Our Growing Green pilot programme, led by Growing Kent and Medway, worked with 33 food and drink businesses to reduce their carbon emissions. It was a pilot scheme to develop a bespoke training package to help businesses operating in the agri-food sector to hit net-zero carbon emissions.

Growing Green was funded by the UK Government and Growing Green Partners through the UK Community Renewal Fund.  The project was led by Growing Kent & Medway and delivered by NIAB, Low Carbon Kent, Locate in Kent, Produced in Kent, University of Kent, the Kent Foundation and APS Produce Limited.

From the initial project, we have produced case studies to showcase decarbonisation initiatives:

Nim’s Crisps – large scale grinding machine  to repurpose around 30-40 tonnes of dried fruit and vegetable waste a year into ingredient powders

Pleasant Land Distillery – Closed loop heat and water recovery

JIB Cannon and Son – Inverter and condenser fans to reduce power usage during peak periods

Ro-Gro – Electric van insulation

Zak’s Kombucha – Bottle return scheme

Roughway Farm Online – Dehusking machine to segregate waste from cobnuts, reducing refrigeration time and creating potential new market

Communigrow – Off-grid solar PV system including batteries

Visit https://www.growingkentandmedway.com/funding/grant-funding/ to find out about current grant funding opportunities and how to join the Growing Kent and Medway Network.