Valefresco specialises in baby leaf salads, whole head lettuces, pak choi, and a range of aromatic herbs. The company grows its produce in glasshouses, poly tunnels, and on open ground. Valefresco has a history of successfully predicting climate change and accordingly produces more out-of-season produce.
Four years ago, Valefresco entered the vertical farming sector in partnership with Shockingly Fresh, a company that offers expertise in all three key areas of natural light high-density growing. The company facilitates investment into modern farming technologies and practices.
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"Our vertical Farm is in Offenham, in the Vale of Evesham. The site is 1.2 hectares, one hectare is for growing crops, the rest is for offices, cold storage, and growing seedlings," explains Joe Pilade, Commercial Director at Valefresco. "We mainly grow aromatic herbs at this site. Herbs are a high-cost, high-value crop. Over the summer, when production is faster, we use 75% for basil production. We gauge our summer volumes based on winter production. This frees up space, and in the summer, we use 75% of the greenhouse for growing basil. Producing our own basil saves us importing more from Kenya, the UK's biggest source country, which cuts our carbon footprint and air miles. We are also doing flat-head mint, whole-head lettuce, and pak choi trials, too. We have also built a biomass facility next to the glasshouse to heat it in winter using old wood."
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Planning permission
"Over the last 35 years, Valefresco has developed 25 hectares of covered crops, and on every application, we found resistance. We have objected to some of these; some have still been rejected, and some have been approved. It is an extremely painful and costly process. Shockingly Fresh helps select sites that are near distribution centres and more likely to get planning consent.
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Food security
"We need to produce more of our own food in the UK, this has been amplified in recent weeks by the war in the Middle East. Last week, we couldn't get any basil in from Kenya due to the disruption in air cargo. Any time there is a war or disruption in the supply chain, we see either an increase in costs or a shortage of supply, usually both. Also, due to increasingly erratic weather in Spain and Italy, we are seeing empty produce shelves more and more often.
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Valefresco has 25 hectares under cover, some glass, some polytunnels, and the rest of their crops are grown in the open field. "We have pak choi under cover in tunnels, it is probably the biggest production of pak choi in the UK, we can also grow it in the winter in the tunnels. We tend to select crops that are resistant to the cold.
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Our greenhouse with Shockingly Fresh shows a new way of thinking. We can produce more cheaply and consistently without the need to use energy for light or heat, which is especially important in light of what is going on just now."
For more information:
Joe Pilade
Valefresco
Tel: +44 1386 45867
[email protected]
www.valefresco.com
