NIAB EMR has picked up £50,000 from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to help pitch for a multi-million pound transformation of Kent’s fresh produce industry.
Working with a range of fresh produce companies including Berry Gardens, Thanet Earth and Worldwide Fruit, if NIAB EMR is successful they could receive between £10million and £50m from the UKRI Strength in Places fund to carry out projects that will drive growth in the region.
The collaboration, dubbedGrowing Kent & Medway, also includes Hadlow College, the University of Greenwich, and the University of Kent to help boost research capacity and co-invested industry engagement, driving innovation, commercialisation and novel training programmes.
The consortium is home to over 40 per cent of UK high-value horticultural production and is a key gateway to global markets, with significant growth potential.
Professor Mario Caccamo, managing director at NIAB EMR says: “The announcement of this seed-corn funding is a major achievement and reflects the hard work and aspirations of the consortium partners, to invest in, and grow the regional economy.”
He added: “We will create a modern, dynamic and outward looking research and innovation-focused business cluster. It will develop Kent and Medway as the UK's leading region for the production and processing of high-value foods and plant-based compounds.
“This vision forGrowing Kent & Medwayaligns with both national and local strategic priorities by supporting an entrepreneurial culture, business start-ups, encouraging inward investment, job creation, skills development, social inclusion, and economic growth across the sector.”
Rob James from Thanet Earth Ltd, a producer of salad crops based on the north Kent coast said: “This exciting initiative will allow industry to respond to the significant challenges that currently face horticulture and food production systems, increase food security, the UK’s competitiveness and deliver sustainable economic growth to the region. We welcome this opportunity to be part of this progressive and industry-focussed consortium.”
