Speciality Food March 2026

changes made, including extending hedgerows, adding wildflower meadows and installing bat and bird boxes and a pond, have increased the bee population to around 1 million across the vineyards, and seen an influx of bats, which has been a revelation for Michael. “Matt’s been very keen to encourage them. They’ll eat 1-2kg of insects a night, which really helps us in terms of pest control. “We’re also doing things to encourage slow worms and grass snakes. And we put trail cameras in to track a number of species. One thing we noticed last year was someone saw a weasel in the vineyard for the first time – now we’ve had a dozen sightings. They’ve helped with the rabbit population.” Grazing 800 sheep across the vineyards in winter provides natural organic fertiliser. Chemicals are further being reduced by breaking the vineyards into ‘blocks’ and using data to track is spraying is required. “It’s really working,” Michael says. Rethinking waste Food waste, as we know, is a massive part of the conversation in sustainability. According to the Food Foundation, around 2.7 million tonnes of it is thrown out by producers, businesses and householders every year. Globally, it’s thought a jaw-dropping third of all food produced is wasted. In farming, could modern freeze- drying techniques be the saviour of so-called ‘wonky’ produce that’s otherwise rejected by many larger retailers, or used as a way to preserve an overly abundant yield? 38 @specialityfood to believe in a network of small urban growing spaces to surround ourselves further with nature. We are really passionate about the role that business and hospitality as an industry can play in society to reconnect people with nature, and we want The Culpeper Family to lead the way to show it is possible to have a great business, respectful of the land for now and future generations.” To this end, the group has set up its own not-for-profit organisation, Ethical Land CIC, aimed at supporting urban growing and organic and regenerative farming in the UK, while promoting wild natural environmental conservation. They’re open to speaking to other hospitality venues about how they can make urban farming work, and Nico says it would be great to see others adapt to grow even a small amount of products themselves, but change, “can simply be to use shorter supply chains, purchasing from local growers who work organically with nature. More local and more tasty, with less money going in the wrong pockets. It’s a genuine win for all.” Working with nature Being nature-friendly, rather than using methods which actively push back against the environmental order of things, is how we would have farmed in the past. Increasingly farmers are looking back to look forwards, reintegrating sound, time-honoured traditions into their practices alongside the latest tech. Winemaking is on the up across Northern Europe, but especially England, as warmer climates increase yields and produce sweeter fruits. This growing market has the opportunity to learn from the successes and mistakes of established peers, particularly when it comes to sustainability – not something the industry is widely known for. Roebuck Estates in West Sussex recognises the challenges, and has made it its mission to be as supportive of nature as possible, even employing an ecologist. Everything they do, says CEO Michael Kennedy, is with an eye on producing the best quality fruit for winemaking, while managing the vineyards in a way that’s as healthy as possible. “One of the biggest decisions we took was going herbicide-free at the beginning of 2023, so we’re now going into our third year. It was very much with the view to reduce the use of chemicals and manage the soil more naturally. That was quite a big deal for us, and it’s been a learning process.” It may sound counter-productive, but one benefit of taking herbicides out of the system has been reduced vigour in the vines, meaning they don’t have to strip the canopy so much, saving time and energy. Tracking across the estate shows there are more earthworms in the soil – an indicator of health, and something the Soil Association has praised the business for. Bringing in ecologist Matt seemed like an natural step for the winemakers, who were encouraged not to focus on attracting one species, but instead to think holistically about their site. The producer,” he says. “That is our bread and butter, but that is a seasonal business. We grow strawberries shall we say, nine months of the year, and that other ‘dead time’ eats at money. You have to have some other form of income coming in. Ten per cent of our strawberry yield on average is classed as waste due to being too big or too small or the wrong shape, wonky as some put it. That would usually go to jamming or, in the past, to the bin. Since launching New Forest Fruit Snacks, 5% is going into the snacking business and the rest into jamming.” No preservatives are added. It’s just the pure taste of berries, thanks to the clever pulse and freeze- drying technique used at the farm. Strawberries are picked and their tops removed before they’re pulsed and bagged then frozen until they go on to be freeze dried. This keeps the flavour and structural integrity of the berries intact. “Pulsing allows us to leave the nutrition in and get the water out,” Sandy explains. “Otherwise, when they get freeze dried the cells can crush. When you open the pack you get a lovely aroma, as if they’ve just been picked.” Other very interesting deployments on the farm include robotic UV light systems, which has reduced mildew on-farm (and is to be expanded due to success from 1 hectare to 60 hectares this year), with hopes this will help the business take chemicals out of the system; and the coir used to grow the strawberries is recycled to grow pesticide-free asparagus on-site, which crops much earlier than anywhere else in the UK, and with higher sugar levels, giving the vegetables an unparalleled flavour favoured by some of nation’s top chefs. This same coir, as well as recycled strawberry tunnels, is being used in the company’s winemaking business, B58 Winery, enabling them to grow sweet, succulent grapes not usually associated with English wine, such as Merlot, Shiraz and Grenache. Already these are turning heads at awards. One thing’s for certain. Britain’s farmers, through necessity, are leading the way in their interpretation of how the industry will look in the next five, 10 or even 15 years, and with support, their efforts could be very fruitful indeed. For British farmers, thinking outside the box isn’t just an opportunity, it’s become a necessity ELLIOT WEBB, FOUNDER, URBAN FARM PRODUCE Very possibly. The latest food tech is helping Hampshire’s New Forest Fruit Company to not only grow its strawberries more sustainably, but turn them into snacks in a canny way that paves the way for others. The idea, to make crispy strawberry snacks, is as much a commercial decision as a way to deal with waste, says owner Sandy Booth. “We are a strawberry