New report sheds light on labor issues at private equity-owned carrot giant

Today, nonprofit watchdog group the Private Equity Stakeholder Project released a new report that analyzes labor issues at private equity-owned Grimmway Farms, the largest carrot grower in the world.

Acquired by private equity firm Teays River Investments in 2021, Grimmway has controlled between 40-50% of the US carrot market share in recent years. Grimmway Produce Group operates in California and nine other states from Washington to Florida. Grimmway carrots are sold under many different labels, including Cal Organic, Bunny-Luv, and generic store brands including Target, Publix, and Trader Joe’s. Grimmway was linked to a widely-publicized outbreak of E. coli in November 2024.

Since 2021, Grimmway has grown to employ between six and eight thousand workers across 95,000 acres of farmland. In the years since its acquisition by Teays River, Grimmway has faced lawsuits and fines for its treatment of workers, including over $145,342 in fines by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over 19 violations, including seven categorized by OSHA as “serious.” About half of these violations have been contested, and those cases remain open as of August 2026.

In 2025, Grimmway was ordered to pay $427,456 in back wages and penalties by the Department of Labor after an investigation found that workers in Washington state were underpaid. Just one month later, a federal judge ruled in a separate lawsuit that Grimmway engaged in a pattern or practice of disability discrimination against farmworkers.

“Farmworkers play a vital role in getting food on tables across the country. They are entitled to dignity, respect, and safety at work,” said Justin Flores, Director of the Workers and Jobs team at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “Teays River Investments should commit to workforce principles that ensure workers can earn sustainable wages, provide sick leave, and protect workers’ rights to organize.”

In recent years, private equity firms have acquired large portions of the US agricultural supply chain, including the development and sale of seeds, fertilizers, technology, and soil testing services. A smaller subset of these deals also involve the acquisition of farms cultivating and harvesting crops. According to a PESP analysis of Pitchbook data, 129 private equity deals occurred in the five year period between January 2018 and December 2023 in the agricultural space dedicated specifically to horticulture and cultivation.