Our expert team grow without soil using hydroponics planting the small plants in an inert medium known as rock-wall. This allows us to control the amount of water and nutrients each plant needs thus avoiding any waste whilst producing the flavour and yield our customers seek.
The Norwich site is a world first for renewable heating, capturing waste heat from a nearby waste water treatment plant and, by way of heat pumps, injecting the previously wasted heat into the greenhouses. Electricity for the heat pump will be accessed from the grid and on site combined heat and power units. Such ‘CHPs’ have the added benefit of providing waste heat which further supplements the greenhouse heating as well as providing carbon dioxide to enrich the atmosphere allowing the greenhouse to encourage plant growth.
The process above is estimated to reduce carbon footprint by up to 60%.
The Ely site is based on the same principle as Norwich but instead of extracting heat from a waste water treatment plant it uses water from a large nearby reservoir.
All sites collect and reuse rainfall, and the tomato nurseries use bumblebees to help pollination. We also introduce beneficial insects to manage any pest and disease issues, thus reducing the need for costly and environmentally damaging pesticides.
Accreditations and environmental impact