UK: A fourth greenhouse at Thanet Earth
It has made extremely good progress financially, moving from large losses in year
one towards a modest profit in year three. The future’s looking even brighter now as the development’s partners are able to announce plans for the construction of
greenhouse number four.
Thanet Earth produces consistently great quality tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers for the UK’s best-known retail shelves. The site has proven its ability to grow tomatoes 52 weeks of the year and boasts the longest UK seasons on cucumbers and peppers. This is all credit to the original vision of Fresca Group, A & A, Kaaij
UK and Rainbow, their state of the art greenhouses and the expertise in every function. It’s all supported one of the most efficient packhouses in operation in the UK.
Things haven’t been plain sailing. Thanet Earth represents a huge financial commitment for all the partners, and the pressures have been enormous."
Chris Mack, Executive Chairman of project partner Fresca Group explains the pressure on him and his colleagues, "The plan for the site originally had the first
three greenhouses constructed as Phase 1, with the remaining greenhouses following relatively quickly. We did, however, choose possibly the worst time to
venture into this project! The financial climate has left funding scarce, cash reserves are guarded fiercely and plans have been slower to come to fruition. This has been a pressure on Thanet Earth overall, as the financial projections for the site relied on its scale of production for its profitability. To remain under 50% constructed yet to turn an operating profit in Year 3 is testament to the hard work of everyone at the site."
The demand for the Thanet Earth crops is huge. The company knows its product excels in quality against every competitor in benchmarking samples. Through the winter in particular, to be able to offer UK-grown tomatoes which far exceed the quality that the finest growers in 'seasonal' areas of Europe can offer (and which carry a lower carbon footprint than all other international sources) makes the Thanet Earth proposition unique. The UK’s shoppers want locally grown food. They care about what’s written on the label, and the Thanet Earth crops are fulfilling a very real demand.
To help meet more of this need, the Thanet Earth partner businesses have submitted a planning application to construct a fourth greenhouse on Plot One of the site. Planning permission already exists for a greenhouse on this plot. The permission sought is to vary the existing permission to include an increase in the size of the greenhouse.
Gert van Straalen, managing director of Kaaij UK Ltd dedicated to tomato production, owned and operated as a joint venture between Fresca Group and the three existing Thanet Earth growers. The collective funding requirement for this greenhouse, its Combined Heat & Power infrastructure and its link to the site electrical substation will be around £17 million. Funding is coming directly from the grower partners, from Fresca Group and new bank finance and will be vested in a new joint venture greenhouse operating business.
Amendments to the original planning permission granted on the plot are in discussion at present, but the company hopes to begin construction this summer, with the first crop production from the new greenhouse coming early in 2013.
This exciting development phase is important not only to Thanet Earth but to the local economy and community. Since its inception the site has provided an important source of work and has become a notable local landmark that represents significant inward investment in an area with an identified need for regeneration and new industry. Since 2009 the site has paid over £28 million in wages alone with over 71% remaining in the immediate Thanet area. Another greenhouse will provide employment and seasonal work opportunities for approximately 100 more people than at present.
As with the existing greenhouses, this new production facility will make use of rainwater capture and biological pest control to maintain the site’s top tier environmental credentials. It will also increase the electricity generating capacity of the site overall to 20MW from the 15MW it is able to generate today using its CHP technology.
Gert van Straalen, the grower who’ll be looking after the crops in the new greenhouse, is looking forward to seeing years of planning come to
fruition.
"We know from experience that this site is very special and has all the qualities we look for in greenhouse food production. It’s a great landmark for us and for Thanet to be so close to beginning construction. We can’t wait to get started!"
For more information:
Edwina Kilford
Thanet Earth
[email protected]
www.thanetearth.com
Twitter @thanetearth
