Grantham business owner Alastair Hawken has become the first person in the UK to successfully grow ginger commercially. The owner of Grantham-based Hawkens Gingerbread has cultivated ginger in hydroponic polytunnels - a breakthrough that could reduce the UK's reliance on imports of the spice, as well as its hefty carbon footprint.
Alastair developed the soil-free system from scratch with the support of his neighbor, a local plumber. The entrepreneur had the brainwave while attending the government-funded Help to Grow: Management Course at Nottingham Trent University's Business School.
Alastair commented: "I first had aspirations to become the UK's most sustainable biscuit brand about three years ago. I realised that the only way I could really achieve that was to produce our own spices in the UK, which had never been done before."
"However, coming up with the idea was the easy bit. It was only when I attended the Help to Grow: Management Course that I really started to look at what diversification could look like for my business and think bigger. Having the opportunity to step back from the business gave me the courage and ability to pick up and run with the ginger cultivation concept."
Read more at National World
