A major new glasshouse development has been unveiled that will radically increase the UK production capacity for UK salads.
The Fresca Group has confirmed that it is to form a joint venture with three Dutch salad crop growers, which will see a 91-hectare site in north Kent rebranded as Thanet Earth. The development will include seven eight-metre high glasshouses, each with an average size of over seven hectares, making it the UK largest glasshouse development.
Fresca predicts that Thanet Earth could add an extra 15 percent to UK production levels of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The first glasshouses are scheduled for construction next March, with the first commercial crops expected to hit retail shelves in autumn 2008.
The Dutch growers involved in the partnership are Rainbow Growers - the Netherlands’ largest pepper growing group, tomato specialists Red Star Growers and cucumber producers A&A.
The site will harvest 52 weeks a year, with crops grown under lights using what the firm believes will be the largest horticultural Combined Heat & Power (CHP) installation in the UK. CHP couples the generation of electricity for sale to the National Grid, with the benefit of also producing by-products needed for greenhouse production. Thanet Earth will use these to replace conventional energy usage to heat the greenhouses, and provide the CO2 required by the plants.
Product handling will be fully automated from plant to dispatch in the on-site packhouse, which in itself looks set to cover more than 30,000 sq m.
Steve McVickers will be taking the helm as managing director once production kicks off. The partnership will work on a joint venture business model, giving the growers a 50 percent stake. McVickers has a long history in the salad business and was closely involved in bringing Fresca and the growers together.
“The industry continues to evolve for everyone in the supply chain, with both producer and customer now insisting on a much closer relationship,” McVickers said. “A structure to extend the grower’s role further up the supply chain has been long overdue, so our joint venture is a great formula as it increases the grower’s market understanding, helps tailor product and planning and rewards him on the total success of the business.
“Thanet Earth will be a beacon supplier, demonstrating how flexible a grower can be to enable him to meet his customer needs.”
Fresca Group chairman Chris Mack paid tribute to the team which put the project together. “I doubt there’s any other company that would have had the resources, the ambition, the persistence and the vision to make Thanet Earth more than an idea,” he commented.
“It’s taken a committed team over two years to turn the idea into a reality; their planning and attention to detail has made this development the most significant thing to happen to the UK salad industry for years. We’re extremely pleased with the prospects for the site and the considerable diversity this venture brings to our group.”
Wim Grootscholten, Rainbow Growers group chairman, added that Rainbow’s relationship with Fresca stretches back over many years, making it an obvious choice for expansion developments.
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