Driving Innovation and Wealth Creation

Growing Kent & Medway is a world-class research, innovation and enterprise cluster supporting growth in technology-driven horticultural production, fresh produce packaging, food and drink processing, and its supply chains.

We bring together innovative growers and processors, scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs to deliver a shared goal of improving productivity and sustainability in the sector.

Growing Kent & Medway drives innovation and wealth creation by stimulating a vibrant and collaborative ecosystem that enables new and existing enterprises to develop and thrive. It connects industry with technologists and researchers to address the challenges faced by the sector and its supply chains. And, it acts as a catalyst to commercialise technologies for climate-smart food production, the exploitation of novel crops and plant compounds, value addition and waste minimisation.

Growing Kent & Medway is regionally focussed but globally relevant— Our unique geography means we are home to most of the UK’s high-value horticultural production, packaging and processing, and a major gateway to global markets. The growth opportunity for the sector, the region and its emerging technologies is significant.

We are building on Kent and Medway’s established reputation and industry base to make this region one of the most dynamic, competitive and successful horticultural and Agri-tech locations in the World.

Our Network

The Growing Kent & Medway cluster is led by a world-class consortium of partners from NIAB EMR, APS Salads, Berry Gardens Growers, Chapel Down Plc, Geku UK Ltd, Gusbourne Estate Ltd, Locate in Kent, Richard Hochfeld Ltd, Smurfit Kappa UK Ltd, Thanet Earth Ltd, World Wide Fruit Ltd, Kent County Council, Medway Council, the University of Greenwich, and the University of Kent.

The collaboration increases research capacity and industry engagement to drive innovation and technology commercialisation. It is backed by strong support from the political, civic and business communities in the region.

The consortium has recently been supported by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Strength in Places Fund.

https://www.ukri.org

The UK Government announced the Strength in Places Fund in the 2017 Industrial Strategy White Paper. This highlighted the important role that science, research, innovation and skills provision play in driving productivity gains and economic growth throughout the regions and nations of the UK.

UKRI operates across the whole of the UK bringing together 9 research funding bodies to work in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government. It aims to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.

Globally Relevant

The Growing Kent & Medway cluster is located in a region that is delivering major export growth in high-value horticulture. Significant potential lies with produce such as British berries which have shown increases in export value of over 300% in recent years.

The region is also a leader in innovation for the UK food and drink sector. Notable opportunities exist in Kent’s burgeoning viticulture industry. Demand for UK wine is ahead of supply, and production of English sparkling wine is predicted to more than double in the next 10 years. The sector is one of the fastest growing UK exports with a particularly strong market in the Far East. Exports are expected to grow to 25% of production by 2025.

Horticulture, fresh produce packaging and food & drink processing are technology intensive. The UK is seen as a global leader in Agri-Tech and the emerging technologies with the sector employing over half a million people. With technologies such as automation, AI, engineering and precision farming, the potential to deliver environmental sustainability and efficiency gains are substantial. Given increased interest and investment and improved infrastructure to support collaboration, the Growing Kent & Medway cluster will stimulate innovation in Agri-Tech and the emerging technologies to open up significant opportunities for the sector.

We recognise the importance of fostering links with international partners beyond the UK, and a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed between Growing Kent & Medway partners and Oost NL, the East Netherlands Development Agency, is just one of the exciting initiatives we are involved in that put us firmly on the global stage.

Regional Development

Kent & Medway plays a key part in the UK economy and is a leading region for the food and drink sector:

• Kent’s contributes £2.6bn to the UK’s food and drink industry with over 2,500 food and drink business and 17,000 employees located in the region.
• Growers benefit from the region’s exceptional climate producing world-beating wines and boasting the largest high-tech greenhouse complexes in the UK.
• With a strong focus on technologies of the future and advanced manufacturing, Kent & Medway is home to over 3,500 manufacturing companies generating £3.2bn to the economy. Advanced engineering provides around 15,500 jobs in Kent alone.
• The region is home to almost 300 cutting-edge life science companies and a network of world-class scientists located in several universities and notable research organisations.

The Growing Kent & Medway cluster stimulates collaboration between these players. By combining the strengths of its partners, it catalyses innovation in advanced horticulture, food and drink processing and emerging technologies to create growth in the regional economy.