Merry Christmas from Growing Kent & Medway
Growing Kent & Medway
A world-class research, innovation & enterprise cluster for horticultural food and drink production.
At Growing Kent & Medway, we are dedicated to fostering innovation, sustainability, and inclusive growth in the horticultural and food and drink sectors. I am therefore pleased to share our Mid-term Progress Report, a reflection on the work we have undertaken since our programme began in 2021.??
It has been a particularly busy year for Growing Kent & Medway and our partners in 2024. Some personal highlights include the work we are doing to support young people in the region. We opened the first centre of excellence in glasshouse growing, a collaboration between Thanet Earth, Hadlow College and Growing Kent & Medway. In September, our partnership with The Perfect Place to Grow piloted a programme to help young people in Margate learn how to start their own business.?
This year, we awarded over ￡1million in funding to 23 projects that supported sustainable innovation in our sector. And we were appointed to lead the plant-based protein crop research for the new Bezos Sustainable Protein Centre, announced by the Bezos Earth Fund.?
Our programme is only successful thanks to the positive contributions from our partners and team, and the individuals and businesses who have dedicated their time to supporting others through our Mentoring and Food Accelerator programmes. There are simply too many to mention here!?
> A summary of Mid-term Progress Report is also available.?
We have an exciting announcement coming in the new year, so if you're looking for support to make your business greener, keep an eye out for more information.?
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and?a Happy New Year,?
Dr Nikki Harrison,? Programme Director
Groundbreaking Centre of Excellence Produced the Goods for Charity
The Thanet Earth Centre of Excellence @ Hadlow College has had a bumper opening year, with a tonne of its produce being redistributed by a national food charity.?
During 2024, the UK's first Centre of Excellence in greenhouse growing donated a tonne of its produce to FareShare. This provides the equivalent of 2,260 meals and supports 27 charity and community groups.?
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Accelerator your business growth
We have 15 spaces available for our Food Accelerator which starts in February 2025.
The programme has already provided over 100 start-up and scale-up businesses with free technical and business support. If you have an idea for a plant-based food or drink product, don't miss out on three months of tailored support to take your product to market. Hear how our current cohort have benefited from the programme.
? Chris is the founder of Lowena. He has recently joined the programme for help to develop his plant-based cream teas.
? Imola, founder of Eledel MG, is developing a tasty microgreens pesto, inspired by her experience of cooking for pasta-loving children. The Food Accelerator is helping her improve shelf-life, test nutritional value, and, most importantly, ensure it is as tasty as possible!
? Cecilia founded Cecii Health to develop the UK's first fermented juice shot; combining the health benefits of traditional fermented drinks with the nutritional density of fruit juice.
See us at the Oxford Farming Conference 2025
Place-based investment in food and farming innovation: What works?
If you're attending the Oxford Farming Conference, join us for our partner breakfast briefing on Thursday 9th January at 8 am. Together with Digital Dairy Chain and UKRI, our panel will discuss the critical components of an effective model of regional investment for innovating our food systems.
We will also be joined by Jon Mills, founder of Canterbury Brewers and Distillers, who will share his innovation journey, growing speciality mushrooms from the waste grain, water, CO2 and energy from their whiskey distillation.