The owner of Gaias Utopia, Adam Brown, grows herbs and microgreens at his facility in Portsmouth. Claiming to be the first of its kind in the city, the urban farm supplies several local businesses in and around Portsmouth. With the help of WSX Business Advisor Julie Stevenson, he was able to secure a grant to establish his business from local funders and grow his business.
From payments to greens
“I wanted to reach a different audience; I wanted something that my family could be a part of and bring something new to the City of Portsmouth. At the same time, I started to shift my diet away from meat and instead focused on one made of plants.”
He decided to create plant-based meat to produce a plant-based burger and (rotisserie style) donner kebab to sell to the many takeaways around the town.
“Although the feedback on the product was good, constant taste testing led me to feel lethargic. I was able to put this down to the lack of nutrients. Which had me thinking that plant-based substitute meat is ok in moderation but not what I was looking for daily.”
Still keen to create an alternative source of nutrients from meat, Adam did some groundwork, “I started researching to find out where the most nutrients were and what the most beneficial food was. A microgreen is pretty much any vegetable that is grown to a size slightly bigger than a cress. It’s harvested when the first two true leaves appear from the seed.”
Read the entire piece at WSX Enterprise