RG Abrey Farms: new 7,000t onion store

RG Abrey Farms: new 7,000t onion store

RG Abrey Farms has overcome a series of delays and challenges to open a state-of-the-art onion storage facility in Larkshall, East Wretham.

The company, which claims the 7,000 tonne onion storage facility is the largest of its kind in the UK, officially opened the building today at an event attended by over 200 customers and suppliers.

The storage facility’s combination of bulk and refrigerated box storage will allow its UK onions to be supplied into multiples for 11 months of the year.

Elizabeth Truss, MP for West Norfolk, officially opened the facility and acknowledged the building had been completed after complications with the site being situated on a protected bird area, which resulted in a two-year delay.

“I worked with the Abreys to ensure their future ambitions were not stifled by unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy created by the Natural Habitats Directive,” said Truss. “The company met with DEFRA minister Richard Benyon to secure support for their state-of-the-art store and I am pleased to say the result is now a highly efficient onion store which maintains a quality product in demand across the whole of the UK.”

The factory’s fans are designed to work in conjunction with Vegtec’s V2 onion store controller technology. Tom Will, of Vegetable Consultancy Services explained: “This technology measures crop air flow and duct pressure, alongside standard temperature and humidity measurements, and with fan motor inverters fitted, automatically adjusts the fans’ speed to the desired air volume... avoiding excessive back pressure and unnecessary energy use.”

Partner Robert Abrey estimated the economy of scale and technical advances would bring energy savings of over 20 per cent.