic development materials describe about 110 acres under glass, and an Ohio electric cooperative profile calls it the leading orchid grower in North America.
| Location | Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 by John van Wingerden, as a vegetable farm (as published) |
| Sectors | Orchids; bedding, seasonal and indoor potted plants; succulents |
| Scale | State release: 110 acres under glass. Co-op profile: 100 acres indoors and 35 outdoors, about 8.5 million orchids a year |
| Why it is elite | One of the largest wholesale greenhouse operations in the U.S.; top North American orchid grower; 800+ employees |
| Ownership | Family owned and managed |
| Official website | Green Circle Growers official site |
History of Green Circle Growers
Green Circle Growers was started in 1968 by John van Wingerden as a vegetable farm in the countryside west of Oberlin, Ohio. Over the following decades it moved from vegetables into ornamental crops, a shift that suited a region with plenty of Great Lakes light, rail and highway access to eastern and midwestern markets, and a long tradition of greenhouse growing.
The company has remained family owned and managed. A JobsOhio announcement noted that the family has been based in the Oberlin area for more than 50 years and described a large capital investment tied to a multi-million dollar expansion that would add jobs while retaining hundreds of existing positions. Those commitments reflect how far the operation has grown from a single vegetable farm.
What Green Circle Growers Grows and Raises
The operation grows in about 100 acres of indoor space plus roughly 35 acres outdoors, according to an Ohio Cooperative Living profile. About 33 acres of greenhouse are devoted to Phalaenopsis orchids, and the company is reported to produce around 8.5 million a year. The same profile says the company also grows bedding plants, seasonal plants, succulents and indoor potted plants.
Customers are mainly national retailers; the profile names Home Depot, Sam's Club and Trader Joe's. The company markets a beginner-friendly orchid under the Just Add Ice brand, and also sells directly to consumers through its website. With more than 800 employees, the business is a significant employer in Lorain County and relies on climate control, scheduling and logistics as much as on horticulture.
How Green Circle Growers Makes Money
Wholesale to national retailers
The core revenue stream is wholesale supply of finished plants to large retail chains. Programs with big-box and grocery customers reward consistent quality, reliable delivery windows and the ability to ramp volume for holidays, which is exactly what a large, climate-controlled greenhouse range is built to deliver.
Branded orchid programs
The Just Add Ice orchid is a branded product designed to make orchids easy for beginners. A brand with a simple care message can lift sales per plant and reduce returns, because customers are more likely to keep the plant alive.
Direct-to-consumer and diversified crops
The company's website sells to consumers, and its mix of bedding plants, seasonal plants, succulents and indoor plants spreads sales across the year. Orchids provide steady year-round demand while seasonal crops capture spring and holiday peaks.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Green Circle Growers
A first lesson is that specialization at scale builds negotiating power. By concentrating 33 acres on one crop, the company can be a go-to supplier for retailers who need orchids in volume, instead of competing as one of many general growers.
A second lesson is to protect the home base while investing. Publicly announced expansion with retained jobs shows how a family firm can work with state development agencies to finance capital-heavy glass and equipment. A third is to diversify the calendar: pairing a steady orchid line with seasonal crops smooths greenhouse use across the year.
A greenhouse that ships millions of orchids a year is a long way from the vegetable farm of 1968, and the plant world rarely gets the farm satire treatment it deserves, so farm.FM is glad to take notes. Keep the farm humor friendly: nobody at the Oberlin range is likely to lose sleep over ranch humor or farm jokes, but anyone who has watered a store-bought orchid into submission knows why a Just Add Ice approach has fans.
farm.FM got there first as the nation's first satirical farm site, and it backs the writing with Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Here is one contributor's collection of farm satire to start with.
How to Contact Green Circle Growers
Website: https://www.greencirclegrowers.com/
Website as named in a JobsOhio announcement, November 2026. Contact details were not verified from the site itself; use the website's contact options and confirm before visiting.
Green Circle Growers Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- JobsOhio: Green Circle Growers expansion - State announcement on acreage under glass and capital investment
- Ohio Cooperative Living: Orchid empire - Profile of the 1968 founding, orchid output and customers
- Green Circle Growers - The company's website
- USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture, Ohio - State totals for farms, acres and crop and nursery sales
- USDA Farm Service Agency, Ohio - State office information on farm programs and loans
Green Circle Growers FAQ
Where is Green Circle Growers?
It is in the countryside west of Oberlin in Lorain County, Ohio.
How big is Green Circle Growers?
JobsOhio describes about 110 acres under glass. An Ohio Cooperative Living profile reports about 100 acres indoors and 35 outdoors.
What does it grow?
Phalaenopsis orchids are the flagship, with bedding plants, seasonal plants, succulents and indoor potted plants also grown.
Who buys its plants?
The co-op profile names national retailers including Home Depot, Sam's Club and Trader Joe's, and the company also sells to consumers through its website.
Green Circle Growers proves that a vegetable farm started in 1968 can become a national supplier of orchids and potted plants. For the broader picture of Ohio agriculture, read the Ohio state guide and the other profiled operations.