LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. -- Move over Alberta beef, oil and Taber corn, and make way for Coaldale lettuce.

Whole Leaf Foods is taking the national spotlight, after signing a deal to supply the lettuce for burgers, sandwiches and salads at all Wendy’s locations in Canada.

Whole Leaf grows more than 16 million heads of lettuce every year at its 11 acre greenhouse east of Coaldale, Alta. The fresh produce is already sold at grocery stores, retailers and some restaurants under the brand name Inspired Greens. Now Wendy’s will use the greenhouse-grown lettuce at every one of its 384 Canadian restaurants.

“We had the facility, the acreage, the capacity and production to be able to meet the needs of a national program,” said Rindi Bristol, senior director of sales, for Whole Leaf. “So we worked together to find a couple of products that worked for them.”

Wendy’s provided a statement, saying they know that customers care about what they eat, how it tastes, where it comes from and how it’s prepared, “This transition enables Wendy’s to further support Canadian producers and the Canadian economy, while offering supply predictability and consistency,” said Lisa Deletroz, senior director of marketing for Wendy's Canada.

Whole Leaf opened its Coaldale greenhouse three years ago, and added 5-acres of growing space in May of 2019. The company saw demand jump in 2018, following an outbreak of e-coli infections linked to romaine lettuce, likely grown in Arizona.

Bristol said COVID has heightened consumer awareness that these products can be grown in Alberta.

“Alberta is known for its beef, its Taber corn, and it’s known for a host of other things, oil and gas of course,” said Bristol.

“We think Alberta can be known for great lettuce production as well.”

Whole Leaf employs about 90 people at the Coaldale greenhouse and between 40 and 50 people at a processing facility in Calgary.

Bristol said the deal with Wendy’s means they are working at capacity and have a home for all the products they grow.

Whole Leaf said they will continue to produce whole head living lettuce as well as bagged and washed ready-to-eat salad for retailers, food service distributors and mom and pop businesses.

Bristol said for the past five years the company has been working to create a national market for greenhouse grown lettuce, “It’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits, or vegetables, of our labour.”