Fresh Direct, a leading UK provider of foodservice fresh produce, has strengthened its commitment to innovative farming by partnering with GrowUp Farms, a British vertical farming business.
This marks Fresh Direct’s third collaboration with a UK-based vertical farm, highlighting its ongoing support for cutting-edge agricultural technology.
All of Fresh Direct’s vertical farming partners are British, offering a wide range of herbs, salads, and baby leaves. These partnerships ensure year-round access to these crops, addressing food security concerns and mitigating weather-related challenges that have increasingly impacted conventional growers in recent years.
GrowUp Farms, the latest supplier to join Fresh Direct’s network, is a certified B Corp known for its modern, environmentally conscious vertical farming practices. The farm is powered by renewable energy from a bioenergy plant located next to the facility and is designed to reduce carbon emissions.
Unlike traditional farming methods, GrowUp’s approach avoids soil erosion and produces long-lasting products throughout the year in the UK, which helps reduce food waste and the need for extensive transportation. The farm also aims to use 90% less water when fully operational and, because it operates within a completely enclosed system, requires no pesticides, fungicides, or weedkillers.
Fresh Direct’s development chefs rigorously tested the new products from GrowUp Farms, finding that, in addition to their sustainability benefits, the produce “significantly outperformed conventional leaves for quality and freshness.”
Paul Nieduszynski, CEO of Sysco GB, praised the progress of vertical farming, stating: “Vertical farming has made some fantastic strides forward in the past couple of years, and has become a much more practical solution, helping to support conventionally grown produce. We want to support British agriculture in all its forms and have been an early adopter of this technology, which gives us a year-round solution with enviable quality.
“Adding GrowUp to our portfolio of vertical growers gives our customers even greater access to high quality, locally grown produce with no concerns about the weather, seasonal changes or quality.”
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