The University of Kent has secured funding for 3 projects through the Growing Kent & Medway Business Innovation Voucher Scheme
The vouchers were awarded on a competitive bases for horticultural and plant-based food and drink businesses, and were designed to help find sustainable solutions to research challenges facing the sector. The support provided will help businesses to work with the University of Kent to: test new prototype products, trial new technology or get data to validate an idea.
The projects that have received funding are:
Sustainable soaker pads for raspberry punnets
The plastic pad found in many fruit punnets helps to keep the fruit fresh. This project is looking at the effectiveness of a recyclable novel punnet that will maintain and extend the quality of raspberries.
If successful, this could help to reduce 3.6m sq meters of plastic a year.
Industry lead: Sharpak Aylesham
Sharpak Aylesham are based in Canterbury. They develop, manufacture and market packaging solutions for the food service delivery, food to go and catering market sectors.
Grant value: £4406.84
Collaborating academic(s): Dr Lori Fisher
Siobhan Parks, new business and product development manager at Sharpak Aylesham Ltd, said the funding will go towards helping retailers reduce GHG emissions and food waste.
“We applied for a voucher to receive technical research support from the University of Kent for a new packaging technology for raspberries. We’re testing whether a recyclable novel punnet will extend the shelf-life of raspberries, compared to punnets containing the standard soaker pads currently on the market.
“If successful, it will offer a viable alternative to retailers looking to meet their Plastic Pact UK pledges, help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving the circular economy of plastics, and simultaneously reducing food waste,” she explained.
The potential health benefits of Nashi Gold pear hybrids
The Asian pear (Nashi pear), has different characteristics from European pears. Though not currently widely cultivated in the UK, it is well-suited for juicing. This project will explore the bioactive and nutrient compounds in Nashi pear to understand its health benefits, with the aim of exploring new market opportunities in the UK.
Industry lead: JL Baxter & Son is a fruit grower based in Maidstone, who has been producing predominantly apples and pears and has been in the industry for over 80 years.
Grant value: £14,997
Collaborating academic(s): Dr Lori Fisher and Dr Andrew Simkin
Marker assisted breeding to produce powdery mildew resistant hop cultivars
Powdery mildew is one of the most important diseases threatening UK hop production. An untreated epidemic of hop powdery mildew leads to significant yield loss and cone spoilage.
This project is aiming to develop a new process in order to tag and map the powdery mildew resistance gene to be able to successfully breed new resistant varieties of hops.
Industry lead: Wye Hops
Wye Hops Limited, a subsidiary of the British Hop Association (BHA), is a plant breeding company based in Canterbury, Kent. Wye Hops develops hop varieties primarily for UK hop growers.
Grant value: £14,982
Collaborating academic(s): Dr Helen Cockerton
Further details about the winning projects can be found at on the Growing Kent and Medway News Page and a video summary can be viewed on Youtube.
About Growing Kent & Medway
Growing Kent & Medway is a world-class research, innovation and enterprise cluster. It connects businesses in the region to support innovation and to establish the area as a world-leader in sustainable horticultural food and drink production.
The programme brings together innovative growers and processors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs to stimulate research, innovation and business growth. It invests in state-of-the-art infrastructure, collaborative research and innovation, and enterprise growth.
The programme is led by NIAB (the UK’s largest horticultural research and development centre in East Malling). Additional research and commercial partners include: University of Greenwich, University of Kent, Locate in Kent, APS Group, Berry Gardens, Chapel Down, Geku Automation, Gusbourne, RH Group, Smurfit Kappa, Thanet Earth, The Kent and Medway Economic Partnership, Worldwide Fruit.
About UKRI Strength in Places Fund:
Led by UK Research and Innovation, Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) is a competitive funding scheme that takes a place-based approach to research and innovation funding, to support significant local economic growth.
The Growing Kent & Medway team at the University of Kent welcome new business collaborations and can offer support to access funding. Email us at growingbiotech@kent.ac.uk to discuss future opportunities and grant competitions.