Speciality Food March 2026

specialityfoodmagazine.com 37 happening on farms across the UK. From greater reliance on hydroponic cropping to wild seaweed farms, there’s more to growing today than ever before. At the forefront of vertical growing is Urban Farm Produce (formerly Urban Farm-It) founded by Elliot Webb in 2019 as a direct response to years working in fish farming. He became acutely aware of the environmental impact and food quality challenges the industry is facing, and wanted to find practical, inclusive solutions. Elliot did this by launching a grow-your-own brand, but has now expanded to become a producer, specialising predominantly in growing organically-produced Lion’s Mane mushrooms in a vertical system – choosing the fungi because they’re nutrient-dense, sustainable and require minimal energy, land and water to grow. His vertical growing approach uses an anaerobic digestor for spent mushroom substrate, turning it into energy, while creating a product that can be used by other, local farms, as a soil improver. Thanks to the business’s newly opened solar powered farm, it can also operate entirely off grid during the day. Being organic is a big thing for Elliot, and a huge part of the draw towards growing mushrooms. “Lion’s Mane mushrooms themselves are inherently sustainable,” he says. “They require no pesticides, use minimal water, and have a low energy footprint. We continually refine our processes to reduce waste further, increase efficiency, and strengthen our contribution to the communities we operate in.” It’s certainly paying dividends, with the system using 15,000 less litres per kilogram than meat production, with a 99% smaller carbon footprint. Elliot thinks the vertical farming model is not only achievable, but a more sustainable way of securing the future of the industry, as traditional methods of growing become more and more vulnerable. “For British farmers, thinking outside the box isn’t just an opportunity, it’s become a necessity. Diversifying into innovative, resource-efficient systems like mushroom cultivation can help strengthen food security, reduce environmental impact, and build a more future-proof industry.” Tiptree Farm in Essex (growing fruit to fill the nation’s – and world’s – jam pots with its Wilkin & Sons products) has spent many years perfecting its own modern farming systems and, like Urban Farm Produce, considers new ways of working as utterly essential. Co- director, Chris Newenham, says it’s their responsibility to think greener. The Tiptree sustainability journey has its roots in water. Fruits need a lot of it, but their site is scarce, with no ground water abstraction available. To address this and ensure future water resilience, they invested in a groundbreaking and UK-first (in 2017) NGS system for strawberries, which has improved yields, reduced input requirements, and created better working conditions for staff. In the oscillating system, alternating rows are raised or lowered so pickers and growers can tend to the plants either side of them. Recycled coir keeps the plants in place. And the system collects water, which is then filtered and used to irrigate the crops. The closed system saves 10% on picking costs compared to tabletop growing, and 40% compared to growing berries in the ground. Crops are available earlier and later into the season. Mildew has been reduced. Insects are kept out through fine mesh. And the overall land footprint required is lower. It’s been a win-win, and revolutionises how strawberries could be grown across Britain. A fresh look at hospitality As we’ve already established, vertical farming could play a big part in the future of food security. But what about looking up – or out – into more unusual locations for growing? This is exactly what The Culpeper Family group of gastropubs in London has done, demonstrating what small-scale farming and growing within hospitality could look like. The group’s first pub, The Culpeper in Spitalfields, has its own rooftop garden, producing vegetables and herbs, while further investment has taken place in the form of a small urban farm in Deptford, which enables chefs to get more hands on with ingredients while shortening supply chains. Co-founder, Nico Teguer, says they have a lot of fun varying the plantings while improving biodiversity, and grew more than 200kg of produce in 2025, from tomatoes to edible flowers. “We are very aware that we will always need the farms in the countryside to feed the people, and that urban food growing is only part of the puzzle, but who does not want to live in a more natural environment with shorter distance covered from field to fork?” As well as inspiring the team, they hope it can be a catalyst for change, Nico adds. “We continue