Draft:GrowUp Farms

GrowUp Farms is a vertical farming business based in Kent, UK. Founded in 2013 by Kate Hofman and Tom Webster, the company’s first farm was funded by a Kickstarter campaign.

The main site is a farm called Pepperness, located in Sandwich, Kent. Here the business grows a variety of salad crops on the equivalent of 1,000 acres of Grade 1 farmland, supplying restaurants and supermarkets around the UK with ready-to-eat bagged salad.

GrowUp initially used aquaponics to sustainably farm fish and vegetables. The company ceased fish farming in 2017, instead using hydroponics and renewable energy to produce salad and herbs. In 2022, GrowUp was certified as a B Corp.

The company co-locates farms with bioenergy sources so they can use renewable energy to grow crops. The leaves are grown without using pesticides that are sometimes used in traditional farming.

In 2023, the company launched a new brand, Unbeleafable, offering a range of bagged salads grown on the vertical farm. Available to buy in Tesco, the launch marked the first time vertically-farmed salad was sold by one of the UK’s four biggest supermarkets.

GrowUp Box
The GrowUp Box was GrowUp’s first farm, launched in 2013. The aquaponic urban farm located in Stratford, London, was designed to grow salad, vegetables and fish sustainably. It produced up to 100kg of fish and 400kg of lettuce per year.

The farm consisted of a shipping container with a greenhouse on top. It supplied restaurants in Borough Market with salad and herbs.

Unit 84
In 2014, GrowUp opened Unit 84, the UK’s first commercial-scale aquaponic, vertical urban farm.

Located in Beckton, UK, the farm supplied restaurants and independent stores in London with fish and fresh produce, using an electric van to make deliveries. The site closed in 2018.

The Recipe Centre
The Recipe Centre, located in the Agri-Epi Centre on the Harper Adams University campus, was GrowUp’s R&D centre. Here, the company researched new ways to sustainably farm crops. The Recipe Centre opened in 2019 and closed in January 2023 when GrowUp’s R&D operations moved to The Leaf Lab.

The Leaf Lab
GrowUp opened the Leaf Lab in January 2023. Located in Bourn Quarter, Cambridge’s Sustainable Business Park, it replaced The Recipe Centre as the company’s research facility. The Leaf Lab researches new methods of growing plants in their UK-based vertical farms.

Pepperness
Opened in 2022, Pepperness farm was built on a brownfield site near Sandwich, Kent.

The farm takes low-grade heat from the neighbouring renewable energy power station and uses it to heat and cool the farm, using 40% less electricity than a grid-connected vertical farm. Pepperness also uses 94% less water than traditional farming, and does not use any pesticides or create any chemical run-off.

Acquisition and Funding
In 2019, GrowUp Farms was acquired by Vescor, part of renewable energy developer Estover Energy. In 2022, GrowUp Farms received investment from US Public Benefit Corporation Generate Capital. In 2023 the company changed its name to GrowUp Group Limited.

Unbeleafable
Launched in July 2023, GrowUp’s bagged salad brand Unbeleafable is available to buy in Tesco stores. The range includes crispy green leaves, rocket and baby leaves, and mixed baby leaves.

Fresh Leaf Co.
Another GrowUp bagged salad brand, launched in February 2023, is Fresh Leaf Co. It is available in supermarket chain Iceland with a range that includes mixed red and green leaves.