UK's largest' vertical farm to open in 2023

May 05, 2022

Project led by OneFarm expected to grow up to 415 tonnes of leafy greens and herbs for local customers each year
The UK's largest vertical farm is poised to begin construction in Suffolk later this year, as part of a "multi-million pound" project led by OneFarm that is designed to grow up to 415 tonnes of sustainable food a year for supply to local customers.

The 6,400 square metre indoor farm in Newmarket is expected to be fully operational from early next year, following the conversion of an existing disused warehouse site where the firm plans to grow a range of herbs and salad leafs on-demand for retailers and other customers in the region, according to OneFarm.

The sustainable food specialist announced it had secured the green light for the project yesterday, which it said would be delivered in partnership with indoor agritech specialist IGS ltd, Suffolk County Council, and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (NALEP).

The first phase of the project is set to deliver up to 6,400 square metres of growing area across nine metre-high growth towers, which OneFarm said would make it the largest vertical farm in the UK. Moreover, it is eyeing a second phase for the project that would double the growing area to around 13,000 square metres, thereby increasing the vertical farm's capacity to over 1,000 tonnes of crops each year, the firm said.

The project marks the first of 25 vertical farm hubs that OneFarm envisages developing and operating across the UK in the coming years. The company said its farms would all place an emphasis on provenance, localised, and sustainable supply chains to bolster food security without using herbicides or pesticides.

Mira Merme, CEO of OneFarm, said her ambition was to produce environmentally sustainable and "truly local food for local people".

"Consumers deserve locally grown, fresh, good quality food, grown without pesticides and with low water usage, and OneFarm's in-house brand, Wholly Food, provides just that, every day of the year," she said. "We are excited to be at the forefront of this fast-emerging sector, which we strongly believe will play an important role in the future of food production."

Funding for the public-private project has been raised through Abundance Investment, while OneFarm said it already had agreements in place to supply selected retailers in the region.

Vertical farms have slowly grown in prominence in the UK in recent years, with a wave of major projects either having either started development or already opened. Proponents argue indoor farms offer a more efficient and sustainable means of producing food in urban areas, as they do not require as much soil, water or sunlight to grow, reduce the need for fertilisers and pesticides, and can be located closer to population centres, leading to reduced transport emissions and costs.

A recent report from the Tony Blair Institute argued governments should ramp up support for the nascent sector as a means of enhancing food security and bolstering climate resilience.

David Farquhar, CEO of IGS, said the Newmarket project was aimed at addressing the growing desire among consumers "to really know and understand where their food is coming from and ensure availability and quality of produce".

"Across the world, the focus on environmental and economic sustainability has increased dramatically in recent years, accompanied by the imperative need for food security," he said.