GrowUp Farms chooses Sandwich for innovative vertical farm

GrowUp Farms, a UK-based grower of high-quality salads is building a vertical farm at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent.

Using 95 per cent less water than conventional growing methods, without the need for pesticides and directly powered by renewable energy, GrowUp’s farm will bring fresher, longer-lasting salads to supermarket shelves all year-round.

GrowUp Farms and sustainable infrastructure company Generate Capital, have announced an investment exceeding £100m to transform British food production by accelerating delivery of GrowUp’s energy-efficient vertical farms, starting with the farm in Kent. Generate Capital is a Public Benefit Corporation that builds, owns, operates and finance sustainable infrastructure projects. The San Francisco-based company, which also has a team in London, has more than 2,000 projects operating around the world in sustainable energy, agriculture, transportation, water and waste.

GrowUp Farms uses technology and growing expertise that it has developed across three vertical farms, enabling it to sell restaurant-quality leafy greens that stay fresher for longer. The company’s industry-leading technology is integrated with the on-site renewable energy at Discovery Park to drive down the costs of vertical farming, while cutting down on food waste in the supply chain and at home.

GrowUp’s controlled production environment means the salad leaves do not need to be processed, which preserves quality and life on the shelf and in the fridge. Salads from the GrowUp farm are expected to save up to three million lorry miles per year by avoiding imports, and will create new permanent, skilled jobs in Kent and elsewhere. The company will soon start to recruit a 40-strong workforce to operate its energy-efficient vertical farm.

Located in the Garden of England, the farm joins an area renowned for its food and drink heritage. Within the South-East of England’s life sciences cluster, Discovery Park is home to an innovative community of science and innovation businesses.

Kate Hofman, who co-founded GrowUp in 2013 said: “Discovery Park gives us access to on-site low carbon renewable energy which enables us to produce competitively as well as focus on our environmental impact. Being located in Kent means we have a local economy and workforce that specialises in food production and distribution.”

Commenting on the arrival of GrowUp Farms, Mayer Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Park, said: “This investment will bring game-changing technologies to Kent, making a sustainable difference to how we feed ourselves.

“GrowUp has joined our growing community of companies – such as HyPoint with its hydrogen fuel cell technology – who are literally transforming their respective industries and supply chains to make our planet more sustainable.”

For further information on the company and its new home visit www.growupfarms.co.uk and www.discovery-park.co.uk.