Public Funding for Lettus Grow Ltd

This project addresses UK food security challenges amidst a climate crisis by offering a game-changing solution to **transform inefficient TCEA** (total controlled environment agriculture) operations into sustainable, **energy-efficient crop growing systems**. By collaborating to integrate innovative technologies, the project will characterise and demonstrate novel, responsive TCEA growing methods to optimise the efficiencies of environmental control including lighting, irrigation and nutrient supply to reduce the largest contributors responsible for high carbon footprint. The solution will also automate manual operations and improve the safety/consistency/quality/shelf-life of produce for retailers/consumers, by dynamically altering the growth environment. This innovative project will, for the first time, use the **measurement of crop physiological status**, measured using an **integrated spectral imaging system**, to **inform the illumination intensity/composition**, as well as the energy management (including renewables integration); ultimately using plant health to develop **greener production recipes** using advanced **responsive control** methodologies. The project's impact will be measured by changes to **crop yield versus operational impact** benchmarked over cost/benefit and compared to the existing state of the art. The key crop identified is the high-protein leaf crop Spinach, not only as a test crop to validate this integrated TCEA technology, but as an alternative protein crop to unlock new markets. The project is delivered by a highly competent consortium led by LettusGrow and including another two technology companies: Fotenix and Vertically Urban, an RTO: CHAP, an academic partner: Rothamsted Research and a vertical farm grower: Perfectly Fresh.

Our world must change. Food production and supply is the backbone of our society -- it is also currently unsustainable. Current challenges of climate and environmental change are a threat and the role of digital technology in facilitating solutions will be demonstrated in this Project. This project brings together over 220 members of staff from the factory, transport and office functions in the consortium lead, Raynor Foods. It will provide them with meaningful information that will change practice and behaviour so that measurable sustainable outcomes will be reported utilising gamification research to build 'Carbon Hero' games. The Project consortium and grant claiming partners are a high-performing team with innovative leaders, academics, businesses and universities, who are all multi-award winning with proven track records in delivering transformative and disruptive innovations. The Project includes non-grant claiming partners who have established global and national reputations. **Grant claiming partners are as follows.** \*Raynor Foods Ltd -- Consortium Lead \*Lettus Grow Ltd -- Industrial partner \*University of Lincoln - National Centre for Food Manufacturing \*University of Cambridge -- Institute of Manufacturing **Non-grant claiming system providers** \*Siemens Group UK \*AJS Ltd (sub-contract) Our project will deploy and fuse an array of digital technologies into Raynor Foods sandwich factory in Chelmsford, measuring the CO2e footprint in real-time and making it visible to all operational staff so that they act to reduce it. The integrated use of IDTs will ensure that all factory processes and assets are measurable, traceable, trackable and controllable. This will provide instantaneous measures of resources and CO2e emissions that will be integrated with staff welfare. Bringing together process and people data is transformative and enables remedial actions to be owned by staff and made in real time. The process and people data will be input into a Semi-Automatous Management System (SAMS) using AI/ML. SAMS will assist staff to simultaneously reduce factory energy consumption, process waste and monitor and enhance staff welfare and engagement. The project will utilise Salad Processing Facilities, a truly innovative development using modular, mobile, semi-automated vertical salad processing system. This will be integrated with the current 'high care' sandwich manufacturing operation providing a world-first sustainable modular processing function that reduces energy use and carbon footprint. This transformative approach of integrating processes and people will reduce total GHG emissions by a third of current baseline activity. To achieve a sustainable and smart factory requires smart people and smart processes.

This project sets out to solve grower challenges of competing on cost with imported fresh produce and achieving net zero by demonstrating the feasibility of LettUs Grow's patent-pending Advanced Aeroponic system in large scale commercial greenhouses. LettUs Grow has demonstrated that their patent-pending, Advanced Aeroponic technology can increase growth rate and annual yields of fresh produce by between 20 and 200% compared to the incumbent Hydroponic technology used today. In a vertical farm this can increase the lifetime Return on Investment by up to 3x. Advanced Aeroponics is uniquely compatible with large scale greenhouse systems in a way the current state-of-the-art is not, unlocking global adoption of a fundamentally more efficient growing technique. The project will include the design and prototype manufacture of an Advanced Aeroponic rolling bench system. This system will be used for two trials set out to demonstrate productivity increase, flexibility of growing and the improved resource efficiency of Advanced Aeroponics (energy, labour, water, nutrients etc.). The trials will be as follows: * **Systems integration and performance trials:** Operated by CHAP at Stockbridge Technology Centre (STC) to demonstrate comparative performance by an independent 3rd party to LettUs Grow. (TRL 6) * **Commercial growth trials:** Operated by an independent grower to provide 'real-world' feedback on system performance, benefits and the ability to solve key grower challenges. The outcomes of development and trials will be published and presented across digital media channels, academic publications and industry specific conferences. The consortium will also host site visits for key external stakeholders.If you would like to learn more about the Advanced Aeroponic technology in this project then please get in contact through [**www.LettUsGrow.com**][0] [0]: http://www.lettusgrow.com

Both global food supply and horticultural innovation have been disrupted massively by the recent impacts of Covid-19 with future resilience now a very real concern. Traditional food supply networks require lengthy supply chains and multiple stakeholders to bring fresh produce to our plates from all over the world, with each element in the chain adding to the level of risk. Shorter supply chains reduce this risk and improve food security and sovereignty. This project proposes the design and build of a world-first rapid deployment, aeroponic vertical farming module within a 40ft shipping container. To date, the only commercially available container farms have used hydroponic technology. LettUs Grow's innovative, patent-pending aeroponic technology offers all of the improvements of aeroponics (increased crop growth rates, reduced pest impacts, improved control of nutrient dosing) with the simplicity of hydroponics to improve the profitability of small-scale growing facilities. By installing a system within a container, installation times can be reduced from multiple months to less than 24 hours, enabling rapid deployment when it is needed. The ability to deploy at such speed, has extensive benefits across the food production industry and also the wider bioscience and horticultural research industries. The project's key objectives are to: 1. Provide a detailed design and procurement plan for the module 2. Prototype the module and build a demonstrator 3. Perform growing tests to baseline performance against existing indoor farming systems 4. Test a new lease-to-buy model with clients to gain market feedback 5. Provide excess fresh produce to the local Bristol community The main areas of focus for the project are: 1. Maintaining a safe working environment in line with government guidance for Covid-19 for the production and operation of the container farm 2. Integration of existing technologies into a bespoke designed container 3. Ease of deployment to reduce procurement and installation time compared to existing solutions This project represents a global first as it will be the first controlled environment agriculture (CEA) system that integrates LettUs Grow's unique yield-boosting aeroponic technology into a container farm module that can be deployed and installed in less than a day compared to the current delivery timelines that can span multiple months.

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"LettUs Grow & ECH Engineering are on a mission to revolutionise vertical farming and help feed the next generation. We will do this by combining our innovative irrigation and lighting technologies to increase productivity, quality and sustainability of vertical farming. Vertical farms combine soil-free growing of crops indoors, in stacked beds of shelves, under artificial lights and controlled environments. They are able to produce crops all year round, protected from the elements, without the requirement for pesticides. The project will combine our technologies in a feasibility study to test and prove, in a large-scale farm operation, the efficiency and yield gains to demonstrate significant economic benefits and compete with traditional agriculture and global vertical farming market leaders. In January 2017 an estimated 600 vertical farms were in operation globally (Newbean Capital, 2016), in a market valued at over $2 billion and estimated to exceed $13 billion by 2024 (27% annual growth). The UK plays a growing part in this market, with over 10 new farm builds and/or expansions planned for 2018\. We aim to be the principal supplier of irrigation, lighting, and environmental control technology to the UK market and target sales into key markets in the US, Europe, and Middle East by 2020\. LettUs Grow design technology for the next generation of vertical farms. Our value proposition is three-fold. We: • increase crop yields through our patent-pending irrigation hardware • reduce farm operational costs through our farm management software • provide R&D services so that farmers don't have to undertake it internally ECH's water-cooled lighting system improves electrical efficiency by maintaining LED's at an optimal temperature to maximise LED life and efficiency (frequent early failures in traditional products are typically heat related), and furthermore decouples the light intensity and heat, which is important when growing in an enclosed space as it reduces the running costs of energy intensive HVAC systems. The project team combines strong scientific research and product development skills with experience in design and build of controlled environment facilities and over 10 years' experience in vertical farming."

LettUs Grow reduce the waste and carbon footprint of fresh produce by empowering everyone to grow delicious food at its point of consumption. We design intelligent soil-free growing platforms, to reconnect people with their food in a convenient and reliable way. Plug it in, add water, plant your seeds and let them grow. It is simple and efficient plug-and-play urban gardening for the modern lifestyle. Our key challenge is to develop a functional and powerful technology that works well and fits the lifestyle of our end user. We need significant investment in design to make the proposition as meaningful as possible to the right people. This grant will provide the capital and expertise necessary to design truly desirable products, enhancing the probability of business success for LettUs Grow.